Alberta Estonian Heritage Society welcomes Artists from Estonia and ALL at The New Gallery (TNG) in Calgary

Mar 29, 2019 Estonian Life No. 13 2019

Members and Friends of the AEHS (Alberta Estonian Heritage Society) are excited to welcome artists from Estonia, Varvara and Mar, for their exhibit at The New Gallery (TNG) in Calgary, with support from the Estonian Foundation of Canada. The exhibit will run from April 5 to May 9, 2019.

All are welcome at the opening event Friday April 5 at 8pm to meet the artists.

“We are pleased to welcome everyone at the Chameleon exhibit presented at TNG (The New Gallery): those of Estonian heritage and those who are curious about Estonian Culture,” encourages Kelly Schuler, president of the Alberta Estonian Heritage Society.

Varvara & Mar is an artist duo that was formed by Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet in 2009. The duo’s work is often inspired by the digital age. In their practice, they confront social changes and the impact of the technological era. In addition to this, Varvara & Mar are fascinated by kinetics, participation and digital fabrication, which are integral parts of their work. The Varvara & Mar duo has exhibited their work in a number of international shows and festivals, including MAD in New York, FACT in Liverpool, Santa Monica in Barcelona, Barbican and V&A Museum in London, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica museum in Linz and ZKM in Karlsruhe.

Varvara (born in Tartu, Estonia) has a PhD in Art and Design from Estonian Academy of Arts. Mar (born in Barcelona, Spain) has MA from Interface Cultures at the University of Art and Design Linz.

The exhibit, Chameleon, is an installation with a white flag made of a fabric with embeded LEDs that allows it to become the flag of any country. Attached to the wall by a flagpole and a rod that keeps it spread out, the piece reacts to peoples’ presence by showing the flags of different countries, chosen at random from a database. The design of each flag is never completed, but mutates constantly from one nation to another, blending colours and shapes in such way that it becomes an amalgam of all flags and none of them at once. See: http://www.thenewgallery.org/chameleon/

“The Estonian Foundation of Canada and its generous donors play a very important role in the promotion and preservation of Estonian culture in Alberta. We are grateful for their support of the Chameleon exhibit at TNG and for our partnership. By collaborating in local and international relationships, we are able to bridge current Estonian, Global and Albertan culture and community.

Contact:

Kelly Schuler, president of AEHS and Executive Director, BRAVE Communications
Mobile: 403 680-7307
Email: email@aehs.ca or kelly@bravecommunications.ca