The Kamloops Art Gallery has launched its summer season with two exhibitions: "The Pit" and "Dancing through to the other side," running through September 2025. "The Pit" features Iranian Kelowna-based artist Nasim Pirhadi, who transforms the gallery's Cube space into a traditional Iranian gym (zurkhaneh) open to all genders and beliefs, challenging patriarchal restrictions. "Dancing through to the other side" presents screen-dance works by interdisciplinary artists including Justine A. Chambers, Luciana Freire D’Anunciação, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Andrea Nann, and Dreamwalker, exploring movement, care, and the body as a living archive.
These exhibitions matter because they foreground the body as a site of political and social agency, addressing themes of gender equality, cultural reclamation, and collective care. Pirhadi's work directly confronts Iranian patriarchal traditions, while the dance-based installations expand how galleries can engage with performance and embodied knowledge, offering audiences a multi-sensory experience that challenges conventional exhibition formats.