A Celebration of Queer and Trans+ materials from the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections & University Archives and University Art Collections
What’s special about Queer and Trans+ artists’ books, zines, and multiples? Everything. From one-of-a-kind limited editions to unique historical items, the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections & University Archives and University Art Collections is not only home to the world’s largest collection of Trans+ archival materials, but also a range of printed matter, DIY creations, art, and ephemera representing Queer and Trans+ people and activism from a diversity of creators and communities.
As part of the inaugural Queer Island Festival of the Arts, it’s extra special for UVic Libraries and University Art Collections to be part of a larger conversation with other community partners and organizations, to show our colours and our Pride!
Curated by Michael Radmacher, Transgender Archives Metadata Librarian; Caroline Riedel, Interim Director, Legacy Art Galleries and University Art Collections; Lara Wilson Director, Special Collections & University Archivist and Christine Walde, Fine Arts Librarian, with Heather Dean, Associate Director of Special Collections.
For Black History Month and in conjunction with Victoria at Dusk, photographer Fatima Tajah Olson presents a series of portraits that place Black presence within familiar public space. Installed at dusk, the work invites viewers to slow down and consider how visibility, care, and self-representation shape the way we see one another.
Fatuma, by Fatima Tajah Olson,2026. Digital Photograph. Courtesy of the artist.Oya, by Fatima Tajah Olson, 2015. Digital Photograph. Courtesy of the artist.Chike, by Fatima Tajah Olson, 2015. Digital Photograph. Courtesy of the artist.
Becoming Art in a Black Woman’s Body is a two-day healing and creative workshop held during Black History Month at Legacy Art Gallery. Facilitated by artist Fatima Tajah Olson, the workshop invites Black women to reconnect with their bodies through movement, body painting, reflection, and portrait photography. Rooted in care, creativity, and empowerment, the gathering offers a rare space for rest, self-expression, and collective healing.
This workshop is designed exclusively for Black women, with the intention of creating a culturally specific space for rest, embodiment, and healing.
Paul Walde: Weather Conditions features two video installations: Of Weather (for Geoff Hendricks), 2018-2024, and Tom Thomson Centennial Swim, 2017, by interdisciplinary artist and University of Victoria Visual Arts Professor Paul Walde. Each artwork documents site-specific performances accompanied by original soundtracks also created by Walde. Prominent within the exhibition are large-scale photographic prints of cloudscapes from Of Weather (for Geoff Hendricks). Both installations transport weather conditions from their apparent distance in the natural world into the immediacy of the gallery space.
Walde’s artworks also pay homage to two art historical figures. OfWeather (for Geoff Hendricks) references the work of Geoffrey Hendricks (1931-2018), a member of Fluxus, who was nicknamed “Cloudsmith” for his long-term interest in depicting the sky and specifically clouds. Tom Thomson Centennial Swim of 2017 memorializes the life and death of Tom Thomson (1877-1917), a canonical figure in the history of Canadian landscape painting. In 1917, Thomson drowned while canoeing on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park, Ontario.
Image: Paul Walde, Of Weather (for Geoff Hendricks), 2018, photo by Laura Gildner.
Join us at the Legacy Art Gallery Downtown for the opening event celebrating the exhibition Paul Walde: Weather Conditions curated by Williams Legacy Chair Dr. Carolyn Butler Palmer.
Performance
Date: Sat., February 28th, 2026
Times: Two timed-entry slots available – Registration is required:
First Performance @ 1 pm (12:45 pm entry) – Register here
Second Performance @ 2 pm (1:45 pm entry) – Register here
Of Weather Movements: the pictures in the exhibition are activated by a team of art handlers in a performance based on motion-picture camera movements and editing techniques.
Artist Talk with Paul Walde
Date: Sat., March 14th, 2026
Time:Times: 1:00 – 2:00pm – Registration is required – Register here
Join us for a talk by intermedia artist, composer, curator, and UVic Visual Arts Professor Paul Walde, whose exhibition Weather Conditions, is currently on view at Legacy.
Performance
Date: Sat., March 28th, 2026
Times: Two timed-entry slots available – Registration is required:
First Performance @ 1 pm (12:45 pm entry) – Register here
Second Performance @ 2 pm (1:45 pm entry) – Register here
Curated by ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (huuʕiiʔatḥ /Huu-ay-aht First Nation), this exhibition is based on his personal connections to his homelands and ancestors. It explores nuučaan̓uł songs as methodology in the continued production of nuučaan̓uł knowledge and teachings that are integral in the continual transfer between humans (čaačaac̓iiʕasʔat, huuʕiiʔat, nuučaan̓ułat) and non-nuučaan̓uł peoples as well as between humans and the natural (ḥaḥuułi, čaačaac̓iiʕas) and the spiritual (yakʷiimit kʷiyiis nananiqsu) worlds.
Image: yaa yaa yaa waay yaa huu, 2023, ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (ḥuuʕiiʔatḥ, Canada). Yellow cedar rounds, elk hide, sinew, ink.
Credits: Vern Theroux at Pat Bay Leather supplied materials for the drums. Emily Thiessen at Wachaiy Studios did the screen printing. The drums were made by the artist.
A selective retrospective of the art and life of SȾÁUTW̱ artist Doug LaFortune curated by Dr. Andrea N. Walsh. Since 1973, LaFortune has been working as an artist in several mediums, including carving, drawing, painting, and serigraphy. Several of his totem poles stand in Duncan, BC, and his welcome figures flank the entrance of First Peoples House at the University of Victoria. A carver for more than 40 years, Doug has been commissioned for various totem pole projects — large and small.
This exhibition will include an ‘archive’ of drawings dating back 40 years in which visitors to the gallery are invited to sit and meander through the decades of work.
Salish Lines Programming:
Doug LaFortune Limited Edition Print Signing and Sale
Dates: November 29, 2025, 1:00 – 4:00pm
Join us at the Legacy Art Gallery Downtown for a special opportunity to meet Doug LaFortune, who will be offering limited edition printer’s proof prints of his artwork—just in time for the holidays.
Enjoy light refreshments and take in the beautiful exhibition Salish Lines, before it closes on December 6th. Doug’s prints are stunning reflections of his artistry and Coast Salish heritage. Perfect for collectors and those who appreciate the beauty of Coast Salish art.
Family Curtain in Progress
Saturdays from 1:00 – 4:00pm
Dates: Oct 18th, 25th and Nov 1st, 8th and 15th 2025
Visit Legacy Downtown on upcoming Saturday afternoons to engage with Salish Lines artist Doug LaFortune as well as Sarah Jim, Sydney Griffith from the Quw’utsun Nation (Cowichan) and Carmin Bear-Blomberg as they work together to create a family curtain for Doug’s son, Bear.
This project invites visitors to engage with Indigenous artists, witness their creative process, and experience the beauty of their practices firsthand. By opening the making process, the artists share not only their skills, but also the values of collaboration, teaching, and cultural continuity.
We welcome you to connect, ask questions, and be part of this meaningful moment as the curtain comes to life.
Fall Exhibitions Opening Event
In celebration of two new exhibitions: Salish Lines and nunuukʷin (we sing): (re)connecting to the natural and spiritual worlds through song.
The afternoon will open with a welcome and opening prayer by Elders Terri Barnhard and Kathy LaFortune, with remarks from Curator Dr. Andrea N. Walsh and guest speakers on behalf of artists Doug LaFortune and ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook. A reception with light refreshments will follow.
We hope you will join us in celebrating these extraordinary artists with their families.
Join UVic’s Anthropology Department for this panel discussion with Doug LaFortune and ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (huuʕiiʔatḥ /Huu-ay-aht First Nation).
A part of the Colloquium Series, this panel discussion is moderated by Dr. Andrea N. Walsh in connection with the two upcoming exhibitions: Salish Lines andnunuukʷin (we sing): (re)connecting to the natural and spiritual worlds through song. Both exhibitions will be on display at Legacy Art Gallery Downtown September 18th – December 6th.
Doug LaFortune: (W̱SÁNEĆ/Tsawout First Nation) ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (huuʕiiʔatḥ /Huu-ay-aht First Nation): Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, UVic. Dr. Andrea N. Walsh: Associate professor, Smyth chair in arts & engagement, Department of Anthropology, UVic.
GEORGE CLUTESI: ḥašaḥʔap / ʔaapḥii / ʕc̓ik / ḥaaʔaksuqƛ / ʔiiḥmisʔap is an exploration of the life and legacy of artist, activist, and scholar George Clutesi. His life’s work left an indelible mark on the preservation and celebration of the Nuu-chah-nulth community’s cultural traditions and customs. Featuring an extensive collection of Clutesi’s artworks, the exhibition further honours his legacy through striking displays of archival photographs and news accounts, a documentary film about his long-lasting impact for residential school Survivors, and artworks from contemporary Nuu-chah-nulth artists and scholars inspired by Clutesi’s activism and scholarship.
Participating artists include Hjalmer Wenstob (Tla-o-quiaht), Timmy Masso (Tla-o-quiaht), Marika Swan (Tla-o-quiaht), and Petrina Dezall (Mowachaht/Muchalaht). Participating University of Victoria scholars are Dr. Dawn Smith (Ehattesaht) and Dr. Tommy Happynook (Huu-ay-aht).
The name of the exhibition, written in the c̓išaaʔatḥ language, honours Clutesi’s many celebrated traits: ḥašaḥʔap (keep, protective) / ʔaapḥii (generous) / ʕac̓ik (talented) / ḥaaʔaksuqƛ (strong willed) / ʔiiḥmisʔap (treasure).
Listen to George Clutesi Interview “Person to Person” Show on CJAV Radio, March 3 1987. 93.3 The Peak, Formerly CJAV. Courtesy of Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley.
Image: George Clutesi, The Storm, 1959, oil on canvas, private collection.
Exhibition Partners:
Visual Stories Lab Curatorial Collective: Andrea Naomi Walsh, Jennifer Claire Robinson, India Rael Young, and Raey Lee Costain (Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria).
Button blankets by Westshore Colwood Campus students. Curated by UVic Art History and Visual Studies students. A project of the Legacy Chair.
Button blanket robes are textile regalia worn in Northwest Coast feasts and ceremonies. Urban Regalia: Westshore Stories carries the vision of Gitxsan button blanket maker, fashion designer, and teacher Sugitt Lukxs — Yolonda Skelton from her studio to her students at the Westshore Colwood Campus. Westshore students tell stories from their lives and from making connections to the land using ovoids, u-forms, s-forms, melton wool fabric and buttons. UVic Art History and Visual Studies students curated this exhibition as part of their learning about oral art histories. Urban Regalia: Westshore Stories represents shared learning experiences and emerging connections between UVic and Westshore classrooms.
Legacy Maltwood | at the McPherson Library – Mearns Centre, UVic campus, Room 025 and at UVic Libraries Special Collections and University Archives Room A005
This exhibition is part of a three day symposium, “Gendered Threads of Globalization: 20th Century Textile Crossings in Asia Pacific.”, March 27-29, 2020. Full symposium details here*** Please note, this Gendered Threads of Globalization Symposium was postposed.
Curated by Claire Aitken (AHVS undergrad student) with consultation by Hitomi Harama, local kimono and Japanese culture expert and Yorika Terada (AHVS undergraduate student). Project supervised by Melia Belli Bose, Associate Professor of South Asian Art History with Caroline Riedel, Curator of Collections, UVic Legacy Art Galleries.
This exhibition showcases a dazzling array of luxury textiles from the University of Victoria’s collection and on loan from private collections. These pieces, exquisitely crafted in China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Bangladesh, shed light on women’s roles as makers, consumers, and connoisseurs between the late 19th century to today. This era witnessed monumental shifts in the production, accessibility, and commodification of garments globally. In the process, particularly women’s skilled textile labour was devalued. This exhibition draws attention to not only women’s heritage textiles throughout Asia, and their modern adaptations, it also closely considers their traditional makers and consumers.
Image: Gypsy Wharf-Sojan Badiar Ghat (Detail: Dulali reaching for a lotus flower). Design by Surayia Rahman, embroidered by artisans of Arshi in Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2006). Photo courtesy of Kantha Productions LLC, (c) Maritime City Photography. Used with permission.
| Legacy Art Galleries + Art History & Visual Studies
A printing block. Glaze samples. Pouches of pigments. Why are these items in UVic’s archives, and what can they tell us about the lives, relationships, artworks and practices of the artists who owned them? Bringing together materials from UVic’s Special Collections and University Archives in partnership with the Legacy Art Galleries, Object Biographies is a glimpse into the lives of artists through their archives.
Urban Regalia is an exhibition that unfolds in two movements at the Legacy Gallery Downtown. Curated by Carolyn Butler Palmer (Associate Professor, UVic Art History and Visual Studies), the first movement Contemporary Fashion by Sug-ii-t LukxsDesign features Gitxsan designer Yolonda Skelton’s work, which mixes the aesthetics of Gitxsan button blanket robes with a twist of Audrey Hepburn’s style. The second movement opens in January 2020 and will be curated by Dr. Butler Palmer’s students and feature the button blankets of Ms. Skelton’s students at Westshore Centre for Learning and Training-Colwood Campus.
Curated by Lorilee Wastasecoot (BC Arts Council Curatorial Intern)
We Carry Our Ancestors weaves together generations of Indigenous women through cedar basketry. For the first time ever, Legacy Art Galleries will exhibit Nuu-chah-nulth and Salish historical baskets from the collection alongside portraits of weavers including Alice Paul, Rosie Ross, Mary Jane Jackson, Mathilda Jim, Julianna Williams, Liz Happynook, Lena Jumbo and Ellen Jumbo by documentary photographer Ulli Steltzer. Contemporary baskets by Salish artists Angela Marston and Brenda Crabtree, among others, will also be exhibited. Through new and intensive community research, this exhibition honours the resilience of women who have carried their cultures forward by passing down the art of cedar basketry to future generations.
Image: Ulli Steltzer, Alice Paul, 1975, Gift of Ulli Steltzer.
Programs & Events
Cedar Weaving Workshop With Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ weavers Rose & Brian Wilson
COST – Admission is always free | Weaving kits are between $15-$30. All proceeds go to the artists. Come overload your senses with the touch and smell of cedar while listening to weaver Rose Wilson and her son Brian from Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ First Nation share how they process, harvest and weave with cedar. Weave your own cedar bracelet, headband or small basket. No previous weaving experience necessary.
Join us for a tour, discussion and tea with curator Lorilee Wastasecoot to respectfully close We Carry Our Ancestors.
By Bus – Sacred Cedar: History, Art and the Land
Land Based Workshop with Sarah Jim and Tiffany Joseph
Saturday, Oct. 19 | 9:15 am to 2:30 pm | *return time is approximate | Faceboook Event REQUIRES REGISTRATION To register, please email legacy@uvic.ca | *Space is limited COST – $20 Students / $30 General Public/UVic Staff & Faculty | *Please bring cash ***Please arrive at 9:15 at Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St. | Lekwungen territory Curator Lorilee Wastasecoot will give a short introduction and tour of the exhibition We Carry Our Ancestors: Cedar, Baskets, and Our Relationships to the Land. _____________________ 10:00am – The bus will travel from Legacy Art Gallery Downtown to Todd Inlet or SṈIDȻEȽ to support the SṈIDȻEȽ Resiliency Project by contributing to the land restoration and cultural revitalization work of Tiffany Joseph and Sarah Jim. We will gather and spend time on the land to talk about how XPȺ, which is SENĆOŦEN for cedar, is sacred and has been central to the way of life to the W̱SÁNEĆ people. Our co-hosts, Sarah Jim and Tiffany Joseph will talk about the significance of cedar through history, art, and contemporary relationships with cedar and explore the restoration strategies they contemplate in their work at SṈIDȻEȽ.
Tiffany Joseph is of ancestry is of Sḵx̱wu7mesh (Fresh Water people) and W̱SÁNEĆ (Saltwater people, Emerging people) peoples and she is a SENĆOŦEN Language & Culture Revitalization apprentice.
Sarah Jim is an emerging artist from W̱SÁNEĆ. Her ancestry is mixed but her roots are in Tseycum First Nation. She has developed her skills and interests further by attaining a BFA at Uvic. Due to her close relationship to the land, she has been making art that consists of local flora and fauna, Coast Salish elements, and dreamy landscapes. Sarah’s intense interest and love for W̱SÁNEĆ territory has taken her down a path that allows her to interact with the natural environment by learning about the native plants of the area and reflecting upon those interactions visually.
NOTE ***Please dress for the weather. We will be working outside so please be prepared for some physical activity with proper footwear, rain jacket and water bottle. ***We will have lunch together on the land so please bring yourself a bagged lunch and any snacks that you may need.
Charles Campbell and Farheen HaQ with Yuxwelupton Qwal’qaxala (Bradley Dick)
This collaborative project intersects our practices as visual artists, racialized bodies and guests on these territories. We ask the question: How does our creative work of making space for our voices and experience meet the ground and history here?
“What I see us recording is the movement of time and the way that the rock is not solid, and the way that it’s been cracked and formed and changed and it moves…”
“The effort we’re making to find our place on this land, to touch it and be grounded by it, also speaks to our ungrounding, to the places we’ve been disconnected from, where we no longer have a place.”
– Farheen & Charles in conversation
Opening Celebration
Friday July 26 | 7 pm Join us for the opening celebration of The Ground Above Us with artists Charles Campbell, Farheen HaQ and Yuxwelupton Qwal’qaxala (Bradley Dick). Refreshments will be provided!
IBPOC Meditation Night
Wednesday Sept. 11 | 7pm Join us for an evening of quiet reflection as we take in the exhibition The Ground Above Us and sit with intention and presence on Lkwungen territory. This meditation night is open to self identified Indigenous, Black and People of Colour. No meditation experience required. Some meditation cushions will be provided but please bring your own if you are able.
Farheen HaQ, Charles Campbell and Yuxwelupton Qwal’qaxala (Bradley Dick)
Closing Conversation
Thursday Sept. 12 | 7 – 9pm Join Farheen HaQ, Charles Campbell and Yuxwelupton Qwal’qaxala (Bradley Dick) in conversation as they speak about their process, lessons learned, and using art as a vehicle to deepen friendships and come into better relation with the lands of the Lkwungen people.
With support from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
