The DIS//CONNECT: Bridging together community through reconnection and collaboration.
- Shay
- Dec 15
- 3 min read
The DIS//CONNECT: Remembering the Red Bridge in Time exhibition brings community together through art, memory, and connection
KAMLOOPS, BC—The Indigenous Resurgence Project (IRP) is proud to announce the opening of a major group exhibition honouring the memory and legacy of the Red Bridge, opening January 10, 2026 and running until February 12, 2026. Featuring work by over 20 artists and more than 40 individual pieces, the exhibition reflects on how the loss of the bridge disrupted movement, access, and connection within Kamloops and how art can act as a space to come together in its absence.
For generations, the Red Bridge served as more than a crossing. It connected neighbourhoods, workplaces, and daily routines. Its sudden loss fractured familiar pathways and altered how people move through and relate to one another within the city. This exhibition responds to that rupture, inviting artists to reflect on what it means when a shared point of connection disappears, and how communities adapt, remember, and reconnect.
“Putting this show together was a really emotional journey,” says Shay Paul, project director and one of the show’s co-curators, “Like many people, the loss of that bridge has left a hole in my life. Having a chance for the community to come together through art to share stories and connect after this is so special. I know that being a part of this has helped me, and I hope that it helps others too.”
The exhibition explores themes of access, memory, grief, resilience, and reconnection through a variety of mediums that really encapsulate the diversity of Kamloops. Paintings, poetry, digital design, glasswork, mixed media, print media, audio soundscapes–all of varying experience artistic levels. While the bridge no longer physically links the riverbanks, this exhibition creates a gathering place where stories intersect and community connection is reimagined through creative expression.
The exhibition is presented in collaborative partnership with the Kamloops Arts Council, the Kamloops Museum and Archives and the Kamloops Heritage Railway, grounding contemporary artistic responses within broader historical, archival, and lived contexts.
The Kamloops Museum and Archives has provided a collection of digital scans of newspaper articles and archival photos of the Red Bridge through time, as well as an interactive display that will be included in the show.
The Kamloops Heritage Railway will be including remnants of the Red Bridge walkway in the exhibition, as well as historical information about the society and the beloved #2141 steam engine that lives on the land under where the bridge used to stand.
“When I heard about the exhibition I got goosebumps,” says Terri Axani, Executive Director of the Kamloops Heritage Railway. “My first job in Kamloops was under the Red Bridge at Two River Junction. Now, almost thirty years later, I have come full circle with Kamloops Heritage Railway.”
By bringing together artists, historians, and community partners, the exhibition emphasizes the role of art as a connector—bridging lived experience, memory, and place. It stands as both a response to loss and a collective act of reconnection.
The DIS//CONNECT: Remembering the Red Bridge in Time will be hosted in the Alcove and Vault gallery at the Kamloops Arts Council, 7 Seymour Street West, Kamloops, BC.
The grand opening public reception will be on Saturday, January 10th, from 2pm-4pm.
Gallery hours are 10am-4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The show is free to attend and open to everyone.
For further media inquiries, please contact Shay Paul, info@indigenousresurgenceproject.ca
