September events happening in Calgary’s arts community include: exhibitions, public-art tours, workshops and cultural programming taking place across the city.
Calgary Culture Days, which returns throughout September with a month-long programming designed to connect Calgarians with local artists, cultural organizations and creative communities. Many events are free or low-cost, ranging from exhibitions and workshops to performances and public-art experiences.
One of the most accessible ways to experience the city’s creative landscape this month is through Calgary Arts Development’s guided public-art tours. Curated walks and rides offer new perspectives on artworks already embedded in Calgary’s streets and neighbourhoods. September programming includes an eight-kilometre cycling tour focused on play and imagination, a CTrain-based tour exploring public artworks along the Blue Line, and a walking tour examining Indigenous connections, kinship and history through public art.
Jane Jin Kaisen’s Burial of This Order opens September 3 and explores ritual, collective action and social and political change through video and installation (Contemporary Calgary). On September 17, the gallery will celebrate the opening of Curtis Talwst Santiago’s worlds, worlds, worlds, alongside Kaisen’s exhibition. Santiago’s work uses miniature dioramas and storytelling to explore history, memory, migration and identity.
Beginning September 19, visitors can see three major exhibitions: Brendan Fernandes’ Other Moves, Arthur Jafa’s Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death, and Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca’s Swinguerra. Together, the exhibitions explore movement, race, identity, performance, community and contemporary visual culture.
Contemporary Calgary is also continuing its free Open Studio program for adults aged 55 and over on Wednesdays throughout September. Participants can bring their own creative projects and materials, making the sessions as much about community and conversation as art-making.