Niku Koochak

University of Windsor exhibition reframes the Windsor–Detroit border through art, archives and student research 

Photo of Niku Koochak and Dr. Lee Rodney in the SoCA GalleryShifting Borders, an exhibition developed by guest curator Niku Koochak (left) in collaboration with Dr. Rodney to examine how borders are shaped by access, power and lived experience through contemporary art, archival materials and student-led research. (PETER MARVAL/University of Windsor)

 

By Victor Romao

An exhibition that ran March 12 to 20 at the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts (SoCA) Gallery invited visitors to reconsider the border not as a fixed line on a map, but as a shifting experience shaped by politics, access and personal history.

Shifting Borders examined how the international boundary between Windsor and Detroit — often perceived as close and easily crossed — can carry very different meanings depending on an individual’s circumstances.

Curation as collaboration: MFA alumna wins curatorial award

Niku Koochak at Art Windsor-EssexAlumna Niku Koochak is a recent winner of a Galleries Ontario curatorial award. (DAVE GAUTHIER/University of Windsor).

By Kate Hargreaves 

Collaboration is at the heart of University of Windsor Master of Fine Arts (MFA) alumna Niku Koochak’s curatorial process. 

Koochak (MFA ’24) recently received the Galleries Ontario / Galeries (GOG) Award for First Exhibition in a Public Art Gallery for curatorial work at Art Windsor-Essex (AWE) as part of its Below the 6 series, which highlights Southwestern Ontario artists.