An Alpine Trilogy and Second Take - Winter 2025/26 Exhibitions at The Whyte in Photos

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Winter exhibition opening for Elise Rasmussen - An Alpine Trilogy

This winter, a renewed energy filled The Whyte as the museum welcomed a major contemporary solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Elise Rasmussen, An Alpine Trilogy. Presented alongside it in the Rummel Room, Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies offers a complementary journey through cinematic and cultural memory.

Together, these exhibitions invite visitors to take a reflective approach to familiar mountain imagery and narratives, and reconsider the layered histories, mythologies, and cultural forces that have shaped how alpine landscapes are seen and understood. Together, these exhibitions offer a holistic and interdisciplinary experience to viewers, blending film, science, archives, and art — a defining feature of Banff winter exhibitions at The Whyte.

Elise Rasmussen: An Alpine Trilogy

Curated by Christina Cuthbertson, An Alpine Trilogy brings together three interconnected projects: Did You Know Blue Had No Name?, The Year Without a Summer, and Nostalgia: A Return to the Alps in Five Vignettes. Presented together for the first time at The Whyte, the trilogy resonates deeply in Banff, reflecting on the interplay between history, science, and myth within alpine environments.

Rasmussen asks us to look past the postcard alpine sublime and notice the instruments, both scientific and cultural, that made those views possible.

Christina Cuthbertson, Chief Operating Officer and Curator

Opening weekend featured an intimate Artist Talk and Q&A with Rasmussen and Cuthbertson, offering visitors deeper insight into the research, process, and ideas behind the work.

In an interview with Rasmussen, she reflected on the exhibition's connection to place:

I am really excited to show this work at The Whyte as it feels like it is coming full circle in returning to the place where it was first conceptualized. Although the works relate directly to the Swiss/French Alps, there are nods to my roots of having grown up in Alberta and having spent a lot of my childhood in the Rocky Mountains.

I do think there are a number of parallels that can be drawn between the Alps and Banff, not only with regard to mountain-scapes and mountaineering, but also in considering how tourism has shaped these places and how climate change is a visible threat to these environs. The Whyte has an incredible collection of archives, which I have only recently discovered, and this is a wonderful resource that fits nicely with my working methodology, and may lead to future work.

Throughout the season, visitors have described the exhibition as thought-provoking, beautifully presented, and deeply engaging.

Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies

Running alongside An Alpine Trilogy, Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies explores how the Canadian Rockies have appeared on screen for more than a century, serving as a backdrop, a stand-in, and a cinematic myth.

Drawing from The Whyte Archives & Special Collections, the exhibition traces how film shaped perceptions, identity, and stereotypes of Canada from the silent era to the late twentieth century.

Curated by Elizabeth Kundert-Cameron, Dagny Dubois, Kate Riordon, and Brittany Staddon, with special mention to Travis Rider and Colleen Crawler, Second Take highlights both the pride and the paradox of seeing the Rockies on screen, celebrated yet often misrepresented. The exhibition reflects on how cinematic storytelling continues to shape cultural memory and identity today.

Experience the Exhibitions

Elise Rasmussen: An Alpine Trilogy and Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies are on view until April 12, 2026.

Visitors are encouraged to spend time with the works, attend guided tours, and explore the ideas, histories, and questions that unfold across both exhibitions.

Plan your visit and discover what’s next at whyte.org

Gallery 1

About the Exhibition

Elise Rasmussen: An Alpine Trilogy

Elise Rasmussen, Did you know blue had no name? (film still), 2018

November 1, 2025, to April 12, 2026

Elise Rasmussen: An Alpine Trilogy brings together three interconnected bodies of work that resonate deeply in Banff, where mountain culture converges with narratives of conquest, grandeur, and nostalgia. Through rigorous research and lens-based media, she creates richly textured works that recast traditional narratives of history and nature in the French and Swiss Alps.

The trilogy comprises three interconnected projects:

Did You Know Blue Had No Name?

In this project, Elise interrogates the concept of “blueness” by exploring diverse historical narratives. She revisits Horace-Bénédict de Saussure’s 18th-century cyanometer—a device designed to measure the sky’s blueness—and the contest that spurred the first expedition to Mont Blanc. Additionally, she examines early photographic challenges in capturing blue skies and the resulting questions about the medium’s authenticity. By tracing how the language and symbolism of blue emerged only after it became a tangible pigment, Elise prompts critical reflections on visibility, innovation, and the construction of knowledge.

The Year Without a Summer

Named for the climatic anomaly of 1816, this piece connects historical episodes of

environmental disruption with today’s climate crises. Drawing inspiration from the tempestuous summer that influenced the Romantic aesthetics of artists like J.M.W. Turner and Casper David Friedrich—and the literary imagination of Mary Shelley—Elise layers diaristic accounts, Sumbawan folklore, and her own evocative travel reflections. This work re-examines the cultural and social impacts of environmental change while inviting viewers to consider the enduring interplay between human history and nature.

Nostalgia: A Return to the Alps in Five Vignettes

Drawing on the origins of “nostalgia” (a term coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer), this film explores the Alps as symbols of both idyllic retreat and therapeutic promise. It scrutinizes how the Alps have historically embodied health, wellness, and an escape from industrial urban pressures—from Romantic ideals to modern quests for purity in nature. In the context of today’s global crises, this work serves as a meditation on the complex longing for a harmonious existence with the natural world.

This exhibition is organized by The Whyte and curated by Christina Cuthbertson.

About the Exhibition

Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies

Director Ernst Lubitsch and unidentified cameraman during filming of Eternal Love, 1928.  Starring John Barrymore and Camilla Horn. Peter and Catharine Whyte fonds (V683/ii/a/pa/506)

November 1, 2025, to April 12, 2026

For over a century, the Canadian Rockies have been used as a backdrop for Hollywood adventure epics, melodramas, westerns, and comedies. Whether these movies were meant to highlight the Canadian landscape or simply have the scenery stand in for elsewhere, the silver screen influenced how moviegoers see Canada.

Drawing from The Whyte Archives & Special Collections, Second Take: Histories of Film in the Rockies explores how Canadian identity and stereotypes grew and changed from the silent

era to the turn of the century. By highlighting the experiences of the Bow Valley community members involved in select productions, we peek behind the scenes of what it takes to create the fantasy of uninhabited wilderness, lurking enemy danger, stalwart heroes, and damsels in distress.

Using titles from the silent era, the summer of 1953, and the late twentieth century, Second Take examines how the Canadian Rockies were transformed into the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan, the wilds of Alaska, and the foothills of Montana by the magic of Hollywood. Local landmarks, framed as these far-flung locations, changed audiences’ expectations of reality and Canadians’ sense of place. An uncanny duality emerges, one of local pride in seeing the Rockies on the silver screen and the frustration wrought by their inherent misrepresentation. This exhibition illustrates the beauty and ridiculousness of Hollywood’s Canada, elements that linger in our collective imaginations and popular culture to this day.

This exhibition is organized by The Whyte and curated by Elizabeth Kundert-Cameron, Dagny Dubois, Kate Riordon, and Brittany Staddon, with special mention to Travis Rider and Colleen Crawler.

Want to learn more about our exhibitions? Visit our website and stop by this winter to view them in person! Visit us at 111 Bear Street, Banff, AB. These exhibitions run until April 12th, 2026!

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Gallery 1: Photos from the Winter 2025/26 exhibition opening at The Whyte. Photos by Katie Goldie.

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