Buddy at the Banff Park Zoo

2023–24 Gallery Information

FAB Gallery, 1-1 Fine Arts Building
University of Alberta
(780) 492-2081
gallery@ualberta.ca

Please note: 
FAB Gallery will be closed April 29 - May 14, 2024

Gallery hours effective May 15, 2024:

  • Wednesday to Friday from 11 am - 5 pm
  • Saturday from 12 - 3 pm

Please check specific exhibition start and end dates to ensure the gallery is open when planning your visit.

Admission is free.

Second floor gallery can only be accessed by stairs at this time. We apologize for this significant barrier to access.

Buddy at the Banff Park Zoo

By Daniel Evans, Ludmila Lima De Morais, Lianne McTavish

May 15 - June 1, 2024

First Gallery @ FAB

Reception

University of Alberta faculty, staff, students and invited guests
Thursday May 16, 2024 | 7:30 - 10 pm | FAB Gallery

About the exhibition

This virtual reality artwork allows participants to become a polar bear named Buddy. Buddy was held captive at the Banff Park Zoo in Banff National Park between 1922 and 1937. This artwork recreates Buddy’s experience of his concrete cage, equipped with high iron bars. When visitors to FAB Gallery put on a virtual reality headset and hold the controllers, they can see what Buddy saw, in polar bear vision, and move around his relatively small cage, or take a swim in his plunge pool.

Gallery talk

Join the artists & research team for an informal gallery talk about the creation of the work on Saturday May 18, at 1 pm.


 

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