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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:51.95pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-language:JA"><img width="422" height="457" style="width:4.3958in;height:4.7604in" id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image002.jpg@01DC1D8C.A1AC68D0"></span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA">Ral Ojah,
<i>Ekpe (Ohafia African Regalia)</i>, 2025</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA">, Dutch wax fabric, mixed media, plywood,
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA">152 x 213 cm, Photo courtesy of the Artist</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<td width="36%" valign="top" style="width:36.98%;padding:0in 5.75pt 0in 5.75pt;height:224.05pt">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">MEDIA RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">
<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">For immediate release from
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">Kamloops Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">September 4, 2025<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><img width="255" height="56" style="width:2.6562in;height:.5833in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image005.jpg@01DC1D8F.57CB91C0"></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir 55";color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ligatures:none"><br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">Ral Ojah<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">mgbe mm</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">ụọ</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">
na-agba egwu (When Spirits Dance)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">The Cube<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Exhibition September 13, 2025 to January 10, 2026</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Opening Reception Saturday, September 13, 6:30 to 8:00 pm</span></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">Curated by Craig Willms<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Ral Ojah Reimagines Nigerian Masquerade Through Fashion and Movement at Kamloops Art
Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">In this new body of work, Raluchukwu (Ral) Ojah explores cross-cultural exchange and the immigrant experience through fashion and dance. Drawing on the traditional Ekpe
masquerade from his hometown of Amaekpu, Ohafia, Nigeria, Ojah reimagines this spiritual ritual through life-size, wall-mounted dancing figures that reflect his roots and the ways ancestral practices are expressed in contemporary Nigerian and Western fashion.
His figures capture the dynamic movements of Igbo, Enugu, and Ohafia dances, which have influenced contemporary dance, including hip-hop and club culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">The Ekpe masquerade occurs alongside community events throughout the year, marking times of renewal and celebration. These include the Ota Omu Age Grade, a traditional
retirement ceremony that passes knowledge from elders to younger generations, and seasonal planting rituals that celebrate growth and harvest. Ojah connects these rites to his own experience of leaving Nigeria and moving to Canada in 2021, where he recently
completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Thompson Rivers University.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Ojah incorporates colourful Dutch wax fabric to reference its colonial history in Nigeria. Introduced by the Dutch in the 1880s, the fabric was adopted across Central and
West Africa and adapted with local designs, proverbs, and symbolic codes to preserve cultural traditions. Today, it remains central to Nigerian regalia and contemporary fashion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Through this work, Ojah considers how global exchanges of people and material culture influence art and fashion, while also telling a personal story of heritage and migration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif">Artist Biography<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA">Ral Ojah is a Nigerian visual artist currently living in Kamloops, BC. He completed his Bachelor of
Fine Arts at Thompson Rivers University in 2025. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:JA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Media Information
</span></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ligatures:none"><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Craig Willms, Assistant Curator, Kamloops Art Gallery</span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ligatures:none"><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">250.377.2410</span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ligatures:none"><br>
<a href="mailto:cwillms@kag.bc.ca"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:blue">cwillms@kag.bc.ca</span></a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">About the Kamloops Art Gallery</span></b><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:115%"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">The Kamloops Art Gallery, established in 1978, is situated on the unceded and unsurrendered
lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within Secwepemcúl’ecw, the traditional territory of the Secwépemc people. The largest art gallery in Secwepemcúl</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">̓</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Avenir Next LT Pro",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">ecw
(the Interior of British Columbia), the Gallery offers national caliber art experiences through a diverse range of accessible and affordable exhibitions, talks, tours, and studio-based programming for all ages and abilities, and boasts a collection of over
3,000 works of art.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><img border="0" width="603" height="37" style="width:6.2812in;height:.3854in" id="Picture_x0020_265712274" src="cid:image001.png@01DC1D8B.6B13C670"></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:12.65pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">CRAIG WILLMS [he/him] </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:12.65pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">ASSISTANT CURATOR</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.65pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:12.65pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><a href="mailto:cwillms@kag.bc.ca"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:"Avenir Next";color:blue;letter-spacing:1.0pt">cwillms@kag.bc.ca</span></a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:12.65pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">250.377.2400 ext. 2406
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:12.65pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.65pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Next";color:#222A35;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">KAMLOOPS ART GALLERY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">101 – 465 Victoria Street, Kamloops, BC V2C 2A9</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">250.377.2400 | </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><a href="http://www.kag.bc.ca/"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt">www.kag.bc.ca</span></a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;letter-spacing:1.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">The Kamloops Art Gallery is situated on the unceded and unsurrendered
lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within Secwepemcúl’ecw, the traditional territory of the Secwépemc people.</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Avenir LT Std 35 Light";color:#333F50;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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