News

On June 17th, 2023, Kwakwaka’wakw artist Francis Dick led the Atla’gimma (Spirits of The Forest) dance at Wawadit’ła (Mungo Martin House). The gathering marked the first time that the Atla’gimma, the cultural property of Francis Dick’s father Chief Kwaxsistalla wath-thla (Adam Dick), was danced since his passing.

Francis Dick invites you to walk through her fires. The multimedia artist’s new solo exhibition at Legacy Art Gallery is an autobiography told through art, each image and object testament to her life’s journey, her culture, her fearlessness, and her ability to transform joy and pain into art.

Dr. Devi Mucina’s academic work and his familial connections to the communities and traditions of the Chewa peoples are central to Gule Wamkulu: Dancing Indigenous Governance. The exhibition features spirited photography and film by Kl. Peruzzo de Andrade, hand-crafted masks, Adinkra textiles, and an interactive bwalo, filled with brick-red sand. The heart of the exhibition is Gule Wamkulu, or “the great dance of life,” a unifying practice for Chewa communities. But what does it mean to bring Gule Wamkulu to Victoria?

When Devi Mucina left Africa as a young man, he had no intention of returning to the ways of his people. But years later he found himself learning from the struggles and resistance of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. After watching the masked dances of the Coast Salish peoples, Mucina, director of the University of Victoria’s School of Indigenous Governance, felt inspired to reconnect with his past and his family.

A new exhibition opening April 22 at UVic’s Legacy Art Gallery Downtown focuses on Japanese Canadian identity, community and family.

Ink marks paths through skin like rivers across the land. The indelible history of Indigenous tattooing, like the landscapes and waterways of traditional territories, can never be erased. Its significance reaches back through ancient time and ancestral connections, but its practice was banned in Canada in 1885 at the same time as the potlatch.

UVic Legacy Art Galleries has signed the BC Museums Association Repatriation Call to Action.

As the province moves into Phase 3 of the BC Restart Plan, Legacy Art Gallery Downtown is transitioning from our Covid-19 Safety Plan to UVic’s Communicable Disease Plan.

Browse images of the contemporary work in the exhibition, learn more about the artists, and view recordings of online programming.

Legacy would like to officially announce that Lorilee Wastasecoot (Ininew/Cree) has stepped into the newly created position of Curator of Indigenous Art and Engagement. We are incredibly grateful to have her join the Legacy staff, along with other new and returning faces working with us this summer.