An upcoming exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) aims to shine a spotlight on the great works of animation produced in Ottawa since the mid-20th century. The exhibition, Frame by Frame: Animation in Ottawa, is being put on at the Centretown Gallery in a partnership between the OAG and the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), which is coming up on its 50th anniversary this fall.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival runs from September 23 to September 27 across downtown Ottawa.
Frame by Frame celebrates the long-lasting impact of collaborative human creativity, speaking to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Decent Work and Economic Growth and Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
The exhibition is curated by Chris Robinson, Meghan Ho, and Kelly Neall. Neall and Robinson both work for the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Robinson as Artistic Director of the Festival and Neall as Managing Director. Meghan Ho is a curator working for the Ottawa Art Gallery.
It is amazing to see the results of Ho, Robinson, and Neall's collaboration and what it reveals about the range of animation styles coming from Ottawa's artists and studios.
The exhibition includes works of hand-drawn 2D animation, puppetry, and pieces that incorporate animated elements into live-action film. Alma Duncan's work in Folksong Fantasy stands out: a short film with handmade puppets by Duncan, which brings three folk songs (The Riddle Song, Who Killed Cock Robin?, and The Cooper of Fife) to life through puppeted stories.
Shannon Amen is also a stand-out pick amongst the films that will be on display in late September. The film follows a young woman who struggles with her sexuality, as she's bombarded by religious guilt. This is also a project that deals with suicide, described on the National Film Board of Canada's website as "a loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide."
There are many other films on display that are worth giving a watch: from the hockey-loving silliness of Raccoons On Ice to the classic 1952 silent film Neighbours by Norman McLaren, which is a half-animated, half-live action film. The animation tells Ottawa's story: that the city has an expansive creative history, one that will continue to inspire new generations of animators.