Beautifully designed by Janine Vangool to resemble something like a CD box set, Truck’s 25th anniversary publication is a timely and diverse overview of the gallery’s history. The publication is divided into five booklets, each with five texts — one for each year of Truck’s history. Rather than writing a generalized overview of each year, the 25 contributors were each asked to select and write about a specific artist or an exhibition. Contributors were also free to choose the style of their writing, resulting in approaches that range from interviews, essays, letters and poems.

For the most part, each text strikes an appropriate balance between personal response and historical data — and this is a history that certainly benefits from a degree of subjective storytelling. Truck has frequently hosted exhibitions and projects that involve experimental, new media and performative artworks. Documenting and writing about these kinds of ephemeral works can be difficult, but the contributors in Resonant Dialogues all rise to the challenge. They exploit the power of personal interpretation and first-hand accounts to give a sense of what it was really like to be involved in creating, hosting or witnessing these works. A few of the texts either lack this personal element or they veer too far into overly personal responses — but for the most part they are right on the mark.

The best texts are those that recall a part of Truck’s history, while providing some insight into how that history is influencing the gallery’s present-day workings. Like most artist-run centres looking back on 25 years, Truck is at a point in its history where the time has come to re-evaluate its position in the community and to consider new directions and opportunities for growth. Programming co-ordinator Erin Belanger’s concluding essay contains a thorough analysis of this position, recognizing the new generation of artist-led initiatives that have sprung up alongside these older centres.

A unique strategy for showcasing a long history, this collection of personalized texts emphasizes the diversity, strength and interconnectedness of Calgary’s visual arts community. Resonant Dialogues traces Truck’s strong and storied history and its role within the community as an essential space for supporting and promoting contemporary visual art. At a time when Calgary’s visual arts are too often depicted as struggling to gain recognition, the publication makes clear that Truck and visual arts have been a significant presence in this city for quite some time.