Staycation

Through a focused selection of Manitoba-related artworks from the WAG-Qaumajuq permanent collection over the last 50 years, Staycation: The Art of Being Here invites you to experience your surroundings through new eyes—offering both a playful escape and a grounded sense of belonging. The exhibition explores themes like place, representation, collecting, the curious, signs and symbols, spirituality, and materiality.  

The title, Staycation, relates to Canada’s current political and economic climate, ongoing tariff disputes, and broader questions about national self-reliance and cultural sovereignty and asks: what does it mean to remain here, to create here, and to see value in the cultural ecosystems that already exist within our borders? 

For an institution like WAG-Qaumajuq, which is deeply rooted in a specific place while engaged in global discourse, Staycation reflects a timely affirmation of the local as both politically meaningful and aesthetically rich.