A reflection on Dawit L. Petros’s return to the University of Saskatchewan and the expansive horizons of his art

Don’t say nothing good has ever come out of this city. Dawit L. Petros, an artist born in Eritrea and raised in Canada, has returned to Saskatoon with one of his best installations yet.

From the Edge of the Horizon, his newest project, is being displayed across two venues: From the Edge of the Horizon I is open for viewing at the Remai Modern, and From the Edge of the Horizon II at the University of Saskatchewan’s College Art Galleries. 

The pair of exhibits on display act as a reflection upon his career and the evolution of his practice. Together, the two displays offer a vast survey of his work spanning over 20 years, and his ongoing investigation and commentary on migration, identity and the shifting politics of place. 

Petros was born in Eritrea in 1972 and lived in Ethiopia and Kenya until his family moved to Canada when he was a young child. He grew up in Saskatoon, where he attended elementary and high school before earning his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Saskatchewan. 

Eager to grow further as an academic, Petros continued his studies at the University of Concordia, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art. Today, he lives and works between Montréal and New Hampshire, where he teaches studio art at Dartmouth College. 

Over the course of his career, Petros’ work has been exhibited around the world at various major institutions, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Kunsthalle Wien and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. This year, he received the Scotiabank Photography Award, one of the most significant honours an artist can receive in Canada. 

Like most people that come into contact with Saskatoon, Petros has held a special place in his heart for this city—a facet often reflected in his practice. Although he’s had his work on display internationally, he has often spoken about the influence of the Prairie landscape and how the sense of openness in Saskatchewan has shaped his way of seeing the world. 

Curated by Leah Taylor, From the Edge of the Horizon II features works from four of Petros’s major series: “The Stranger’s Notebook”, “Spazio Disponibile”, “Reinscriptions and As the Nile Flows and the Camel Walks”. It connects locations from around the world—the East African coast all the way to the Canadian Prairies—showing the audience the intersections between humanity, history and the landscapes we inhabit. 

Each series in the exhibition approaches these ideas from a different perspective. “The Stranger’s Notebook” came to be over the course of a journey Petros once took from Nigeria to Sicily by road. It focuses on patterns of migration within Africa and to Europe, challenging perceptions of what diaspora truly is.

 “Spazio Disponibile”, on the other hand, combines archival material and visual compositions to pose an inquiry into how power and absence are represented in modernism. “Reinscriptions” uses archival material and historical imagery to examine how histories can be rewritten and reinterpreted. 

“As the Nile Flows and the Camel Walks”—Petros’s most recent and ongoing project—examines trade routes, geography and ecology as intertwined narrations of human migration and adaptation. He began his research for it during his residency here at the University back in 2023. 

The exhibition also includes some early portraits from the mid-2000s, made while Petros was moving between Montréal and Boston. The portraits are of family and community members in domestic suburban settings across North America, reflecting his interest in how people establish a sense of belonging in unfamiliar environments. Many of the images obscure the subjects’ faces, an approach that points to his concerns with representation and the ethics of visibility. Instead of offering clear identities, the works highlight the quiet gestures and shared spaces that connect people across diasporas. 

Petros’s practice extends beyond photography to include video, sculpture and sound. His installations are unique environments, the physical arrangements of each piece within them mirroring the themes of movement, adaptation and transition that much of his career has revolved around. 

His focus on the influence of colonialism and modernity upon diaspora groups underlies much of his work. He approaches colonialism not as a distant historical event but as a continuing dynamic that shapes migration, mobility and identity in the present. His use of archival works and attention to geography reveal how political and cultural histories intersect and overlap, persisting in contemporary life. 

Petros’s work is both incredibly universal and personal at the same time—every piece meticulously chosen so that the audience can resonate with his message. From the Edge of the Horizon II, the portion of his work on display at the university, acts as a return to the institution where Petros’s intellectual path began and an acknowledgement of his own family’s ties to the campus, where several relatives have worked.

 These different layers of his experience as a student, son and an artist give his work intellectual rigour and vast emotional depth, capturing the journey of an individual who has lived across multiple continents and cultural contexts. It’s fitting that a vast display of his career work now occupies the same university walls that once represented his first steps into the broader world.

Both installations, From the Edge of the Horizon I and From the Edge of the Horizon II, reflect Petros’s ongoing investigation into how art can act as a space for both initial encounter and deeper reflection. His work invites the audience to consider how they see, what frames they use and the multitudes that lie beyond them. It encourages an awareness of how borders—both physical and perceptual—are constructed, and how they can be reimagined. 

Together, the two exhibitions form a layered portrait of an artist whose practice is deeply informed by movement, study, observation and the context in which he exists, offering an example of how contemporary art can connect global histories to local settings. For audience members from Saskatoon and those soon to join him in the ranks of USask’s alumni, Petros’s work provides both a survey of an internationally recognized artist’s work and the opportunity to reflect on how their city played a role in shaping his outlook. From the Edge of the Horizon I will be available for viewing at the Remai Modern until March 8, 2026. From the Edge of the Horizon II will be on display at the University of Saskatchewan’s  College Art Galleries until Dec. 12, 2025.