Select Curatorial Projects
LOOT: Orienting to Matter is a project by the Ten Thieves Art Collective
Curated by Deborah Thompson
Langham Cultural Centre, Kaslo, BC
Exhibition – March 06-May -08, 2026
Symposium – March 13-15, 2026
The Ten Thieves Artist Collective consists of 9 artists; Susan Andrews Grace, Hildur Jonasson, Jim Holyoak, Marnie Temple, Carol Wallace, Genevieve Robertson, Maggie Shirley, Eimear Laffan and Deborah Thompson.
In a exhibition of new work and a three day symposium, LOOT explored the vibrancy and agency of Matter. With a self-reflexive and critical look at the settler-colonial legacy of extraction and exploitation in service of gaining profit. It challenged the worn out narratives that have placed the white male at the top with all else lesser than and up for the taking and which have lead to a planet in crisis. Through the considered new works of the artists new ways of perceiving Matter, and forming new relationships between humans and the non-humans in a manner of reciprocity and kinship rather than market value.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Exhibition photos by Kenton Doupe.
Salt: the distillation of matter
Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery (NMAG – formerly Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History)
Nelson, BC
2008-09
I was a guest curator for the Museum at this time. In this curatorial project I was interested in exploring impermance. I was working with the through the metaphor of salt for its associations with preservation and transformation processes. I selected three artists whose work explores the nature of impermanence – Julie Castonguay, Nicole Dextras and Haruko Okano.
“For Deborah Thompson the show’s curator, the exhibition is all about dealing with the theme of impermance: life and death and renewal with a lens on matter in its transformative ways. The show’s title comes from the process of mummification in ancient Egypt where in sea salt was used to preserve the body for the afterlife. This relationship between matter and renewal is at the heart of the exhibition and the works showcased by the three selected artists.”
from the Nelson Star
We acknowledge the support of the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Aliance.
ROW: Reflections on Water
Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery (NMAG)
Nelson, BC
2009-10
This is one of the shows I produced as gallery curator for the Museum. It’s group exhibition that explored the symbolic associations of water through the juxtaposition of selected artifacts from Touchstones Nelson’s archives with the work of nine contemporary artists. Selected artists include, Chris Welsby, Julie Castonguay, Boukje Elzinga, Patrick Field, Marilyn James, Tanya Pixie Johnson, Destanne Norris, Karen Rice and Nancy Rosenblum.
We acknowledge the support of the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.
THIRST: Thinking with our senses
Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery
Columbia River Treaty Conference
Spokane, WA
Off site pop-up exhibition
2014
This group show was created to bring an another voice into the discussion on the future of the Columbia River Watershed. The exhibition was staged over a three day period during the run of the Columbia River Basin Transboundary Conference in Spokane, WA. In this sense is was a pop – up exhibition with the installation of the work created by 9 artists in the conference centre lobby. Canadian and American artists were selected for the exhibition and to present at the conference. The artists included were Heather MacAskill, Vaughn Bell, Mary Babcock, Toma Villa, Betty Fahlman, Jan Kabatoff and members of Ananta (Alison Girvan, Kathleen Neudorf, Noemi Kiss).
We acknowledge the support of the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance. The exhibition was granted an award for “innovation in exhibitions” through the Canadian Museum Association in 2015.
