From now until May, students can explore the futuristic multimedia works of artist Rajni Perera's new exhibition, Futures, at the McMaster Museum of Art
The opening reception for Futures was held on Feb. 19 from 5-8 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art. This exhibition highlights the work of Toronto-based multimedia artist Rajni Perera and will be on display until May 17 in M(M)A. The exhibition was organized and circulated by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection with support from Canada Council for the Arts.
Perera’s work portrays the current threats our world is facing through art. She presents a perspective infused with humor and incisive criticism, balancing both hope and apprehension. Perera's vision is underscored by the backdrop of contemporary global events and the acceleration of the climate crisis, making it both timely and captivating.This exhibit includes works from all phases of the artist’s career, from the mutated goddesses of her early artistic career to her more recent abstractions and sculptures.
"Experimenting with mediums as varied as painting, sculpture and photography, the Toronto-based artist expresses her vision of imagined futures in which mutated subjects exist in dystopian realms," reads the description of the exhibition on the M(M)A website.
Experimenting with mediums as varied as painting, sculpture and photography, the Toronto-based artist expresses her vision of imagined futures in which mutated subjects exist in dystopian realms.
Exhibition description on the McMaster Museum of Art website
Perer's work is inspired by the artistic traditions of her birthplace, Sri Lanka, Indian miniature painting, medieval armour and science fiction. The Futures exhibit showcases feminist and diaspora themes, while pushing viewers to think about environmental degradation, the climate crisis and survival.
Perera's own website describes her work as subversive and anti-oppressive with the aim of highlighting marginalized identities.
Perera's work can also be found at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Sobey Foundation and the Musée De Beaux Arts De Montréal.
The McMaster Museum of Art is hosting a workshop to teach the basics of mini zine making and trading art
For this year's Thrive Week, the McMaster Museum of Art is hosting a mini zine-making workshop. The workshop will be hosted on January 23 from 12 to 1 p.m.
Thrive Week is being held from January 22 to 26, and it is being managed by the McMaster Okanagan Office of Health and Mental Well-being. Its purpose is to bring the university community together to discuss mental health and find ways to support each other. Different areas of campus will be holding events throughout the week for students, alumni, staff and faculty.
Past Thrive Week events have included a therapy dog visit, a guided forest walk, a farm visit and a kind thoughts box.
The event will cover the basics of making mini zines while allowing participants to practice their own unique artistic style. You can also learn about trading your creations and the artistic process of zines in general. The workshop will also have a tour of the museum's exhibition Chasm.
The workshop is free to attend and includes free access to zine-making materials. To attend, you have to register online. Spots are limited!
Students should check out the upcoming event if they are interested in creating art or zines, learning more about different artistic forms or taking a break from studies to do something fun. Students should also keep an eye out for other Thrive Week events, especially if they are looking for ways to prioritize their mental health during the busy start to the semester. The full listing of Thrive Week events can be found here.
McMaster Museum of Art exhibition We Remain Certain portrays Haudenosaunee’s complex history to strike conversations about our future
The We Remain Certain exhibition had its opening reception on Jan. 11 from 5-8 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art, and will be available for public viewing until Mar. 22, 2024.
This exhibition was funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. Their other supporters include the Ontario Arts Council.
We Remain Certain depicts the lasting connection between the Haudenosaunee people and their Grand River Territory home. The Haudenosaunee, also known as “people of the longhouse,” Iroquois or Six Nations, are members of a confederacy of Aboriginal nations that reside across southern Ontario, eastern Quebec and south into New York State. This exhibition is curated by a collective of Haudenosaunee artists, and the contemporary pieces delve into Haudenosaunee land tenure, exploring the intricate history, treaty agreements and displacements along the Grand River. It ultimately aims to ignite conversations and thoughts around our collective future, utilizing Haudenosaunee "Original Instructions" as a foundation for understanding and collaboration.
This collection was curated by Protect the Tract Collective, a Haudenosaunee-led project that conducts research, policy development and encourages civil engagement through the promotion of land stewardship (caring for and continuously learning about a piece of land despite its ownership) over the Haldimand Tract, featuring artists Dakota Brant, Denny Doolittle, Betts Doxtater, Kaya Hill, Rick Hill, Arnold Jacobs, Ken Maracle, Steve Maracle, Shelley Niro, Greg Staats, Steve Smith, Kristen Summers and Jeff Thomas.
The exhibit aims to communicate that, while the past remains certain, the future can be changed based on what we learn from our history.
“Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s. Awęhęgyeh shęh hodęˀ dewahde:nihs, haˀgadagyeˀshǫˀ shęh nˀagwanigǫ̲ha:do:gę: It does not matter what continually changes, our understanding remains certain,” as stated on the M(M)A website.
Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s. Awęhęgyeh shęh hodęˀ dewahde:nihs, haˀgadagyeˀshǫˀ shęh nˀagwanigǫ̲ha:do:gę: It does not matter what continually changes, our understanding remains certain
M(M)A website
The Hamilton-based multimedia artist sat down with the Silhouette to talk about her new residency with the Hamilton Arts Council, mangoes and the power of zines
Sonali Menezes laughed over the phone when she confessed that her dining room table had been doing double duty, operating as both her eating and studio space. The Hamilton-based multimedia artist and creator of award-winning zine, “Depression Cooking,” had never had a studio of her own, due to the hefty price tag of her undergraduate degree. That all changed though when Menezes was chosen as Hamilton Arts Council’s newest Artist in Residence. The Artist in Residence program provides free studio space, among many other forms of support for artists.
“Having access to the studio space through this residency is really amazing because it actually allows me to have a dedicated workspace,” she said.
The studio also helped Menezes in building her latest exhibition, “Queen of the Fruit," at the Tangled Art Gallery. She used the provided studio space to build various sculptures for the gallery’s display cases. According to Menezes, the exhibition is a mixed media project dedicated to the mango and its culinary prominence within many Indian households. Painting, sculpture and audiovisual installations are present throughout the entire exhibition.
Though she experiments with many mediums throughout her work, Menezes takes a particular liking to zines, even describing them as her “first love.” When asked why, the artist explained her fondness comes from the unconventionality of the format itself.
“The reason I like zines so much is because they take artwork off the white wall of galleries and just put it directly into working people’s hands. They’re an accessible art medium,” she said.
The reason I like zines so much is because they take artwork off the white wall of galleries and just put it directly into working people’s hands. They’re an accessible art medium.
Sonali Menezes, Artist in Residence, Hamilton Arts Council
She hoped to continue this practice through her own work, going against the highly secluded and privatized culture of the art world as explained by Menezes, and instead making art an experience to be enjoyed by everyone.
Sonali Menezes will be creating in the Hamilton Arts Council’s and The Cotton Factory's residency studio from November 2023 to April 2024. To learn more about Sonali and her work, visit her website here.
McMaster Museum of Art exhibition Chasm featuring the work of a number of different artists is rooted in ideas of Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation in the face of colonialism
The Chasm exhibition had its opening reception on Sept. 28 from 5-8 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art. This exhibition will be open for public viewing until Dec. 8, 2023 on the first floor. The fourth floor of the museum will remain on view until Jan. 26, 2024.
This exhibition presents a wide range of cross-cultural viewpoints and understandings of the museum's collection, which encompasses recent acquisitions.
Chasm approaches the examination of colonialism's power dynamics within the museum from a distinctive standpoint, drawing inspiration from transcultural perspectives on resistance.
The curators of this exhibition are Pamela Edmonds, a visual and media arts curator focused on decolonization and politics of representation, and Betty Julian, an adjunct senior curator at M(M)A. Through various forms of artwork, they wanted to create a space to address unfair power imbalances and foster meaningful discussions about the oppressive structures inherent in colonialism, particularly museums.
This collection features artists such as Marissa Y. Alexander, Sonny Assu, Nicolas Baier, Catherine Blackburn, Deanna Bowen and Joseph Calleja.
The curators hope that viewers will be inspired to reflect and think critically about the influences of colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism and racism on art institutions.
“Chasm is both a challenge and an invitation to the visitor. As museums seek to transform themselves in terms of for whom they exist, what role they play, what stories they tell, what ideological direction they record and influence; the M(M)A is determined to not just listen to the conversations but contribute to them in meaningful and active ways,” said Carol Podedworny, Director and Chief Curator at the M(M)A in a statement on M(M)A website.
Chasm is both a challenge and an invitation to the visitor. As museums seek to transform themselves in terms of for whom they exist, what role they play, what stories they tell, what ideological direction they record and influence; the M(M)A is determined to not just listen to the conversations but contribute to them in meaningful and active ways
Carol Podedworny, Director and Chief Curator, McMaster Museum of Art in a statement on M(M)A website
During the opening ceremony of Chasm, it was evident that the curators and artists were passionate about their work and aimed to do their part in changing the inequity in art institutions by allowing their voices to be heard.
The 2023 class of studio arts takes on intersectionality and decolonization through their graduating exhibit at the McMaster Museum of Art
From Apr. 6 to 28, SUMMA 2023: Where We Intersect will showcase the work of this year's bachelor of fine arts graduating class.
Where We Intersect: Identities, Environments, Activisms has a focus on the stories of the artists. They each created works that fall into one or more of these three realms. The media of the exhibit is made up of a large variety, including drawings, paintings, photographs, installations, printmaking sculptures, projections and sound based works. The aim of the exhibit is to exemplify the newer generation’s resilience in the face of a global pandemic, violence, environmental devastation and existential angst.
“It's a very turbulent time that we're in and I think that this work conveys a kind of a sober, but also a hopeful kind of collective inquiry into how do we cultivate resilience in these turbulent times,” said Mosa McNeilly curator of SUMMA 2023.
“It's a very turbulent time that we're in and I think that this work conveys a kind of a sober, but also a hopeful kind of collective inquiry into how do we cultivate resilience in these turbulent times,”
Mosa McNeilly, curator of SUMMA 2023
McNeilly first met with the students in January to begin preparations for the exhibit. The first meeting was dedicated time for studio arts students to consult with McNeilly on their progress on their pieces and to plan an overarching theme for the exhibit. The students came up with the title, Where we Intersect, and after consulting with them she decided on the subtitle, Identities, Environments, Activisms.
The title is a very important aspect of the exhibit. For SUMMA 2023, it was important to the artists to explore intersection and intersectionality. The students of this exhibit were aware of this concept and as they discussed their positionality within current society, the conversation sparked the finality of the theme of the exhibit.
“There's an intersectional ethic in how [the students are] seeking to understand their relationships with each other and in their analyses of how they position themselves in terms of race, place, ability, spirituality, sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity,” said McNeilly.
The students in this exhibit truly impressed McNeilly over the time she has spent working with them. She believes they took the many forms of media to accentuate their own thoughts. Moreover, she was impressed at how they all had a focus on decolonization within their work.
They each had ideas for how they wanted their work to be presented and to step away from traditional practices. It gave her hope that the future generation of artists will embrace intersectionality in their work and question their position relative to it.
“What I find compelling about this group of emerging artists is [that there is] impetus towards decolonizing . . . [The students] were not interested in conventional, formal museum aesthetics, some of them, they wanted to push against those standards of presentation,” said McNeilly.
“What I find compelling about this group of emerging artists is [that there is] impetus towards decolonizing . . . [The students] were not interested in conventional, formal museum aesthetics, some of them, they wanted to push against those standards of presentation,”
Mosa McNeilly, curator of SUMMA 2023
All images C/O Bob McNair
The first interdisciplinary evidence-based exhibition to unpack the current discourse and complexities of global vaccination debuts at the McMaster Museum of Art
The debate on vaccines is neither new nor exclusive to COVID-19 vaccines. However, it has taken greater precedence in the context of the current pandemic with millions continuing to be affected by the disease and many countries introducing mandatory vaccine and testing policies. Other factors, including one’s level of confidence, access to vaccines and a sense of collective responsibility, have contributed to the debate’s complexity, making it difficult to unpack. Fortunately, where words have failed in facilitating these challenging conversations, art has found success in fulfilling its role.
Immune Nations is the first interdisciplinary evidence-based exhibition to address the issue of vaccines. Debuting for the first time in Canada, the exhibition will be at the McMaster Museum of Art from Sept. 14 to Dec. 10. All visitors must book their visit through the museum’s website and provide proof of vaccination. For a sneak peek of the incredible works on display, a virtual tour is available through the MMA’s website and YouTube channel.
The exhibition features works such as Jesper Alvaer’s Upstream the Cold Chain, a video comparing how developed and developing nations are navigating the network of fridges and cold rooms required to access vaccines, and Patrick Mahon and Annemarie Hou’s Design for a Dissemunization Station, portable tent structures presented with audio invoking feelings of the vaccine traveling through the body. A wide range of multimedia is used to explore vaccine hesitancy and resistance and global use and distribution of vaccines. Altogether, the works offer an immersive stage to contemplate and interact with the topics of current discourses on vaccination.
The research and design process of the exhibition took place from 2014 to 2017, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially developed to examine inequities in vaccine allocation and access under the co-leadership of Natalie Loveless, the curator of the exhibition and an associate professor of contemporary art history and theory at the University of Alberta; Steven Hoffman, professor of global health, law and political science at York University and the director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance, and the Institute of Population & Public Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; and Sean Caulfield, centennial professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta, along with support from their graduate research assistant and PhD candidate Vicki Kwon.
During the research and design process, an interdisciplinary team of artists, scientists and policymakers from seven countries gathered in a series of workshops to share their perspectives and expertise. From the larger team, smaller groups were formed to each focus on a particular issue, such as the fear of misinformation, and strategize ways to encapsulate and promote public engagement with the topic.
“[A]rtists were not simply given a topic to reflect on, but were asked, together with global health policy experts and vaccine scientists and humanities scholars, to engage in a collaborative research journey out of which, together, they co-created artistic works designed to engage the public on issues surrounding vaccines—their use and distribution, history and value as well as anxiety and misinformation,” said Loveless in a statement.
In March 2017, the first exhibition of Immune Nations was presented at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art’s Galleri KiT as part of the 2017 Norwegian Global Health & Vaccinations Research Conference. Its second installment occurred shortly after in May of the same year at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Geneva.
The current exhibition at the MMA marks its third iteration and a celebratory milestone for the museum as the show kicked off the museum’s first reopening since its closure in March 2020. Originally, the exhibition was scheduled to open last year in September at the MMA, however, due to the pandemic, it was postponed. Instead, the past year was used to introduce additional works that reflect the new challenges and uncertainties brought on by the pandemic. These include Caulfield and Sue Colberg's #InfoDemic, Kaisu Koski's HUG, Arman Yeritsyan and Mkrtich Tonoyan's Antisocial Distancing and Kwon's Travelling Memories: The Vaccine Archive.
These new additions to the exhibition highlight the complexities of experiencing the pandemic in a war-torn country, the influence of ideologies on trust in science and profound loneliness linked to social isolation.
“It’s really interesting that we did this project before the pandemic and that we have had this opportunity to reflect on it and situate it in a very new context/world created by the pandemic,” said Loveless in her statement.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the exhibition has gathered increasing interest from the larger public. Loveless hopes the exhibition can help people to have deeper, more respectful and more empathetic conversations with each other.
“Art, at its best, brings that nuance and complexity that we need sometimes in this world of sound bites and memes and social media factoids…The exhibition emphasizes the power of the arts in thinking more deeply and critically about these pressing public policy issues…and in more fully addressing underlying root causes through exploration, empathy and collaboration, ” said Loveless in her statement.
In addition to the power of the arts for facilitating difficult dialogues, Loveless stresses the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in bringing new perspectives to the inquiry of social and political issues and overcoming implicit biases across different fields.
“Rather than bringing experts in different fields together to expediently combine their resources and skills, I'd like to see more interdisciplinary collaborations between artists and scientists, or artists and experts in other fields, that take as their starting point a kind of mutual questioning—an inquiry into the disciplinary bases and biases that work to configure how we ask our questions, from where we ask our questions and consider how these affect the kinds of answers that surface,” explained Loveless in her statement.
Photo C/O Motel
By Adrian Salopek, Staff Writer
News of the first COVID-19 related death in Hamilton came just two weeks ago. The outbreak has had devastating effects on communities across Canada, and Hamilton is no exception. Local businesses and members of the Hamilton arts community have suffered economically, as many have had to shut their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. However, in the midst of this stress and uncertainty, community members are coming together through acts of generosity and resourcefulness.
As all non-essential businesses were recently forced to close, most businesses across Hamilton have indefinitely closed their doors. Small businesses like Big B Comics (1045 Upper James St.), a local comic book store, have suffered major losses and so have their entire staff. For many, the COVID-19 outbreak has meant disappearing paychecks or even sudden unemployment.
“Our staffing needs were cut dramatically in the blink of an eye,” said Dylan Routledge, manager of Big B Comics.
However, businesses are not losing hope. Many businesses, Big B Comics included, have implemented new methods of serving their customers while taking all precautions to avoid spreading the virus.
“[We had to] be innovative and inventive in our approach to business,” explained Routledge, “We instituted a ‘door pick up’ system, wherein customers can collect their products at the door but aren't allowed to enter the store.”
Businesses within the food industry have also been stepping up. Motel (359 Barton St. East), a local brunch restaurant, created take-out packages for their customers. These allow customers to still enjoy their food while trying to give them a taste of the experience that they would have had in the restaurant.
“We created brunch packages that mirror the fun you would have in the restaurant,” said Chris Hewlett, owner of Motel. Hewlett and his team are now offering specials that include two entrées and a side dish. To further push the limits, the brunch restaurant is also including decorative tropical decor, including palm leaves, cocktail beach umbrellas, and a light-up neon sign of your choice. The special and regular menu items can all be picked up curbside to help reduce contact between customers and employees.
Businesses and community members alike are not only being resourceful in this dark time, but are also coming together through acts of generosity. It is often said that in the hardest of times, the best in people is revealed, and the actions of many in Hamilton have lived up to this. Vintage Coffee Roasters (977 King St. East), a local family-run coffee shop, has witnessed this in both their own customers and the wider Hamilton community.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9__Wq-Hjjc/
“I have been seeing so many posts on social media of [both] our customers and community members reaching out to neighbours and helping out with food purchases or other errands,” explained Lisa Stanton, Vintage Coffee Roasters owner. “Many of our customers were buying beans to be delivered to their friends who may be in quarantine.”
Some businesses have even attempted to give back to the community by making tangible efforts to help those at the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. A notable example of this is Motel with their generous support for healthcare workers.
“We also decided that at this time we wanted to do business mixed with ways to help our community,” said Hewlett, “We offer call ahead free coffee for healthcare workers. We are also using our suppliers to get produce packs to people so they can purchase eggs, bread and fresh produce.”
While local businesses have suffered major financial losses, the arts community has also suffered due to the outbreak and closures. Hamilton Artists Inc. (155 James St. North), an art gallery downtown, had to close its doors to the public and spring exhibitions had to be cancelled. This was a blow to not only the gallery and the Hamilton community, but also to local artists.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5kudmaFi5L/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“I want to remind people that nonprofits and charities are struggling too, and that even small donations towards these organizations can go a long way,” stressed Julie Dring, Hamilton Artists Inc. Executive Director. "Many of the artist-run centres and arts organizations in Hamilton support artists by paying Canadian Artists’ Representation rates to artists. Donating to your local artist-run centre is a great way to aid artists who are experiencing lost income during this time.”
McMaster’s very own Museum of Art has also suffered in this stressful time, having to close its doors and cancel all events. This has not only affected the museum and its staff, but also McMaster students.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ww7_JnE23/?utm_source=ig_embed
“One of the most significant cancellations at this time is the annual student studio programme (SUMMA) graduation exhibition,” explained Carol Podedworny, the museum’s director. “[It is] cumulative, following four years of study for the students . . . We engage a guest curator for the project from the Canadian arts community — this year, local artist Stylo Starr. It is disappointing that the students will not experience this event.”
Much like their business counterparts, the arts community has had to become resourceful in order to survive the pandemic.
“I think art can be a balm,” said Podedworny. “I think in the COVID world, art museums through a virtual presence (exhibitions, programs, inter-actives, didactics) can provide answers, reflections and opportunities for wellness and self-care.”
It is saddening to see so many businesses, art services and community members negatively impacted by COVID-19. On a positive note, much good has come from this dark time as Hamiltonians make efforts to support one another. Here’s hoping that we don’t forget the lessons learned and the efforts that people have made to help one another.
It's no secret that Canada has a long history of systemic racism and injustice. However, much of that history has been buried deep, locked away in old filing cabinets in disused archives. Deanna Bowen's exhibit, A Harlem Nocturne, seeks to break open those cabinets and reveal that history to the world.
Deanna Bowen is an interdisciplinary artist based out of Toronto. Her work explores race, migration, historical writing and authorship. In creating A Harlem Nocturne, she spent three years combing through public and personal archives to uncover the truths of institutionalized racism that have been long forgotten or ignored.
A Harlem Nocturne takes its name from the nightclub that Bowen’s family owned and operated in Vancouver in the 1950s and 60s. It was the only Black-owned nightclub in Vancouver at the time and was subjected to repeated police raids and violence. The exhibit explores the institutionalized racism of the Canadian entertainment industry — and the country as a whole — through the stories of her family members, and others in the industry, from the 1940s through to the 1970s.
Kimberly Phillips, a curator at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, where A Harlem Nocturne was first exhibited, curated the exhibition for the McMaster Museum of Art. Phillips describes Bowen’s work as an effort to expose the past by transforming it into something that’s impossible to ignore or overlook.
“[Bowen] starts with the archival material itself, and so each [artwork] will find its own form, a new form in the world that’s very much through a process of extraction from the archive, a kind of translation, often an enlargement and kind of bringing it forward in a different form than you would’ve encountered it originally,” said Phillips.
One of the more literal ways that this is done is through the physical enlargement of a newspaper ad for the nightclub, Harlem Nocturne. The ad was originally the size of a postage stamp, but is now larger-than-life, taking up much of the gallery wall. By sizing up the ad, Bowen is calling attention to the club, inviting the audience to interact with the document and the history behind it that might have otherwise been overlooked.
“[T]here's no point in having these documents around unless you do something with them … the document existing in and of itself is not is not meaningful. It's like we have to take them up, and in order to take them up, we need to make them visible,” said Phillips.
Several of the pieces in the exhibit are hidden or obscured by black fabric, or are set up to be viewed at a distance. Phillips says that these varying levels of visibility reflect the difficulties that Bowen experienced while compiling her research.
“Deanna and I talked a little bit about how those registers of blackness does a number of things. One, which is speaking towards a kind of sense of opacity, or the kind of difficulty in … actually reaching some of this material, not because it doesn't exist or it's hard to find, but because of the blockages that [Bowen] experienced in the form of archivists and trauma, and other things that you know, different members of the community gatekeeping who gets to tell what story. But it's also a measure of protection as well of not over exposing bodies who have been subjected to discrimination and hyper visibility in certain ways,” said Phillips.
Each aspect of the show is intentional and purposeful, even choosing where to exhibit the show. When choosing where A Harlem Nocturne would be shown, both Phillips and Bowen emphasized the importance of working with other women curators. The McMaster Museum of Art’s Senior Curator is Pamela Edmonds, which is part of the reason why the show is being exhibited there.
[pjc_slideshow slide_type="harlem-nocturne"]
“The word that I used to define all the people that we're working with is that they're all co-conspirators, feminist co-conspirators. And that's something that I think is super important. I liked the idea that we could generate something, a project that could span over many years and many institutions and all of it being done with women. It maybe speaks to an unspoken reality that more often than not, it is women doing this hard labour,” said Bowen.
A Harlem Nocturne blends the personal with the public. One of the pieces is a transcription of an interview between Bowen and her mother, and the exhibit itself is named after a building that was integral to her family. She says that A Harlem Nocturne is a homecoming for her, and in some ways a form of healing.
“[G]rowing up in Vancouver, my family was not always well regarded. And so if anything, I hope that people come away and feel the compassion and love that I have for these people, my family, especially for the hard edges that they have and the rough and tumble-ness of their story. These are beautiful people that have persevered over generations of resistance and discrimination and I hope that people really come to see and value their strength and importance,” said Bowen.
Bowen’s work also applies more broadly, underscoring the realities of life for Black Canadians and the injustices they continue to face today. She emphasizes the idea of perseverance in the face of adversity, and the refusal to be silenced.
“The project also helps to push against... Vancouver's old narrative about [how] 'they used to have a Black community and now it's gone.' This show for me is about affirming 'there used to be a Black community, and we're still here,' and really trying to undermine this notion of again, the demise of a Black community, locally, and then of course, nationally,” said Bowen.
Bowen hopes that viewers will leave the exhibit with new curiosity, and a desire to explore their own family history.
“I would encourage people to see themselves in what I'm doing. There's so much rich history in our own family histories. And I think it's important to emphasize that everybody's family story has some impact on the making of a nation … You know, it's about recognizing that the power to create our history and our personal and our national narrative really does kind of boil down to people like you and I,” said Bowen.
A Harlem Nocturne will be exhibiting for free at the McMaster Museum of Art from Jan.16 - May 9, 2020.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
When I say “journey”, what do you think of? You might think of an expedition into the lush rainforests of the Amazon, or maybe the popular rock band. But what if I told you there was a deeper meaning?
The passage of time can be seen as a journey through history, documenting each detail and every change. Hamilton is known for its history of producing and manufacturing steel, giving it the nickname, “The Hammer”. With the rise of the technological age, steel mills closed down around the city giving rise to other sectors such as arts and culture.
According to Ernest Daetwyler, an Swiss artist based an hour outside of Hamilton, we experience journeys all around us, ranging from our own individual lives to a much grander scale of the world itself.
“Throughout life we go through cycles and there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Daetwyler.
This thought eventually inspired the beginning of “The Boat Project/everythingwillbefine”.Two years ago, Daetwyler started collecting driftwood that washed up on the shores of the Great Lakes, bringing the pieces home with the intention to create a memoir of their journey.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ww7_JnE23/
“[Driftwood] has its own memories. It comes from the forest, the trees, the branches. It’s a natural product. The way it’s grown is very specific to each piece and how its journey has been throughout the turbulent water with the waves, the light, the wind, everything has its history. Every piece of driftwood is different,” said Daetwyler.
Around the same time, Carol Podedworny, the McMaster Museum of Art curator, approached Daetwyler to do a commissioned piece for the garden space located directly in front of the museum, which prompted Daetwyler to start thinking about the city and its history.
“Hamilton is defined by the harbour and its industrial past. Hamilton is a steel town so originally I thought more of doing an industrial art piece — a sunken ship out of steel but then I came up with a more modern concept,” said Daetwyler.
With hundreds of driftwood pieces at home and still thinking about industrial boats, Daetwyler looked to ancient European history to add another layer to his piece. The artist started to develop a concept for a driftwood boat pulling elements from a variety of different ancient naval ships across Europe.
“The driftwood boat is more of a new form of transformation, a new form of journey for a new city that is developing,” said Daetwyler.
Construction on the boat began in Daetwyler’s studio but quickly became much larger than anticipated. The base, comprised of a welded chassis, was made to support the weight of the driftwood beams that would form the underside of the vessel. Smaller pieces of driftwood were then bolted and screwed together to rest on the frame. This completed “The Boat Project” at a final length of 27 feet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVJGfGFv-e/
Transporting the vessel was no small task. It had to be brought to McMaster’s campus in on a flat-bed trailer and lifted with a crane so it could finally ‘dock’ at its new home.
As Daetwyler developed and completed the boat, he started to think about how the boat could apply to students at McMaster as well — what was their journey?
“I was thinking more about the idea of venturing into something, the idea of going on a journey — going on a voyage, which is something for the students of McMaster [can relate to] going to university. It’s a big step and journey with risk involved,” said Daetwyler.
The artist reflected on his own past journey, recounting a time when he was in Zurich, Switzerland and how “The Boat Project” gained its second title, “everythingwillbefine”. The first time he saw this second title was on the rooftop of an industrial building, in German as “alles wird gut” in the 90s. Daetwyler was intrigued by this saying, and it stuck with him as a statement that is open to multiple interpretations.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfP7f4B4Sg/
“One student at McMaster told me that she went almost every day to the boat because she understood that ‘everything will be fine’ was a very positive encouragement . . . it can be very much understood in that way as sort of a send off to somebody who is going on a journey and you can say ‘it’s gonna be fine, it’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be alright’,” said Daetwyler.
The vessel is due to set sail away from the Museum of Art’s Artist Garden in 2020; however, the impact that it has left on some students will last a lifetime.
University is much more than a time to get an education. It one of the biggest journeys that most will go through in their lives. A journey through self-discovery, where you will push yourself outside of your comfort zone and figure out what you truly want from life. “The Boat Project” is a reminder that everyone is going through a journey and in the end, “everything will be fine.”
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
