The Art Gallery of Alberta has been selected as a host site for Alberta Culture Days!
Join us for some free, art-filled programming is waiting for you at the AGA.
We’ll have several days of programming ranging from performances by francophone and Indigenous artists, a talk by a local artist and a hands-on workshop! There will be so many ways for you to interact with art, learn about different cultures in the Alberta art scene and discover the artists within yourself.
September 20th
Come join us for our exciting programming around language and culture !
On Lower Level (L1)
Free with registration - Register Here
Our monthly Art & Language Meet ups for Newcomers to Canada offers a unique opportunity for newcomers, as part of AGA’s Thrive: Newcomer Connections program. Join us for a tour, offered in French, Spanish and English, to connect with others that speak your language or to practice a language you are learning! Please register ahead of time here.
Some drinks and snacks will also be available!
Free - Pre-registration not required
In the Lecture Theatre
Join us for a 30-minute spoken-word performance by a local artist sharing her point of view and her culture through every word.
Multilingual Poet, advocate and Edmonton’s Poet Laureat for 2025, Medgine Mathurin is an immeasurably talented Haitian-born artist. Creating spoken word poetry in French, Creole and English, she explores the magic of language and her intertwined cultural background to unveil something that is truly unique and mesmerizing.
Free - pre-registration not required
In the Theatre
A traditional French-Canadian storyteller, Roger Dallaire is also a musician, comedian, marionetist and folklorist. A man of many talents, he shares his love of history and transports the public back in time with his wild stories and love for his French-Canadian cultural heritage.
You’ll learn, laugh and be left wanting more after his 30-minute performance.
Free – pre-registration not required
In Main Hall
Join us for a talk exploring the idea of home and belonging that inspired Emily Chu’s mural, Preserving Fragments. Sharing her journey, culture and her connection with her family, Emily dives into that idea of home, a place, a feeling, a culture and people to share it with.
Free with registration
Main Hall
Following the talk, on the Lower Level of the AGA, come get your hands and heads working to collaborate towards the creation of a collective zine. Home, belonging and doorways are going to be some of the ideas through which stories are shared, and art comes alive.
Emily Chu is a Chinese illustrator and visual artist based on Treaty 6 (Edmonton). Emily's practice includes commercial illustration, murals, storytelling, sketching, and community-arts initiatives.
Emily is the founder and lead organizer of Chinatown's newest LNY Market: Togather Chinatown Arts Festival, and storytelling map project: Chinatown Stories Map. She is also co-organizer of the arts fundraiser project: Chinatown Greetings.
She is currently working on a graphic novel about her childhood immigration story to the Canadian prairies in the 90’s, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Amy Y.Y. Wong is a second-generation Chinese Canadian born in Edmonton. She grew up in the original part of Edmonton’s Chinatown, which is now known as Chinatown South. Amy is a librarian who is interested in intercultural stories of people from different cultural, Indigenous and ethnic origins befriending and learning from each other. She believes that these stories are the most unique part of our Canadian identity. Amy’s own stories were published in the Edmonton Heritage Council’s online local history project called “Edmonton as a City Museum Project (ECAMP)” and through Edmonton’s Hungry Zine.
When she is not busy walking her dog, Bingo or swimming at Eastglen pool, you can find her volunteering with these organizations: FascinAsian Film Festival, YEG Chinatown Re:Vita, Edmonton FolkFest, Covenant Health, or lending an extra pair of hands to help out local events such as Togather Chinatown Arts Festival and Edmonton Indie Bookstore Extravaganza.
Free – pre-registration not required
Terrace
Join Alaynee Goodwill-Littlechild, AGA’s TD Curator for Indigenous Creativity, and Justine Jenkins, as they guide you through The Reciprocity Garden | ᐋᐧᐦᑰᐦᑐᐃᐧᐣ (wâhkôhtowin). They’ll will tell you about the plants and pollinators that have made this terrace their home, while also sharing information on some traditional Indigenous gardening techniques. These short 30-minute tours will help you understand the idea of reciprocity embedded in this new outdoor exhibition.
The Government of Alberta has kindly funded Alberta Culture Days.
