Unsilenced Stories 2027: Off the Charts

Creating Space 17
Kelowna, British Columbia
June 2027

Following its inaugural exhibition in Ottawa, Unsilenced Stories returns in 2027 with a new national peer-reviewed research-creation exhibition presented by the Canadian Association for Health Humanities as part of Creating Space 17: Off the Charts.

Through a national open call, the exhibition brings together artists from across Canada whose work explores health, illness, disability, care, identity, memory, and lived experience. By recognizing artistic practice as a form of research, Unsilenced Stories creates space for artists to contribute new ways of understanding health while fostering dialogue across the arts, humanities, healthcare, education, and community sectors.

2027 Curatorial Framework

The 2027 exhibition, Off the Charts, explores the forms of knowledge that exist beyond the records, systems, and narratives through which healthcare institutions define and document human experience.

While clinical records capture diagnoses, measurements, and observable outcomes, many aspects of health remain difficult or impossible to quantify. Experiences of illness, caregiving, disability, grief, resilience, spirituality, memory, identity, and community often exceed institutional frameworks and resist conventional forms of documentation.

Through contemporary art, Off the Charts invites artists to examine these overlooked experiences while expanding conversations about what counts as knowledge within health humanities.

Exhibition Information

Venue
Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna, British Columbia

Additional partners will be announced as the project develops.

Call for Artists

The national Call for Artists will open in Fall 2026.

Artists working in all media are encouraged to apply. Submission guidelines, eligibility requirements, jury information, and application materials will be published here when the call opens.

Key Dates

Fall 2026
National Call for Artists opens

Winter 2027
Peer review and jury selection

Spring 2027
Artist notifications

June 2027
Exhibition opening and public programming during Creating Space 17

Digital Archive

Selected works will become part of the Unsilenced Stories Digital Archive, Canada's open-access archive dedicated to contemporary artistic practice in health humanities. The archive preserves artworks, artist statements, curatorial texts, and related scholarship, extending the impact of the exhibition beyond the conference while supporting research, teaching, and public engagement.

Partnerships

Unsilenced Stories welcomes opportunities to collaborate with galleries, museums, artist-run centres, universities, healthcare organizations, community groups, and cultural institutions interested in advancing dialogue at the intersection of contemporary art and health humanities.

We welcome conversations about exhibition partnerships, touring opportunities, public programming, educational initiatives, research collaborations, and community engagement. Organizations interested in partnering with the project are encouraged to contact the Project Director.

Stay Connected

This page will be updated throughout the development of the 2027 exhibition with the Call for Artists, jury members, participating artists, public programming, installation images, media coverage, and links to the growing Unsilenced Stories Digital Archive. Stay informed through our Instagram or Listserv