New exhibition featuring local Jamaican-Canadian artists set to open at MacEwan University

An image of artworks that will be on display for a new exhibit 'New Routes: threads through space and time' which will open at Mitchell Art Gallery on Sept. 19, 2025. (Source: Mitchell Art Gallery)

An exhibition featuring the works of four local Jamaican-Canadian artists is set to open in downtown Edmonton on Friday.

New Routes: threads through space and time examines the journey of four artists – who are Jamaican or of Jamaican heritage – and how life in Edmonton has shaped their work.

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According to the Mitchell Art Gallery, located in Allard Hall at MacEwan University where the new exhibit will be displayed, the artists have “distinct artistic practices” and that diversity will be explored and tied together with their shared relationship to Jamaican heritage and living in Edmonton at the same time.

The four artists – AJA Louden (a MacEwan graduate), Raneece Buddan, Garfield Morgan and Elsa Robinson – spent nine months conversing and sharing ideas to create works that include paintings, ceramics, sculptures, fibre and textiles, and one collaborative piece that was created through their on-going conversations.

The themes explored include diaspora, Jamaican culture and African heritage, and “being cultural conduits between their ancestors and descendants,” according to a news release.

An essay by Yaniya Lee, who contributed to the artists’ discussions during the art project, will accompany the exhibition and copies will be made available at the gallery.

The exhibition runs from Friday to Dec. 6 at Mitchell Art Gallery. A drop-in art-making session with Louden, Morgan and Robinson will be held at the gallery from 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 29.