On Saturday, March 24 at 7pm, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art will launch the Close Encounters publication and preview of the Close Encounters website.

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, a major exhibition of contemporary Indigenous art, which opened on January 22, 2011, included the work of 33 artists from seven countries across the globe, and was shown at five venues across Winnipeg. It was organized by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art on behalf of the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Cultural Capital of Canada 2010 program, under the theme, ARTS FOR ALL. The Close Encounters project has considered how Indigenous artists are carving out the future within the context of the present and the past.

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years (the publication) is a critical reader and exhibition catalogue with full colour photos from the exhibition. Fourteen contributors present essays that map four distinct sub-themes related to the imagined future for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years (the website) is a celebration of the Canadian artists who participated in the exhibition. The website features artist and curator bios, images from the exhibition, critical essays, interviews with the artists, panoramic perspectives and an augmented art viewer using 3D gaming technologies.

A mobile version of Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years will be available soon for iOS devices.

The website and app were developed for Plug In ICA by David Krouse of Braided Nation as part of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Interactive Fund, which supports the digitization of Canadian cultural content. Braided Nation is an Aboriginal New Media Technologies company that specializes in the development of digital culture and media content for mobile and web platforms.

Publication by Plug In Editions | ISBN 978-0-921381-36-5
Hardcover| 224 pages | Full colour | $75.00
The publication will be available for purchase at the event.
For one night only, there will be a special event discount: purchase a new Plug In ICA membership or membership renewal and purchase Close Encountersfor $55!

A launch for this publication will also take place in the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen Street West, in Toronto on April 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

This event has been made possible by Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and Cultural Capital ARTS FOR ALL, Canadian Heritage and The Winnipeg Foundation.

This event is free for all. Everyone is welcome.

Virtual exhibition/publication is available here.