News and events

As one of the top fine arts schools in Canada, we have a vital impact on culture both at home and abroad. We also host over 200 events a year, both on- and off-campus. Read our blog for all the latest Fine Arts stories, follow for breaking news on Twitter or find us on or Instagram.

Sign up for our weekly Coming up in Fine Arts email list to stay up to date on what's happening both on and off-campus.

If you're looking for more information on Fine Arts or would like to speak with one of our experts for a news story, please call Fine Arts Communications Officer John Threlfall at 250-721-6222, Monday to Friday from 8:30-4:30, or email him at .

Media archive

As acknowledged experts in fields ranging from classical and popular music to art history, digital media, pop culture and so much more, our faculty are frequently in the news. Catch up on our expert opinions by visiting our media archive, which offers story briefs and links to media coverage.

See more of Fine Arts Research

Orion Lecture Series with curator Dr Fahmida Suleman
Since the late 19th century, museums have devoted attention to Islamic art and craft, encompassing objects dating from the seventh century to the present. Ideas about how the diverse and fascinating visual and material cultures of the Islamic world should be displayed have changed significantly over time, reflecting the broader trends in museum practice. In her Orion Lecture "Islamic Art & the Museum: A Curatorial Odyssey", Dr Fahmida Suleman and UVic Art History & Visual Studies professor Dr Marcus Milwright consider the varied roles and responsibilities of a curator of Islamic art, and the ways in which exhibition design can address the social, cultural and ethical concerns of contemporary audiences. A Q&A session facilitated by AHVS alumna, Dr. Atri Hatef Naiemi, follows the lecture.
Orion Lecture Series with artist Manuel Mathieu
The work of this Montreal-based artist exists at the intersection of racial, geographical & cultural identities. Manuel Mathieu holds an MFA from Goldsmith’s College (London). He has exhibited in England, Belgium, China, Canada, the United States, Spain, France, Morocco, and Martinique. His work is part of different collections, such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and the Museum of Fine Arts of Montreal. While Mathieu’s trajectory may be easily traced to his Haitian upbringing, his work articulates his positionality from a multitude of realities and perspectives. Recent exhibitions include the Perez Art Museum Miami, the Museum of Fine Arts of Montreal, The Power Plant (Toronto) and in group exhibitions at Musée d’art contemporain of Montreal, the Phi Foundation (Montréal), the Song Museum (Beijing) and the Kunstmuseum (Stuttgart).
Orion Lecture Series with artist Kelly Jazvac
Based in Montréal, this Visual Arts MFA alum is part of The Synthetic Collective—a plastic pollution research team of scientists, artists, philosophers & writers. Kelly Jazvac (b. 1980) is a Canadian artist based in Montréal, Canada. She is also part of a plastic pollution research team called The Synthetic Collective, which includes scientists, artists, art historians, philosophers and writers; the work of this research group is highly influential on Jazvac’s artistic practice. Recent exhibitions include The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, The Musée D’Art Contemporain (Montréal), The Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Eli and Edyth Broad Museum (East Lansing), Ujazdowski Castle CCA (Warsaw) and FIERMAN Gallery (New York). Her work has been written about in National Geographic, e-flux Journal, Hyperallergic, Art Forum, The New Yorker, Canadian Art Magazine and The Brooklyn Rail. Her collaborative art/science research has been published in scientific journals including Nature Reviews, GSA Today, and Science of the Total Environment.
Orion Lecture Series with curator Heather Igliolorte
Dr. Heather Igloliorte (Inuk, Nunatsiavut) holds the University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts and is an associate professor in the Department of Art History at Concordia University. She also serves as the Special Advisor to the Provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges, and in this role contributes to the efforts of the university Indigenous Directions Leadership Group. Her teaching and research interests center on Inuit and other Native North American visual and material culture, circumpolar art studies, performance and media art, the global exhibition of Indigenous arts and culture, and issues of colonization, sovereignty, resistance and resurgence.

See more videos from the Orion Lecture series playlist on YouTube.