STAGES: Drawing the Curtain

ARTISTS
Abbas Akhavan • Toronto   |   Pablo Bronstein • London, UK   |   Erica Eyres • Glasgow |   Toril Johannessen • Tromsø, Norway   |    Kara Hamilton • Toronto   |    Federico Herrero • San José, Costa Rica   |    Divya Mehra • Winnipeg   |   Krista Belle Stewart • Vancouver   |   Ron Tran • Vancouver

Over the past four months, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art has brought the Stages Speaker Series to Winnipeg. For this series, artists came to the city from England, Scotland, Norway, Costa Rica and across Canada to do site visits and give artist talks in preparation for Stages: Drawing the Curtain. https://stages.plugin.org/

After extended engagement with the artists and the city of Winnipeg we are proud to announce the launch of STAGES: Drawing the Curtain, an ambitious public art project that situates nine carefully considered, temporary public sculptures and performances throughout the city. Hinged on the romance of chance encounters both open and peculiar, this public exhibition develops from the concept of the stage – as an active site for performance, a structural or sculptural space, and a focus of attention. From this point of departure, the above artists will produce a public artwork that merges their material and theoretical concerns with reflections on the stage, different notions of “public” and “space”; and finally, the city itself as a performative site of fluctuating and active meaning.

Projects will take place over the span of two weeks between August 19^th and September 4^th and occupy diverse spaces including the historic Hudson’s Bay Company building; a radio station; the Fort Garry Place Mall (an underused mall that mixes the vernacular architectural style of commerce with ornate columns, balconies, chandeliers and sculptures); a public park; a fountain; and a flatbed truck.

Artists will be in attendance for the STAGES LAUNCH PARTY on Friday, August 18^th from 7pm to 11pm on our rooftop at 460 Portage Avenue. Everyone is Welcome – all our programing is free for all • Cash bar will be open •

LOCATIONS

https://stages.plugin.org/

Abbas Akhavan (scheduled performances)
Bonnycastle Park fountain, 260 Assiniboine Avenue

Pablo Bronstein (scheduled performances)
Fort Garry Place, 20 Fort Street

Erica Eyres (sculpture)– TBA

Kara Hamilton (sculpture)
Bonnycastle Park amphitheater, 260 Assiniboine Avenue

Federico Herrero (painted intervention)
Tunnel connecting City Hall and Centennial Concert Hall,  lower level, 555 Main Street

Toril Johannessen (sound installation)
 4^th floor, Hudson’s Bay, 450 Portage Avenue

Krista Belle Stewart (installation/ sculpture)
Basement, Hudson’s Bay, 450 Portage Avenue

Ron Tran (sculpture)
The Forks, 1 Forks Market Road

STAGES: Drawing the Curtain is made possible through Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter Program with the support of The Winnipeg Foundation and key sponsors Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson; and Daniel Friedman & Rob Dalgliesh.

Our community partners include: Tourism Winnipeg, Alliance Française Manitoba, Urbanink, Cityplace Mall (Triovest), Portage Place Shopping Centre, Alt Hotel, Alpha Masonry, CKUW, Edison Properties and Fillip.

Plug In ICA extends our heartfelt gratitude to our generous donors, valued members, and dedicated volunteers. We acknowledge the sustaining support of our Director’s Circle. You all make a difference.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We thank the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for their support of our 2016 and 2017 program, as well as Wawanesa Insurance for the direct support of our youth programs.

Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all, and enable us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/support or by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org

For media enquiries contact Sarah Nesbitt at sarah@plugin.org. For general information please contact: info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043

For detailed information on the exhibition please follow the link: https://stages.plugin.org/

STAGES – Recognition

Government
Government of Canada –  New Chapters: 2017 and Beyond

Sponsorship
Susan Glass
Daniel Friedman & Rob Dagliesh
Alpha Masonry
The Winnipeg Foundation
William F. White International Inc.

Partners
Tourism Winnipeg
Alt Hotels by Le Germain
Alliance Française