May 12, 2016 to October 2, 2016
Punctured Landscape
What do you remember from History class?
The year 2017 brings the notion of past, present and futures to mind as we prepare to mark our country’s sesquicentennial. Punctured Landscape illustrates this milestone by transforming Âjagemô into a continuous topography. This is a curatorial gesture inspired by the federal government’s recent commitment to welcome Syrian refugees to Canada in addition to the ongoing efforts at decolonizing our society. It recognizes the breadth of this land and its parallel histories. These histories include Indigenous sovereignty and asylum seekers from afar – histories that are marred by strife, but buoyed by the persistence of the land and the diverse stories that make up Canada’s cultural landscape and inform who we are as a nation. This exhibition illustrates how the land, a witness to colonization and violence of various kinds, perseveres.
Punctured Landscape is a meditation on the Canadian social landscape of living memory. The artworks annotate the struggles present along the journey. Here, certain artworks stand-in for larger social inequities and moments of unrest amid the landscape. These works, and the moments in our collective, living memory that they represent, are to be understood as punctures. The 17 artworks brought together here ask the viewer to (re)consider their interpretation of history, legacy, and possible outcomes for the future.
Punctured Landscape goes to Washington
The largest exhibition by Canadian artists in the Art Museum of the Americas’ history, Punctured Landscape opens on Thursday April 27th from 6-8pm and will be on view until July 30, 2017.
The AMA will also be inviting members of the public to the following panels inspired by the exhibition:
- May 24th at 3h30 pm: The Evolution of Rights and Legal Protection of LGBTI persons in Canada and the Americas
- June 14th at 3h30 pm: Promoting and Protection the Rights of Indigenous People in Canada
The exhibition is organized in collaboration with:
Kegan McFadden
Kegan McFadden is a Winnipeg-based writer, curator, and artist whose projects blur the line between cultural research and storytelling. McFadden has organized exhibitions for artist-run, university, and public galleries throughout Canada over the last decade, employing a curatorial method that is purposely subjective, in order to reposition received narratives and highlight alternative approaches to discourse.
Contributors: Barry Ace, Robert Adrian, Pierre Ayot, Carl Beam, Rebecca Belmore, Shane Davis, Andy Fabo, Trevor Gould, David Hlynsky, Robert Houle, Suzy Lake, Ruth MacLaurin, David Neel, Julie Oh, Carl Stewart, Joanne Tod, and Dennis Tourbin.