Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery Contemporary art gallery on the UBC Vancouver campus. Admission is free.

The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery’s mandate is to research, exhibit, collect, publish, educate and develop programs in the field of contemporary art and in contemporary approaches to the practice of art history and criticism.

Call for xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Artists!The Belkin is seeking to commission an emerging or experienced Musqueam artist ...
06/01/2026

Call for xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Artists!

The Belkin is seeking to commission an emerging or experienced Musqueam artist to design a temporary banner to be installed on the gallery’s exterior. The Belkin is located at a prominent location on the north end of campus that is a historical look-out point to the Coast Salish seas, and faces the Main Mall, a major thoroughfare of campus in the Arts and Culture precinct.

Application Deadline: Friday, June 12, 2026

A selected artist will be invited to submit a two-dimensional design to be printed as a large-scale banner that thoughtfully engages the exterior of the gallery and its location on the ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. They will be supported in the creation of the new banner artwork by both Belkin staff and an established artist from the Musqueam community.

For more details, visit 🔗 www.belkin.ubc.ca/call-for-musqueam-artists/ 🔗

Join us for the final weekend of Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition with work by ...
05/30/2026

Join us for the final weekend of Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition with work by Yihk Qu Chan, Violet Johnson, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi, Nevada Lynn, Scott Massey and Golriz Rezvani!

🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/exhibitions/mfa-2026/ 🔗

Elsewhere, Otherwise: UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition is presented with support from the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia and Martyn Golding.

Images: Work by Yihk Qu Chan (floor) and Violet Johnson (wall); work by Scott Massey; work by Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi; work by Golriz Rezvani; work by Nevada Lynn.

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This is the final week to see Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition with work by Yih...
05/27/2026

This is the final week to see Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition with work by Yihk Qu Chan, Violet Johnson, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi, Nevada Lynn, Scott Massey and Golriz Rezvani!

🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/exhibitions/mfa-2026/ 🔗

Elsewhere, Otherwise: UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition is presented with support from the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia and Martyn Golding.

Images: Work by Yihk Qu Chan (floor) and Violet Johnson (wall); work by Scott Massey; work by Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi; work by Golriz Rezvani; work by Nevada Lynn.

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We send our sincere congratulations to the six shortlisted artists of the 2026 Sobey Art Award, with a special shout-out...
05/26/2026

We send our sincere congratulations to the six shortlisted artists of the 2026 Sobey Art Award, with a special shout-out to the Pacific finalist, Samuel Roy-Bois!

Samuel Roy-Bois's work is included in The Structure of Smoke exhibition at UBC-Okanagan Gallery, on view through August 18. His practice is concerned with the definitions of space, the construction of form's meaning and temporality. As a resident of the Okanagan who has lived through numerous fire seasons including 2021 which burned the land on which he lives, Roy-Bois's work considers the form and fragility of built structures and in doing so asks us to think about our intersection with land and with time. His one-second sculpture photographs included in the exhibition (Spion Kop, 2023) capture a fleeting moment, using burned materials surrounding his home and studio. His balanced sculptures (Balloon [Hubris], [Friendly Reminder] and [Content Creator], 2025) reveal surreal built histories—both domestic and industrial—that use timber in an environment of lived experience that privileges capitalism over accrued knowledges.

Our congratulations to all the Sobey shortlisted artists: Melaw Nakehk’o (Circumpolar), Samuel Roy-Bois (Pacific), Audie Murray (Prairies), Lotus L. Kang (Ontario), Caroline Monnet (Quebec) and Shane Perley-Dutcher (Atlantic). Works by the six finalists will be on view at the National Gallery of Canada from September 4, 2026 to January 4, 2027; the winner will be announced on November 14, 2026.

Photos:

As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Scott Massey’s installation works explore the influence of relativity on...
05/26/2026

As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Scott Massey’s installation works explore the influence of relativity on one’s perception of time, imagining dimensions beyond our current awareness. In The Fields That See (2026), the artist constructs a luminous cubic temporal shell of transparent rods surrounding a collection of activated light sources along with an array of mirrors, lenses, pendulums and motors. In Misanthrope (2026), a piece of petrified wood appears to float above a uniform pile of shimmering sand reminiscent of an endless hourglass of sand in repose.

Scott Massey (Canadian, b. 1971) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work connects specific inherent material qualities to concepts of deep geologic and astronomical time/spacetime. Using an experimental methodology while often incorporating subverted apparatus in the development of his work, Massey posits an “astro-material poetics” as the foundation of his practice. He accentuates and amplifies phenomena, heightened through artificial means or slight manipulations, proposed in speculative formations of precarity. Through a combination of considered material selection, industrial fabrication processes, artisanal craftsmanship and restrained gesture, Massey’s works endeavour to engage deep-time references alongside our comparatively transitory lifetimes. Massey holds a BFA in photography from Emily Carr University, and has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Canada.

Massey’s work is on view in Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition, alongside work by Yihk Qu Chan, Violet Johnson, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi, Nevada Lynn and Golriz Rezvani, through Sunday, May 31.

🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/exhibitions/mfa-2026/ 🔗

Images: Scott Massey, The Fields That See and Misanthrope (details), both 2026

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As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi’s installation work extends the artist’s inves...
05/25/2026

As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi’s installation work extends the artist’s investigation into how bodies and identities are shaped by systems of surveillance, migration and control, shifting from bureaucratic documents to the architectural thresholds of airport border terminals. Using a range of materials and processes to interlay and embed images and forms into concrete and the large-scale walls of the gallery, this installation draws elements from border terminals and the bodies that move through them. Airports become spaces of enforced pause, compliance and heightened visibility, transformed into slowed, tactile objects that hold the psychic and physical residue of movement. Grounded in lived experience and inherited histories of border crossing, the installation materializes moments of transit that are typically passed through, revealing the invisible forces embedded within contemporary systems of mobility.

Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi (b. California, 1995) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, whose practice examines global migration, bureaucratic systems and cross-border identities through sculptural installation, photography, printmaking, painting and video performance. Jordi investigates how bureaucracy shapes everyday existence, drawing on familial and personal experiences of migration through systems of governmental control and cultural exchange, while continuously navigating those systems and examining how the body and psyche is formed through surveillance, movement and in-betweenness. Jordi holds a BA in art practice from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jordi’s work is on view in Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition, alongside work by Yihk Qu Chan, Violet Johnson, Nevada Lynn, Scott Massey and Golriz Rezvani, through Sunday, May 31.

🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/exhibitions/mfa-2026/ 🔗

Image: Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi, Air-Side (details), 2026

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As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Nevada Lynn has created a series of symbolic honourings for Indigenous l...
05/24/2026

As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise, Nevada Lynn has created a series of symbolic honourings for Indigenous leaders in recognition of the work they do within their communities. Rather than relying on physical likeness or externally assigned narratives, the works are created through a relational process that centres agency and self-definition. Lynn invited Indigenous leaders across nations to choose five symbols to express who they are, which the artist then interpreted through formal, compositional and material choices. Shaped by Indigenous ways of seeing and being, each leader is celebrated for enacting care through land-based work, policy, education, cultural resurgence or advocacy. These honourings aim to offer context for this work while inviting viewers to engage with Indigenous leaders who are shaping our present and future.

Nevada Lynn (Canadian, b. 1973) is an interdisciplinary Red River Métis artist of mixed European ancestry whose work explores Indigenous resurgence, relational care and visual storytelling through research-creation and material practice. She holds a BFA from Emily Carr University, where she has taught, and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Lynn’s work is on view in Elsewhere, Otherwise, this year's Master of Fine Arts Graduate exhibition, alongside work by Yihk Qu Chan, Violet Johnson, Amanda Kachadoorian Jordi, Scott Massey and Golriz Rezvani, through Sunday, May 31.
🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/exhibitions/mfa-2026/ 🔗

Images: Nevada Lynn, Honouring series, 2025-26.

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Today, Saturday, at 1 and 3 pm! Join us for a Workshop with Yihk Qu Chan: Turtles All The Way DownHow can one transform ...
05/23/2026

Today, Saturday, at 1 and 3 pm!
Join us for a Workshop with Yihk Qu Chan: Turtles All The Way Down

How can one transform one’s past into something new in the present? As part of the exhibition Elsewhere, Otherwise: UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition, join artist Yihk Qu Chan as she teaches how to fold paper turtles out of old memory remnants and shares how meaning can be made through the repetition of gestures. Participants are encouraged to bring any personally significant paper materials they wish to let go of. Paper will also be provided by the artist. Participants can choose to take their turtles home or add their folded memory to the artist’s collection.

This workshop is designed for adults. Space is limited; to register, email [email protected] and include your name, the workshop title "Turtles", and your preferred workshop time.

For more details, visit 🔗 https://belkin.ubc.ca/events/workshop-with-yihk-qu-chan/

Yihk Qu Chan (Canadian, b. 1997) unpacks the cultural and sociopolitical systemic traumas she has inherited as a second-generation Hong Kong-Canadian settled within the tensions of colonial legacies. Her research looks at intergenerational immigrant relations and the invisibility of Asian labour under Western hegemony, while her studio practice centres the intimacy of the personal and explores how the materialization of time through ritualized art-making may soften the delineations between one’s memory, the present and their imagination of the future. Yihk Qu, an Anglicized namesake, is a textual synthesis of her identities as Natalie Chan and 易翹—a pairing of characters which come together to mean “to exchange the meaning of excellence,” and reflect an ethos defined by a desire to seek what transformative potentials can be found through translating across cultural borderlines. She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University, co-founded the local Vancouver arts collective Withintensions and continues to enjoy educating, illustrating and tattooing alongside her conceptual work.

Image: Yihk Qu Chan, Turtles All The Way Down (detail), 2026
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Today we are thinking about the Komagata Maru incident. It was on May 23, 1914 that the Japanese ship the Komagata Maru ...
05/23/2026

Today we are thinking about the Komagata Maru incident. It was on May 23, 1914 that the Japanese ship the Komagata Maru entered Burrard Inlet with 376 passengers, mostly from the Punjab, seeking immigration to Canada. Canada’s then recently strengthened anti-immigration laws were deployed to prevent the entry of all but 20 of the passengers (who already had resident status), in spite of attempts by supporters from Vancouver’s established South Asian community to resolve the issue through the courts. The ship languished in the harbour until July 23 when it was escorted to sea by a gunboat. On returning to India, the colonial police and troops attempted to stop the passengers from entering Kolkata as they were rumoured to have been radicalized into anti-British rule activists. Twenty were killed in the ensuing skirmish.

Vancouver artist Roy Arden made a series of works from 1985 to 1990 using archival images of Vancouver's “ill-concealed traumas," making a kind of history that ran counter to the usual settler culture narratives of triumph and progress. His topics included the unemployed workers' occupation of the Post Office and the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1931, the round-up of Japanese-Canadians for dispossession and internment in concentration camps in 1942 and the Komagata Maru incident of 1914. These works depict and commemorate the ugly side of our collective past.

Read more about Komgata Maru:

https://belkin.ubc.ca/works-from-the-collection-roy-arden/


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The University Of British Columbia, 1825 Main Mall
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V6T1Z2

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Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
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