National Gallery of Canada to launch Canadian Photography Institute

The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa will become home to a "centre of excellence" devoted to photography, gallery officials announced this morning.

The "ambitious" initiative involves a partnership with Thomson ReutersCorp. chair andnoted art collector David Thomson, who will help build the institute'scollectionby offering a "series of donations and acquisitions over the next 10 years," said the gallery.

The new initiativeis supported bywhat the gallery calledits largest-ever corporate donation a$10 million gift from Scotiabank. The gallery's Grand Hallhas been renamed the Scotiabank Grand Hall for the next 15 years.

First public exhibition in 2016

The institute's firstmajor public photography exhibition will take place in May 2016 andwill be drawn from the newsarchives of TheGlobe and Mail, the gallery said.

The Canadian Photography Institute will allow the gallery to "take its place among the very deepest, most comprehensive, and broadly useful public collections of photographs in the world," chief executive officer and gallery directorMarc Mayersaid.

As part of the institute's creation, the nationalgallery will devote a space exclusively to the exhibition of photographic works, Mayer said.

Its collection of photographs will be digitized, which Mayer said will help other museums across the country.

Marc Mayer, Executive Director, National Gallery of Canada

9 years ago

Duration 0:33

Marc Mayer says Canadian Photography Institute will begin next week with a symposium to chronicle history of Canadian photography

The institute's ownwebsite describes the instituteas a "world-class, multidisciplinary research centre dedicated to the history, evolution and future of photography."

The gallery currently houses exhibitions from the former Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, which closedin 2009.