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A&E column: Art and music coming to Cowichan

What’s coming up in Arts and Entertainment
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Excellent Frameworks Gallery in downtown Duncan is hosting an exhibition of miniatures in November, 2021. (Submitted by Excellent Frameworks)

Excellent Frameworks Gallery in Duncan has a couple of shows coming up that you won’t want to miss.

First up, opening on Nov. 7 and running until Nov. 30, is an annual exhibition of miniatures, featuring works of art 2.25 inches in size.

“In this fifth annual miniature exhibition, artists were invited to create minuscule creations with a size limitation of a 2.25 inches circle,” explains a press release for the show. “This years theme was ‘Circles’ and each artist interprets this universal theme in their miniature masterpiece.

“Miniature art has been practiced for over 1,000 years, with a rich history that goes back to the medieval times. Today, miniature works are treasured by collectors worldwide, and there are several guilds and competitions solely dedicated to it. Here on Vancouver Island, Excellent Frameworks wanted to bring this art form to our small island and the heart of the Cowichan Valley is the perfect place for it.”

One artist from the show will be chosen as Miniature Master, and there will also be a People’s Choice Award.

The gallery is located at 115 Kenneth St. in Duncan, and works can also be viewed online at www.excellentframeworks.ca or on the gallery’s Instagram account @excellentframeworks.

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Next up at Excellent Frameworks is ‘Everywhere Beyond the Horizon’, the first solo exhibit in two years by Squamish artist Mike Alexander.

The exhibit will feature Alexander’s Ojibwe culture: “since 2017 has steadfastly pursued his Ojibwe culture in his artistic practice to understand himself and the sacred teachings left for him by his ancestors,” says a press release for the show.

The exhibit will feature eight original paintings. If you want to meet the artist, head to the gallery on Saturday, Dec. 4 between noon and 3 p.m.

“The bright, full colour thematic imagery of the works is a traditional reflection of the world known by the People indigenous to Treaty #1 territory in what is now known as Southern Manitoba,” says a press release. “Mike is part of the Fourth Wave of the Woodlands School of Art, and practices in the style pioneered by the likes of Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray, Jackson Beardy and others who articulated a world view depicting non-human beings, land, water, and the elements that might be found in a dream or during spiritual visions associates with ceremony. His work is deeply rooted in geographical location of Southern Manitoba where he was born and lived until the age of 39. For Mike, the traditional prairie homelands of the Anishinaabe are what drives his practice.”

Alexander is a Sixties Scoop survivor and his art has been a way for him to reconnect with his roots.

“Mike’s art proudly and vividly conveys an emerging evolution of his own individual aesthetic as it relates to the traditional past of the Anishinaabemowin,” says the press release. “His work is a warm invitation and hearty welcome to those whose homelands are both distant and close to heart. Everywhere Beyond the Horizon is where Mike is pulling from to create these works and these visions tell life-long and hard-earned stories of connection, hope and reclamation.”

The exhibit opens Dec. 1.

The gallery is located at 115 Kenneth St. in Duncan, and works can also be viewed online at www.excellentframeworks.ca or on the gallery’s Instagram account @excellentframeworks.

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The Cowichan Valley Music Teachers Association are holding two concerts to celebrate Canada Music Week.

“The absence of live music, over the course of the pandemic, makes this year’s celebration all the more exciting,” said a press release for the concerts.

Canada Music Week is celebrated across the country each year during the third week of November. In the Cowichan Valley, the CVMTA has a biannual tradition of holding concerts to mark the occasion.

This year the concerts are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 at Duncan United Church, with the first starting at 1:30 p.m. and the second at 3 p.m.

About 40 music students, aged 6 to 86, will perform works by Canadian composers and arrangers on piano, voice, harp and violin.

Most of the composers whose works will be used are still alive and well today, said a press release for the event, and some will even be in the audience or performing their own works.

“Canadians tend to give descriptive titles to their compositions…we will get to hear everything from ‘Memories in an Ancient Garden’ and ‘The Policeman’, to ‘A Cookie for Snip’ and ‘Birthday Cake Sprinkles’,” the release said.

There is no charge for admission, however numbers are limited and you must reserve your tickets in advance at www.cowichanmusic.com

Vaccination is not required to attend, though it is recommended for those 12 and up. However, all attendees must wear masks, sanitize their hands, and sit in family bubbles.

“We look forward to sharing this lively, varied and beautiful music with all interested members of the public,” said the CVMTA.