The exhibitions, projects, and programs in our golden anniversary year push beyond celebratory timestamping and make space for open discussions on the futurity of art and clay. We are using this half-century celebration of artistic production, cultural festivities, connections, and storytelling as an opportunity to bring multiple generations of Canadian clay artists together. It is not a survey or biennale of contemporary ceramics, but a blending (or bending) of time, so that what we might call the past, or understand as the future, can be seen as imagining the now—the now as the future. It works against prescribing a unidirectional time trap because the gallery, like clay, is active and our histories are complex and many.

The exhibition’s title is taken from the words and guidance of Kim Wheatly, Ojibwe Anishinaabe Grandmother from Shawanaga First Nation Reserve, who reminds us that indoctrinated time is not the only reading or measure of time, and that the natural cycles of earth and cosmos inform our ways of being. What is time in the context of one of the oldest artforms in existence, one comprised of a material—earthen clay—that embodies the passing of time itself?

Clay is a language. It is a form of knowledge. It is practice and discipline. It is a complex alchemy. It is a tool, it is play, it is love. It is an ancient technology. It is the cosmos, the future and the past. At its core, clay embodies a timeless connection to the earth, a tangible link between human and non-human worlds via its communion with all the elements—earth, water, air, and fire.

Clay is also what propels us as an institution. The AGB holds the largest comprehensive collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world, totaling more than 4,000 works. This anniversary exhibition brings works from our collection into conversation with artists Alex Jacobs-Blum, Roy Caussy x Glenn Lewis, Gabi Dao, Hannah Faas, Thomas Haskell, Manuel Mathieu, Julie Moon, Lindsay Montgomery, Anahita Norouzi, ORXSTRA, Linda Sormin, and Shanie Tomassini.

Today, as we stand looking towards the next fifty years, the trajectory of contemporary clay in Canada continues to inspire and captivate us. Artists, armed with a reverence for tradition and a hunger for innovation, are reshaping the landscape with a refreshing, expansive boldness and vision. Digital technologies, sustainable practices, and interdisciplinary collaborations offer new avenues for exploration, while old techniques and cultural heritage provide a grounding and depth to their work.

As we commemorate this milestone anniversary, we celebrate the achievements of the past but also embrace the boundless potential of the future. Through the transformative alchemy of clay, we find a mirror reflecting the diversity, resilience, and infinite creativity of Canadian artists. In their hands, clay transcends its earthly origins to become a vessel for imagination, a conduit for storytelling, a tether to the cosmos, and a testament to the enduring, unifying power of art.

The Art Gallery of Burlington is supported by the City of Burlington, Ontario Arts Council, and Ontario Trillium Foundation. The AGB’s learning programming has been sponsored by The Burlington Foundation and the incite Foundation for the Arts. The opening reception for our Winter Exhibitions was made possible with the generous support of Louise Cooke and the 50th Anniversary Exhibitions have been sponsored by the J.P. Bickell Foundation.