Image: Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq will open 'Terra Cognita/Incognita: Revisiting the Landscape' on August 19 during WAG Wednesday Nights, with the exhibition set to run from August 20, 2026 through November 1, 2027. Curated by Dr. Riva Symko, head of collections and exhibitions and curator of Canadian art, the show brings together more than 125 historical and contemporary works from the gallery’s permanent collection, alongside new commissions and recent work by local artists.
Presented under the title 'Terra Cognita/Incognita', the exhibition is built around the phrase meaning “known land/unknown land.” WAG says the project explores how artists across generations have represented, reimagined, mapped, celebrated and contested landscape, treating land both as physical territory and as a cultural idea. The gallery frames the exhibition as part of a reassessment of how landscape has been tied to artistic and national identity, while also examining the colonial frameworks through which land has been renamed, mapped and exploited.
The exhibition draws on a wide range of mediums and includes works from WAG-Qaumajuq’s permanent collection that move from pastoral scenes to images and materials addressing extraction, displacement and environmental change. According to the gallery, some artists present land as a living, relational presence, while others reveal its vulnerability in the face of climate crisis. The exhibition is also described as part of a revamp of the permanent collection galleries, with the aim of highlighting familiar works alongside rarely seen pieces in fresh ways.
Alongside the historical and contemporary material from the collection, the exhibition includes work by four local contemporary artists: Anna Binta Diallo, Sarah Fuller, Debra Frances Plett and Lourdes Still. WAG notes that Still is creating a new commission for the project, while the others are represented as part of the exhibition’s local contemporary perspective. The combination places recent Winnipeg-based practice in direct conversation with the gallery’s collection holdings.
The opening will take place at 7 pm on August 19 as part of WAG Wednesday Nights, the gallery’s free after-hours program held from 5 to 9 pm. WAG says the evening will also feature a live performance by cellist Leanne Zacharias, with sounds intended to evoke a deep connection with the land. WAG Wednesday Nights is presented as a weekly free-admission event, though the gallery notes there will be no event on August 26 because of scheduled programming.
The exhibition page identifies the show as part of WAG-Qaumajuq’s current gallery program at Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, 300 Memorial Blvd, Winnipeg. The gallery’s materials also note that 'Terra Cognita/Incognita' is supported by the institution as it continues to present collection-based exhibitions across the permanent galleries, with the upcoming show joining other ongoing displays including 'Omalluq: Pictures from my Life' and 'Backyard Florilegium'.
