Parallax(e)
Perspectives on the Canada–U.S. Border
November 7, 2026 to March 28, 2027
Nicola Wealth Gallery
Canada and the United States of America have immense powers over people and legal rights. Yet they are not the first or only nations in these lands. What do we really know about the history of the 49th parallel? How was it visualized and carved into the landscape over a century and a half ago? What perspectives are lost when we look at the boundary line from only two sides?
This landmark exhibition brings together rare historic photographs, watercolours, and maps made by the boundary surveyors who drew a line from the Salish Sea to the Rocky Mountains between 1857 and 1862. Parallax(e) puts these nineteenth-century archival materials into dialogue with sculptures, photographs, installations, and new media works made by contemporary artists. Together, these creative contributions explore the communities, cultural connections, and ecosystems that were here before, and persist today, despite the boundary line’s impacts.
Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–U.S. Border / Perspectives sur la frontière Canada–É.-U. is co-curated by Dr. Julia Lum and Indigenous artist and curatorial collaborators Dr. Shawn Brigman, Dr. Michelle Jack u? sn?mtÌtk?, Deb Silver, Xémóntalot Carrielynn Victor, and Dr. T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss. The exhibition is organized and circulated by The Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, BC., with generous support by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Presented with support from:
Friday, November 6 | 6 to 8 pm
