The primary objective of Mountain Standard Time 2 is to program original, diverse, entertaining, and thought-provoking performative works. The term "performative" is used to describe practices that originate from a visual arts or media arts discourse and involve the live presence of the artist. These often incorporate sound. video, film, spoken word, or live web streaming. A secondary objective is to nurture performance-related discourse in Calgary through workshops, panel discussions,and artist talks. The festival recognizes the exceptional quality of performative art in this region while also promoting Calgary as an important international art centre.
While it is spearheaded by, and operates under the umbrella of The New Gallery, MST2 is a collaborative endeavour between eight Calgary arts organizations: The New Gallery (TNGI, Calgary Society of IndependentFilmmakers ICSIFI, EMMEDIA, Art Gallery of Calgary IAGCI, the Nickle Arts Museum, Stride Gallery, TRUCK Gallery, and the Alberta College of Art &Design's Media Arts and Digital Technologies Program IMADTI.
MST2 would like to acknowledge the generous support of theAlberta Lottery Board, Big Rock Brewery, City of Calgary Recreation, Canada Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage, Combine Design and Communications, CJSW FM, DuMaurier Arts, Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts,Flourish by Design, and FFWD Weekly.
All events are free to the public unless otherwise noted;tickets for the mid-festival reception are $7 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.