ULethbridge graduate and mask maker returns for performing art piece
An artist who made her first mask at the University of Lethbridge is returning to the city later this month to showcase 100 of them.
Miya Turnbull has partnered with Vancouver-based choreographer Shion Skye Carter to present OMOTE 面, a full-length performance featuring handcrafted masks as they depict themes of identity, memory, and family history.
Named for a word that means both face and mask in Japanese, the work draws on the Japanese rituals like the tea ceremony and builds on the concepts of “hone” (a person’s true feelings) and “tatemea” (their public face).
Coming back to Lethbridge is something of a homecoming for the Halifax-based Turnbull, whose mother grew up in the community, with her side of the family moving to southern Alberta after being forcibly removed from coastal BC during WW2.


