The Âjagemô art space at the Canada Council for the Arts features performances, events and exhibitions of contemporary Canadian art, including work from the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank.
Current exhibition
Madweyàshkà | Like a Wave
June 18, 2024, to May 19, 2025
Curated by Olivia Kristoff (Cowessess First Nation), Madweyàshkà | Like a Wave highlights works of art by First Nations and Métis artists predominantly featured in the Art Bank collection.
Madweyàshkà | Like a Wave presents works by Barry Ace, Carl Beam, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Rosalie Favell, Greg A. Hill, Robert Houle, Nadia Myre, David Neel, Shelley Niro, Edward Poitras, Jane Ash Poitras, Michael Robinson and Jeff Thomas.
“When up against an obstacle, water flows around it and does not stop. Neither will we. We adapt, we persist, and our resilience ripples through generations.”
– Olivia Kristoff
Âjagemô art space location
Address
150 Elgin St.
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Hours
Open daily from 7am to 9pm
Free Admission
Past Exhibitions
Coming into Sight
As part of its long-term effort to build a more dynamic and inclusive collection, the Art Bank acquired 72 artworks to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Coming into Sight features 24 of the recent acquisitions, presented together for the first time in Âjagemô. The exhibition presents a diversity of perspectives by artists from coast to coast to coast who tell their unique stories in all their complexity and richness.
Looking the World in the Face
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council Art Bank, this exhibition features close to 40 artworks by Indigenous and racialized artists that are part of its collection. From self-portraits to depictions of kin, comics to allegories, and historical figures to contemporary groups, the works convey a range of preoccupations, aspirations, and world views in unvarnished, critical, and creative ways.
Still Tho
Explore the work of visual artists from across Canada and beyond whose creativity speaks to the lasting impact of hip-hop’s visual art on both Canadian culture and visual aesthetics in our digital age. These works represent a breadth of visual arts practices and media, including graffiti murals, mixed media, and dance videos.
Awakening
Discover works from Canadian and Indigenous artists produced over nearly half a century that shine a spotlight on our relationship with the environment. These works depict collisions between city and ecology, nature and nurture, consumption and conservation, ideals and actions. Together, they evoke hope, despair and soul-searching, encouraging viewers to consider the urgency of sustaining life on Earth for future generations.
Open Channels
Discover the works of visual artists who took part in the Canada C3 sailing expedition organized for 150th anniversary of Confederation, in 2017. Aboard the ship, they drew inspiration from Canada’s ever-evolving environmental, social and cultural landscapes, as well as from dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Thresholds
Thunderstruck: Physical Landscapes
The Canada Council for the Arts presents a new exhibition, Thunderstruck: Physical Landscapes, which investigates the landscape in which dance is created, presented and received. This free exhibition features works of art, film-based works, installations and dance related materials as it presents multiple dance communities, art practices and dancers from across Canada.
Constructed Identities
Constructed Identities features the unique work of disabled artist Persimmon Blackbridge. Curated by Tangled Art + Disability, Constructed Identities is the first exhibition in the Âjagemô gallery that puts disability art at the heart of the presentation.
Mark the Spot: Mediation as Medium
Esteemed curator Wayne Baerwaldt has selected three artists who represent different forms of discourse on art at different stages in their careers. Painter Michael Morris, Performance artist Thierry Marceau and Métis beadwork artist Katherine Boyer invite the public to be part of the creation and development of their month-long exhibitions through a series of week-long residencies.
Juno House R•Evolutions
A special exhibition dedicated to great Canadian music and musicians honoured by the JUNOS. Through objects from icons like Geddy Lee, Drake, Susan Aglukark and Robert Charlebois, discover how the evolution of Canadian music is linked to 60 years of the Canada Council’s support.
People - Places - Things
This exhibition marks the 80th anniversary of the Governor General’s Literary Awards by celebrating more than 700 award-winning books – the people who write them and the places where we read them.
Punctured Landscape
The year 2017 brings the notion of past, present and futures to mind as we prepare to mark our country’s sesquicentennial.
Temporal Re-Imaginings
In Indigenous traditions, storytellers and artists frequently challenge and disrupt Western perceptions of time as a linear, progressive unfolding of events.
Ontario in Âjagemô
Ontario boasts a rich history of visual and media arts – due in large part to its size, diversity and vibrant urban centres.
Collecting Our Thoughts
An exhibition showcasing selected works by past winners of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts, which it is celebrating its 15th year.
Land Reform(ed)
This exhibition features works from 13 Canadian artists, including Kim Adams and Carol Wainio, winners of the 2014 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.