WAG-Qaumajuq opens new show exploring embodied knowledge

Transmissions examines how knowledge emerges in the body, and how that knowledge is passed on

Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 5, 2022: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq celebrates the opening of Transmissions, an exhibition dedicated to the exploration of embodied knowledge.

Curated by Mariana Muñoz Gomez, Curator in Residence at WAG-Qaumajuq, Transmissions is an exploration of the emerging and passing-on of embodied knowledge. The exhibition centres and values ways of knowing that have been de-prioritized by Western colonial institutions. Though difficult to define, embodied knowledge can show up as emotional or bodily responses to the world around us – it emerges out of lived experience. Embodied knowledge is learned and shared through actions, practices, senses, and intuitions.

Transmissions will feature works by artists Alec Aliknak Banksland, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Kapwani Kiwanga, Elsie Klengenberg, Norval Morisseau, Daphne Odjig, Preston Pavlis, and Gonzalo Reyes Rodríguez. The exhibition will also feature a performance of Jeneen Frei Njootli’s work by a guest collaborator.

Transmissions opens to the public on July 9, 2022 and runs until November 20, 2022. On July 14, WAG-Qaumajuq will host a joint opening celebration of Transmissions and Esmaa Mohomoud: To Play in the Face of Certain Defeat. This is a great opportunity to check out the new shows at the WAG. The event includes a DJ, speeches from the curators, and more. For the remainder of the evening, guests can enjoy the exhibitions and cash bar! Doors open at 6pm, program begins at 7pm. Admission is FREE.

Quick Facts:

• Mariana Muñoz Gomez is the Curator in Residence at WAG-Qaumajuq. Their interests include language, identity, diaspora, and displacement, and these topics’ intersections with coloniality, temporality, relation, and place.
• The exhibition will feature artworks from the WAG-Qaumajuq collection, as well as artists new to WAG-Qaumajuq.
• Artists include Alec Aliknak Banksland, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Kapwani Kiwanga, Elsie Klengenberg, Norval Morisseau, Daphne Odjig, Preston Pavlis, and Gonzalo Reyes Rodríguez.
• The exhibition will also include a performance of Jeneen Frei Njootli’s Knowledge Transference III (when the one to author the cut is gone, a small hole in the shape of a portal forms) 1985 – ongoing.
• WAG-Qaumajuq will host a joint opening celebration of Transmissions and Esmaa Mohomoud: To Play in the Face of Certain Defeat on Thursday, July 14. The event includes a DJ, speeches from the curators, and cash bar! Doors open at 6pm, program begins at 7pm. Admission is FREE.
• Transmissions will be on display at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq from July 9 to November 20, 2022.

Quotes:

“The theme of embodied knowledge came up naturally as I researched artists and thought about a framework I had planned to bring into this project. Speaking to embodied knowledge, I was inspired by some of my own experiences and those of my friends and peers. These experiences have taught me some ways that the power structures that are part of our realities show up in our everyday.

I’m so grateful to the artists involved and excited to share their work with Winnipeg–this is the first display of artwork in Winnipeg for some of them. I understand some of art’s greatest potential to be in its power to communicate and as a way to learn about history, the world, and ourselves. My hope is that the local community can see themselves reflected in this exhibition, and recognize and validate their own experiences with embodied knowledge.”

— Mariana Muñoz Gomez, Curator in Residence at WAG-Qaumajuq,

“When words fail, art speaks. Transmissions allows art to communicate knowledge that words struggle to define, and the exhibition brings new voices to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, in conversation with works from our permanent collection. Mariana Muñoz Gomez has brought their thoughtful and insightful approach to this stunning exploration of a very human way of knowing.”

— Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO, WAG-Qaumajuq

“As Curator in Residence over the past year, Mariana has brought a series of astute and constructive questions and analysis, engaging in all aspects of the exhibition production process. They have striven to be as intentional, caring, and inclusive as possible in their curatorial approach, which has inspired our exhibition operations as a whole!”

— Riva Symko, Head of Collections & Exhibitions and Curator of Canadian Art

Support

The WAG thanks the Manitoba Arts Council for their support of Mariana Muñoz Gomez’s residency.

Associated Links

Transmissions

Opening Celebration

Mariana Muñoz Gomez

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For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Hanna Waswa
Public Relations Officer
Winnipeg Art Gallery
204.789.1295
hwaswa@wag.ca

The Winnipeg Art Gallery (the WAG) is a cultural advocate using art to connect, inspire, and inform. Playing a dynamic role in the community, we are a place for learning, dialogue, and enjoyment through art. Opened in March 2021, Qaumajuq connects to the WAG on all levels, celebrating the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world. The new WAG-Qaumajuq cultural campus is now one of the largest art museums in Canada. To learn more visit wag.ca.

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