[BCMA] [MEDIA RELEASE] 'In a Strange Place' at the Kelowna Art Gallery

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

For Immediate Release


'In a Strange Place' at the Kelowna Art Gallery


In a Strange Place: Mia + Eric

January 18 to March 23, 2025



January 15, 2025 - Kelowna, BC: How can a room filled with TV screens create a more meaningful connection to the stewardship work being done in our forests? The answer can be found in a strange place. Literally, In a Strange Place. This is the name of a fascinating and unique exhibition that opens this weekend at the Kelowna Art Gallery.



Visitors to In a Strange Place will enter a darkened gallery space where they will encounter a meditative 9-channel video installation by the artist duo Mia + Eric. A series of overlapping, interacting, and individual video performances roll out across the monitors encouraging gallery-goers to move within the installation. The video installation features 150 foresters, ecologists, activists, conservationists, and land keepers performing abstract, slow-motion "dances" in the woods wearing handmade masks of imagined future forest creatures. These improvised choreographies are reflections of the participant's care work, their connection to their local forest, and their role in an uncertain multi-species future.



"The aim of In a Strange Place is to translate the complex knowledge and expertise of forest caretakers into emotional and visual gestures for a non-science audience," say the artists behind the work, Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis.



The project was born out of a multi-year, international research and engagement process with communities in England, Germany, Norway, and Canada. The total running time of the installation is 2 hours 4 minutes. In a Strange Place runs from January 18 to March 23, 2025. It is co-presented with Inner Fish Performance Co. as part of the Living Things Festival (Jan 20-31) happening in Kelowna.



Mia + Eric are a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team based in Calgary, Alberta. Eric has a background in theatre and performance, while Mia specializes in craft, printmaking, and the visual arts.



The public is invited to attend an Artists' Talk with Mia + Eric, which will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at 6 pm at the Kelowna Art Gallery. This event is free to attend.



The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in the heart of Kelowna's Culture District. For more information visit kelownaartgallery.com or call 250-762-2226.



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About the Kelowna Art Gallery



The Kelowna Art Gallery engages, inspires, and enriches the community it serves through the exhibition, collection, and interpretation of visual art. Work by Canadian artists, both historical and contemporary, are presented in five distinct exhibition spaces. The Kelowna Art Gallery is invested in the idea that art helps to bring people together; and that life is simply better with art in it. Programs for people of all ages and backgrounds help to instill confidence in ones' creativity and to foster meaningful dialogue on matters important to Canadians.



Image Credits



Mia + Eric, In a Strange Place, video still from 9-channel video installation, 2024. Courtesy of the artists.



Resources



           Mia + Eric will be at the Kelowna Art Gallery and available for interviews January 15-17th.

Exhibition Webpage: https://kelownaartgallery.com/in-a-strange-place/

Living Things Festival: https://livingthingsfestival.com/event/in-a-strange-place-art-installation/

Mia + Eric IG: https://www.instagram.com/mia.and.eric/



For additional high-res images, or to arrange an interview please contact:



Joshua Desnoyers

Marketing and Events Coordinator



Kelowna Art Gallery

1315 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R3

250-762-2226 ext. 305

josh at kelownaartgallery.com<mailto:josh at kelownaartgallery.com>

www.kelownaartgallery.com<http://www.kelownaartgallery.com>
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