MOA Opens From the Deep With a Free Thursday Night

What the exhibition is

Ayana V. Jackson is an American artist, and this show builds on the underwater world imagined by Drexciya, the Detroit techno duo. MOA describes it as a feminist, Pan-African aquatopia inhabited by water spirits, drawn from African and Afro-Atlantic traditions, that turns the Atlantic, the route of the slave trade, into a space for speculative fiction about ancestry and resilience. Expect large photographs, immersive video, animation and installation in the Audain Gallery.

The show was first presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in 2023 and is touring with International Arts and Artists. It stays at MOA until March 29, 2027, so the opening is not your only chance. It is the cheapest and the liveliest one, though, and the electronic music link makes a DJ more fitting than usual at a gallery opening.

Getting there and making it a night

MOA is at 6393 NW Marine Drive on the UBC campus, and the trip out takes longer than people expect. Several bus routes end at UBC, a short walk from the museum, and there is paid parking on campus. Arrive at 6pm and you have an hour in the Great Hall and the new galleries before the speeches.

Afterward, Koerner's Pub is a few minutes' walk across campus for a pint and a debrief. If the opening sells you on the place, regular Thursday evenings are a good second visit: MOA stays open until 9pm and admission is half price after 5pm, which takes the $26 adult ticket down to $13.

Who this suits

A couple where one of you loves art and the other loves music has a rare overlap here. It also works as an early date, because a gallery gives you something to look at and talk about, the program has a fixed end at 8pm, and the evening costs nothing unless you stay for drinks.