Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Daina Augaitis is a 2025 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Video directed by Dallas Soonias.
A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit https://en.ggarts.ca.
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Transcript:
Curators not only care for artworks and celebrate artists. They shape the context for an audience to experience the art.
I began curating in 1983 at the Western Front. It’s one of Canada’s oldest artist-run centres. I discovered from the great artists who lived and worked there that art and life are not so separate. Art is aesthetic, but it can also have a social function.
I had just graduated from a curatorial program. So, one thing I did at the Front Gallery was to show my generation of emerging artists. In a way, I learned alongside the artists I curated.
An important element of being a curator has been to clear away any institutional obstacles, so that artists can make their best work. I also learned first-hand about the tremendous value of collaborating, with artists, with other curators. It allows for bigger ideas and greater impact.
I was at the Banff Centre for a decade, curating at the Walter Phillips Gallery and then directing the Visual Art residencies. We did a lot of projects that explored the uniqueness of Banff as a tourist destination. What did it mean to be in a national park? Or on land that Indigenous people have a sacred relationship with?
The Banff Centre positioned itself as a place for experimentation. So, we tested a lot of ideas in the Gallery. We explored new technologies, did a year of performance art. We even turned the gallery into a pirate radio station and convened the first curatorial seminar in 1994. And because relatively few people actually saw these exhibitions, we published–-a lot! Catalogues and anthologies became our calling cards.
When I arrived at the Vancouver Art Gallery to be chief curator and associate director, the big difference was audience. And I became far more conscious of the visitor.
I believe museums have a responsibility to document local histories and unearth lesser-known ones. It’s equally important to document what’s happening now, to capture the present in all its complexity.
I was privileged to work with an amazing team of curators, and I’m very proud of the shows we organized with some of the incredible artists of Vancouver. But we also contextualized them internationally to amplify and extend the dialogues beyond this place.
Vancouver is framed by the Pacific and looks towards Asia. The Institute of Asian Art was an important initiative during my tenure, to exhibit and collect art with an Asian focus.
Muntadas’ _Warning_ has been a type of guide for me. Whether you’re a curator or gallery-goer, understanding something begins with curiosity.
#GGArts2025 #DainaAugaitis #CanadaCouncil
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
X - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
X - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Daina Augaitis is a 2025 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Video directed by Dallas Soonias.
A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit https://en.ggarts.ca.
****
Transcript:
Curators not only care for artworks and celebrate artists. They shape the context for an audience to experience the art.
I began curating in 1983 at the Western Front. It’s one of Canada’s oldest artist-run centres. I discovered from the great artists who lived and worked there that art and life are not so separate. Art is aesthetic, but it can also have a social function.
I had just graduated from a curatorial program. So, one thing I did at the Front Gallery was to show my generation of emerging artists. In a way, I learned alongside the artists I curated.
An important element of being a curator has been to clear away any institutional obstacles, so that artists can make their best work. I also learned first-hand about the tremendous value of collaborating, with artists, with other curators. It allows for bigger ideas and greater impact.
I was at the Banff Centre for a decade, curating at the Walter Phillips Gallery and then directing the Visual Art residencies. We did a lot of projects that explored the uniqueness of Banff as a tourist destination. What did it mean to be in a national park? Or on land that Indigenous people have a sacred relationship with?
The Banff Centre positioned itself as a place for experimentation. So, we tested a lot of ideas in the Gallery. We explored new technologies, did a year of performance art. We even turned the gallery into a pirate radio station and convened the first curatorial seminar in 1994. And because relatively few people actually saw these exhibitions, we published–-a lot! Catalogues and anthologies became our calling cards.
When I arrived at the Vancouver Art Gallery to be chief curator and associate director, the big difference was audience. And I became far more conscious of the visitor.
I believe museums have a responsibility to document local histories and unearth lesser-known ones. It’s equally important to document what’s happening now, to capture the present in all its complexity.
I was privileged to work with an amazing team of curators, and I’m very proud of the shows we organized with some of the incredible artists of Vancouver. But we also contextualized them internationally to amplify and extend the dialogues beyond this place.
Vancouver is framed by the Pacific and looks towards Asia. The Institute of Asian Art was an important initiative during my tenure, to exhibit and collect art with an Asian focus.
Muntadas’ _Warning_ has been a type of guide for me. Whether you’re a curator or gallery-goer, understanding something begins with curiosity.
#GGArts2025 #DainaAugaitis #CanadaCouncil
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
X - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
X - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
