Prairie Interlace: An Exhibition of 20th Century Canadian Textile Art

11 January 2023
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“Some of these works haven’t been seen for decades.”

So says Dr. Michele Hardy, curator of Prairie Interlace, an exhibition partnership between Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary and MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. Dr. Hardy and her colleagues, Julie Krueger and Timothy Long, conceived the project when a massive piece called Sun Ascending, made up of twenty-four tapestries, was donated to the MacKenzie Art Gallery by the owners of the TD Tower in Toronto where it was originally displayed.

“[T]he arrival of that piece,” says Dr. Hardy, “got Timothy to thinking ‘What else might be going around?’”

Sun Ascending is just one of sixty works by forty-seven artists in the Prairie Interlace exhibition making its next stop at Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert before winding up in Regina at MacKenzie Art Gallery. Dates for each stop are on the exhibition’s website and Dr. Hardy is hopeful that participants will enjoy seeing not just the works themselves but also engage in the sense of change—and sense of humour—that were so much a part of their creation. With a focus on works created between 1960 and 2000, the energy and evolution of fibre art is palpable in this exhibit.

 

“Textile’s superpower,” says Mackenzie Kelly-Frère, “is that it’s immediate. Everyone knows it.”

All images credit Tara Klager, with permission from The Nickle Galleries.

Copyright © Tara Klager except as indicated.
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About Tara Klager

Tara Klager is a first-generation regenerative fibre farmer raising endangered and heritage breed sheep hard against the Rocky Mountain foothills in Alberta, Canada. With a passion for the land and a firm conviction that her role is to safeguard and steward the amazing place she gets to call home, Tara, and her husband Bob, have worked to build community with a wide range of representation - from LGBTQ2+ to Indigenous organizations to fibre enthusiasts and members of the public, Tara provides a place and framework to encourage discussion and interaction between a variety of groups and people. Whether you're interested in animal husbandry and welfare, endangered sheep breeds, the variety of practices that go into regenerative agriculture and how you might apply them to your own context or fibre and all its possibilities, Tara invites you to the homestead, a world of people, place and permaculture. Welcome to my frontier!

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