Exhibitions
Who What Wear: 200 Years of Local Fashion
Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaTold through the clothes they wore and the pictures they took, Who What Wear shares stories and experiences of people in the place we have called Guelph for over 200…
No Word For Art: Exploring the Indigenous Roots of Creativity
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaTold from historical and contemporary perspectives, and through the story of beads, guest curator Naomi Smith shares the ways of the First Nations people of the Woodlands and Northeastern regions of Ontario. No Word for Art features Indigenous beadworks as creative expressions of survival, crafted by historical artists. The exhibition also includes contemporary beadworks that…
Touching Sound: A tactile art installation created by Olivia Brouwer
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaTouching Sound is a three-dimensional collage created by individuals with sight loss, following a sensory-led nature walk and workshop at the Guelph Arboretum in late-June 2023. The six participants were asked to rely on their senses of touch, smell, and hearing to navigate their walk, and to record their feelings, memories, and associations through a “deep…
Unsettling The Grand: Legacies of Settlement in the Grand River Valley, from 1700 to the Present Day
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaWhat do John Galt and the Canada Company, the Upper and Lower Canadian Rebellions of 1837-38, a canal-building enterprise, and current (and future) land claims all have in common? Using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, this exhibition examines the failed enterprise of the Grand River Navigation Company (1832-1861) as a lens through which we can explore…
Light A Candle To Curse The Dark
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaAmid the pomp and plump of Canada’s sesquicentennial, fifteen metalsmiths from across the country marked the occasion by crafting new sculptures from melted-down post-Confederation silver. Each piece is an expression of form and function – art object and candleholder – that, together, nod to the past and offer a glimpse of the future. The original…
Spotlight Series: Marjan Kaviani
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaThe Spotlight Series centres the work of contemporary artists in dialogue with past and present-day lived experiences in the place we call Guelph. Recognizing that the month of November invites reflections of remembrance, the Spotlight Series broadens understandings of war through the lens of two contemporary conflicts, in Ukraine and Iran. This instillation features the…
Spotlight Series: Taras Lachowsky
The Spotlight Series centres the work of contemporary artists in dialogue with past and present-day lived experiences in the place we call Guelph. Recognizing that the month of November invites reflections of remembrance, the Spotlight Series broadens understandings of war through the lens of two contemporary conflicts, in Ukraine and Iran. This installation by Ukrainian…
Folklore: Being and Belonging in the Grand River Region, before and after 1827
Guelph Civic Museum 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaFolkloric practices – beliefs and customs passed through generations, often by oral traditions – have been shared through stories and storytellers in this place, long before it was known as Guelph. At the turn of the 19th century, the Grand River region comprised both Indigenous and settler communities, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First…
