News & Community

For immediate release — April 27, 2021

SASKATOON, CANADA — Using everything from drawing and painting to text and hip hop, a group of young and emerging Saskatoon artists is creating new work in response to Remai Modern’s exhibition An apology, a pill, a ritual, a resistance.

Chokecherry Studios, in partnership with Remai Modern and PAVED Arts, asked for submissions from participants inspired by a single work in the exhibition, now on view at the museum. Ten participants took on the challenge and got to work creating new pieces that respond to the exhibition’s multifaceted exploration of health and healing, which opened at the museum on March 13. Called Chokecherry Youth Response, the project launches on April 30, 2021.

Building on the youth-led mandate of Chokecherry Studios, and their existing partnership with PAVED Arts, Chokecherry Youth Response makes a vital connection between the themes of the exhibition and the lived experiences and creative expression of the participating artists,” said Tarah Hogue, Curator (Indigenous Art), Remai Modern. “We are incredibly grateful to our partner organizations for their vision and leadership on the project, and excited to share it with the public.”

The project will be shared on Remai Modern’s Field webpage at remaimodern.org/field.

Chokecherry Studios is a non-profit organization that offers arts-based programming, mentorship, production facilities and a gallery to young and emerging artists in Saskatoon core neighbourhoods. This project built on Chokecherry’s existing partnership with PAVED Arts on the Mic Drop! program. Several of the projects were recorded at PAVED, whose staff were also an invaluable resource to the participants.

“Art is a powerful interface between community and dialogue. A collaboration like this does more than provide our young and emerging artists with meaningful experience and exposure; it offers an opportunity to critically reflect on the nuances of youth experiences. The Chokecherry Youth Response invites viewers to consider youth perspectives on wellness, illness, healing and ceremony in the context of COVID-19,” said Andrea Cessna, founder of Chokecherry Studios. “We hope this project highlights the importance of supporting emerging artists and that it will inspire more collaboration between institutions like Remai Modern and the community.”

About the exhibition

Featuring more than 20 regional, national and international artists,   An apology, a pill, a ritual, a resistance  is now on view at Remai Modern. The exhibition includes works that touch on a range of subjects from Indigenous responses to smallpox and the 1918 influenza pandemic, to iconic works by artists grappling with the HIV/AIDS crisis, and apologies and acts of reconciliation that move toward healing relations fractured by colonialism.

The exhibition takes place in the Connect Gallery on the ground floor, the SaskTel Theatre and the Marquee Gallery on Level 3. The Connect Gallery is always free thanks to the generous support of TD.

About Remai Modern

Remai Modern is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Traditional Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respects to First Nations and Métis ancestors and reaffirm our relationship with one another. Remai Modern is a new museum of modern and contemporary art in Saskatoon.

The museum is committed to affirming the powerful role that art and artists play in questioning, interpreting and defining the modern era. Open since October 2017, Remai Modern is the largest contemporary art museum in western Canada and houses a collection of more than 8,000 works, including the world’s foremost collection of Picasso linocut prints. Remai Modern would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Frank & Ellen Remai Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture through the Sask Lotteries Fund, SaskArts and the City of Saskatoon.

For additional information contact:

Stephanie McKay, Communications Manager

306.975.2242

smckay@remaimodern.org