'The Feminine Lived Experience' exhibition is on display at the Esplanade Gallery until June 14.--PHOTO COURTESY THE ESPLANADE ARTS & HERITAGE CENTRE
This year, the Esplanade is celebrating its 20th anniversary – how quickly time flies! For the past 15 years, I’ve worked for the City of Medicine Hat, and for the past five of these, I’ve been the director/curator of Galleries and Collections at the Esplanade.
Each year, I produce an annual report for the federal government, and it always serves as a reminder of how much our team has accomplished. One of the most rewarding aspects of my position is witnessing the creative evolution of the artists with whom I work, as well as the professional evolution of my colleagues.
Every day, I work with humans on a mission.
Focused, thoughtful and dedicated, they aim to create unique and engaging experiences for the community of Medicine Hat. And they have certainly been productive.
The Galleries and Collections team is small and sits within the Cultural Experiences and Events team. The six of us work together to develop and instal exhibitions at the Esplanade, TREX Space and the Esplanade Project Space, as well as exhibitions that tour non-traditional gallery spaces 12 months of the year.
As part of our everyday work, we develop and execute visiting-artist programming, care for and maintain more than 22,000 artifacts and artworks, provide exhibition and collections tours, prepare provincial and national funding applications, and co-ordinate and prepare artifacts for loan to national and international museums.
A recent project that was both unexpected and fulfilling was with the Kainai Nation and BBC Two. While developing a documentary about the British Empire, BBC Two decided to feature the Mike Mountain Horse story robe, an Indigenous artifact in our Collections. The project was deeply meaningful for our team, our Kainai friends and BBC Two.
Our team also develops both historical and contemporary exhibitions. Recent historical exhibitions include The Hand and the Letter (the history of writing), Have Spatula Will Travel (the history of people coming together over food) and What’s Old is New (the evolution of everyday materials).
In the past five years, our team has produced 69 contemporary art exhibitions for our galleries, TREX Space and the Esplanade Project Space. Within those 69 exhibitions, 337 Canadian artists have been featured, and 317 of those artists have been local, from Medicine Hat.
Numerous solo exhibitions have showcased renowned Indigenous artists, such as Faye HeavyShield, George Littlechild, Catherine Blackburn, Edward Poitras and Kenojuak Ashevak.
Many of the exhibitions are culturally diverse, such as Landed, featuring Anahita Norouzi & Nurgul Rodriguez, Tale of a Fish Scale, featuring Erin Marie Konsmo, Ruby Sweetman and Laura Grier, Pollywog, by Koi Neng Liew and Certain Destiny by Logan Wong.
As the Esplanade celebrates its 20th anniversary, I reflect on the time I’ve worked for the City of Medicine Hat and feel proud – proud of what our team accomplishes for our community and proud to live in a community that values arts, culture and heritage.
Most of all, I feel grateful to be able to work with artists. After all, what would the world be without art?
Visit esplanade.ca for more information about our exhibitions and Collections.
Xanthe Isbister is the director/curator of Galleries and Collections at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
