Curatorial Talk by Samantha Lance: “Stitching Ancestral Histories and Diasporic Stories: New Reflections on Curating Textiles”

Join the Textile and Materiality Research Cluster for a special virtual talk with curator and writer Samantha Lance as she shares reflections on curating textile practices. This session will explore ancestral, diasporic, and contemporary contexts, and will be especially relevant for anyone interested in material culture, embodied histories, and textiles as vessels of memory and community.

Samantha will give an in-depth walkthrough of her graduating exhibition, The Love that Remains, which was on display at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. She’ll also discuss her experience at the Textile Society of America’s 2024 symposium, “Shifts & Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles”.

As the current Curator at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, Samantha will also touch on the exhibition To Our Reunited Future by Moroccan-Canadian artist Rihab Essayh.

After the talk, you’re invited to participate in a story-sharing circle to reflect on textile practices as expressions of love, ancestral rituals, and intergenerational connection.

ABOUT SAMANTHA LANCE:

Samantha Lance is a Canadian curator and writer whose work fosters meaningful connections between artists and communities. She holds a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies from the University of Toronto and a BFA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University. She is currently Curator at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington.

Lance has worked with institutions including the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, C Magazine, the Art Gallery of Algoma, Onsite Gallery, and Latitude Gallery New York. Her graduating exhibition, The Love that Remains (Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2024), brought together Toronto-based artists whose textile practices recover matrilineal histories of displacement and belonging. She continues to research and collaborate with artists and curators advocating for women’s labour, textile practices, and ancestral techniques, with a particular interest in experimental, multisensory exhibition strategies that expand accessibility and dialogue.

📅 September 29, 2025

⏱️ 5-7 PM

📍 Online