SAW Centre for Contemporary Art and Media

Photo Title: An Indian Act Shooting the Indian Act by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

SAW Centre for Contemporary Art and Media includes the following organizations: Galerie SAW Gallery, SAW Video and
Club SAW. For more than 30 years, SAW has supported countless
interdisciplinary artists, from James Luna to Joseph Beuys to Tanya Mars. For submission information, please email sawprogramming [at] artengine [dot] ca. See also www.sawvideo.com.

Galerie SAW Gallery:
* promotes contemporary Canadian and international artists, emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds.
* presents a contemporary art program with a strong focus on Canadian performance and media art, with bilingual interpretative material produced for each exhibition.
* adapts to the changing nature of the contemporary arts by maintaining an evolving interdisciplinary presentation space comprised of SAW Gallery, Club SAW and the SAW outdoor courtyard.
* serves the needs of diverse communities through audience development initiatives.
* engages in collaborations with other arts organizations to increase opportunities for exhibiting artists and to outreach to new audiences.

Background

Galerie SAW Gallery was founded in 1973. Its first home was the
legendary café Le Hibou where it was a testing ground for new and experimental art forms, focusing on the performance and media arts. During the 1980s, video cameras and editing equipment were acquired. Over the years, the video facilities evolved independently, and today SAW Video thrives as a separate entity. Housed in common quarters, and still formally
connected through the joint management of a film, video and music presentation space called Club SAW, the two organizations continue to collaborate on many projects.

Club SAW

Club SAW, a flexible space accommodating an audience of 150, is a unique feature at SAW and contributes significantly to the character of the centre as a whole. Equipped with a bar and state-of-the-art sound system, it is used for screenings, concerts, artist talks, panel discussions, receptions, and workshops. It is a social space for the community to meet with exhibiting artists in an informal context.