Embassy Cultural House

EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE

Established in 1983, the Embassy Cultural House was a community-driven gallery and hosted interdisciplinary programs. It closed its physical doors in 1990. In 2020, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and community website.
A not-for-profit initiative, the ECH delivers its projects through a dedicated team of volunteers, partners, community contributors and angel investors. Occasional funding through project arts grants also supports the ECH to honour the principle of payment of fees to contributors.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Embassy Cultural House, Annual Tabloid, February 2025

The Embassy Cultural House, February 2025 tabloid documents the ECH’s programming from January 2024 to January 2025, in addition to works, writings, and news from the local arts community in London, ON, and the ECH community abroad. This issue was launched at the Rock, Paper, Scissors Book+Print Fair co-hosted by PS Guelph, Art Gallery of Guelph, and Musagetes on February 23, 2024.

This edition includes a preview for ECH's upcoming online exhibition Not/For The Money, feature articles by Dr. Qanita Lilla and Sarah Kendzior, an interview by Jessica Irene Joyce with artists Michelle Wilson and Mikaila Stevens, a lentil stew recipe, and more.

Locations where you may or may not find the tabloid include Museum London, Colour by Schubert, Brown and Dickson Bookstore, Jill's Table, Western University's Visual Arts Department, Locomotive Espresso (Pall Mall location), The Bag Lady, Covent Garden Market, and The Framing and Art Centre. While quantities last!

To order a copy of this tabloid, please contact [email protected]

Sheltering as Radical Care in partnership with Indwell and Antler River Rally

Sheltering as Radical Care is an Embassy Cultural House community participatory project led by London artists Michelle Wilson and Mikaila Stevens, was publicly launched on November 9, 2024 at an Antler River Rally clean-up at Greenway Park. More than 80 people assembled to remove garbage from the riverbeds of the Deshkan Ziibi, and the artwork, a quilt-like tarp created from fused reclaimed plastics, acted as a shelter for celebratory doughnuts and coffee provided by DoughEV. The artwork and launch were made possible through a grant from the Ontario Arts Council’s Artists in Communities and Schools Projects awarded to the Embassy Cultural House.

To learn more about the project, and to read an interview with Michelle Wilson, Mikaila Stevens, and Jessica Irene Joyce, please visit the project page.

Visit the Hiding in Plain Sight Virtual Tour

Hiding in Plain Sight Exhibition

Embassy Cultural House catalogue now online

It is with great pleasure that we are sharing an online version of the now out-of-print The Embassy Cultural House, 1983 to 1990 catalogue. This catalogue was published in 2012 to accompany the survey exhibit “The Embassy Cultural House, 1983 to 1990" presented at Museum London.

The late Robert (Bob) McKaskell curated the survey exhibit, and the catalogue was edited by the late Melanie Townsend. The catalogue also includes essays by historical curator Michael Baker and Toronto-based artist, educator, and activist Rebecca Deiderichs. The Museum London public program included a sold-out concert of an improvizational jazz performance by Eric Stach and local musicians.

With special thanks to Museum London, the estates of both Bob McKaskell and Melanie Townsend, all the contributors and supporters of the catalogue, and Colour by Schubert for making this publication available online to a broader public. Click here to read the catalogue online.

In memory of curator and writer Bob McKaskell, 1943–2020

In Memory of Bob McKaskell

It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that our good friend Bob McKaskell, independent curator and writer, died on June 30, 2020, from cancer.

He divided his time between Port Dover, Ontario, and Oaxaca, Mexico. While in Oaxaca, he decided to study Spanish, and he had just initiated a program of curating exhibits of Oaxacan artists in his apartment located in the centro historico of Oaxaca. He was a great cook, an excellent gardener, and his pursuit of knowledge was startlingly wide reaching. Anyone who knew Bob understood that his sometimes stubborn nature contributed to his ability to intensely focus in a very particular and detailed way to whatever subjects grabbed his interest.

Bob taught contemporary art history for many years at Western University. He was a huge supporter of both Canadian and international artists and had a commitment to challenging art practices, including conceptual art, performance works, and independent artists' projects. While in London, he was involved in programming at the Embassy Cultural House, the Forest City Gallery, Museum London and the McIntosh Gallery. He later became curator at the Art Gallery of Windsor, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he built strong friendships and made contributions to the arts community across Canada.

We have so many fond memories of Bob. Especially close to our hearts is the survey exhibition he curated Embassy Cultural House: 1983 - 1990 at Museum London in 2012.