Land – LIMINALITY- Loss

Image: Irish Need not Apply, Pam Patterson. Photo digital collage. 2020

The exhibition Land - LIMINALITY - Loss, curated by Assistant Professor Pam Patterson (Faculty of Art) and featuring work by undergraduate student Angie Ma (Faculty of Art), Pam Patterson, graduate student Vicky Talwar and OCAD staff member Leila Talei (Officer, Research Projects, Office of Research & Innovation), is part of an investigation into the intersection of land and loss with historical/cultural disruption and change.

As long as they live in the duality in which to be is to be like, and to be like is to be like the oppressor, this contribution is impossible.

Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1992, p 33

Jackson 2Bears (in Spicanovic, 2018, p. 160) writes “that history is something ‘written on the land’… From this perspective … [how might we endeavor to explore] how narratives are inextricably interconnected with ‘place’…” 

How though, somewhat antithetic to this, might narratives, histories and stories explicate ‘land’ displacement? How might we explore the political and cultural implications of these histories and stories, both personal and collective, around this intersection of land with historical and cultural disruption and change?

Troubled by this complex relationship of land and loss Ma, Patterson, Talwar and Talei, as settler/immigrants, in exhibition and conversation, occupy a problematic liminal space, a space adrift where the threat of homelessness looms.

Questions Camille Nelson (2004):

Does anyone really have such a habitat anymore?... One’s identity is attached to one’s knowledge, body and sense of home. If one is without a home, one’s identity is compromised either one is identity-less, or one is multiply constructed across time, space and location. The situation is compounded when one’s dislocation is forced or less than fully free… Identity[’s] temporal component… resonates over time, making historical legacy tangible and relevant today. The ancestral self and contemporary self can collide when the realities of one’s present situation forces the submergence or repression of… cherished identities. 

Often this historical and contemporary crisis is as a result of an inherited colonial legacy. The construction is about power. Many who were able to flee and/or were lured to Canada bear the trappings of the rewards they reaped from this place to which they migrated. But didn’t the acquisition of privilege and power have something to do with why they/we left in the first place? (194).

How might we explore the political and cultural implications of histories and stories, both personal and collective, around the intersection of land and cultural disruption and change? 

 At a moment when OCAD University is embracing a holistic Indigenous curriculum, such conversations are key to examining complex and often troubling relationships. This multi-media exhibit invites the community to explore their own histories and stories within this context in exhibition, conversation and workshop. Land - LIMINALITY - Loss is on display at OCAD University's Graduate Gallery from September 3, 2019 to September 6, 2019. 

Works displayed:

  • Patterson, Pam. Irish need not Apply. 2019. Mixed media prints.
  • Talwar, Vicky. A Journey Awaits. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas.
  • Talei, Leila. The Meticulous Documentation of a Personal Loss. 2019. Collage.
  • Ma, Angie. Elsewhere: Moments of Home. 2019. Watercolour, Chinese ink, rice paper and botanical hand dye on silk.

References:

  • Freire, Paulo (1992). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company
  • Nelson, Camille A. (2004). Adrift in the Diaspora. In Camille A. Nelson & Charmaine A. Nelson (Eds.) Racism Eh? A Critical interdisciplinary anthology of race and racism in Canada. Concord, ON: Captus Press. pp 175 205.
  • Spicanovic, Vladimir (2018). Pedagogies of the land. In Doug Wallace & Véronique Leblanc (Eds.) Landmarks2017: Art + places + perspectives. Toronto: The Magenta Foundation/Partners in Art. PP. 159 – 161.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

 

Exhibition photographs by Miklos Legrady

 

A collage of documents
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - installation by L. Talei
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - installation by P. Patterson
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - work by V. Talwar
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - work by A. Ma
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - work by P. Patterson
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - work by V. Talwar
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - work by A. Ma
Exhibition photograph by Miklos Legrady - installation by L. Talei
OAC logo
Friday, July 19, 2019 - 12:45pm
https://www2.ocadu.ca/event/land-%E2%80%93-liminality-loss

Land – LIMINALITY- Loss: Workshop on IDENTITY AND BELONGING

Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - 5:30pm to 8:00pm

About the Artist: Angie Ma is a DRPT major in her fourth year at OCADU. In her art practice, she reflects on her Chinese Canadian identity, expressing her thoughts, memories and desires through watercolour painting. She is actively pursuing art education as researcher and as educator. In her workshops, she collaborates with participants using storytelling to animate a dialogue that will connect everyone’s experiences.

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University Graduate Gallery (Ground Floor, 205 Richmond St. West)
Email: 
ppatterson@faculty.ocadu.ca
Cost: 
Free

Land – LIMINALITY- Loss

Art by Pam Patterson, on view at the event.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019 - 12:00pm to Friday, September 6, 2019 - 5:00pm

About the exhibition:

How might we explore the political and cultural implications of histories and stories, both personal and collective, around the intersection of land and cultural disruption and change? Often this historical and contemporary crisis is as a result of an inherited colonial legacy. The construction is about power. Many who were able to flee and/or were lured to Canada bear the trappings of the rewards they reaped from this place to which they migrated. But didn’t the acquisition of privilege and power have something to do with why they/we left in the first place? 

Troubled by this complex relationship of land, loss and potential acquisition, undergraduate student Angie Ma (Faculty of Art), Assistant Professor Pam Patterson (Faculty of Art), graduate student Vicky Talwar and OCAD staff member Leila Talei (Officer, Research Projects, Office of Research & Innovation), as settler/immigrants, in exhibition and conversation, occupy a problematic liminal space, a space adrift. At a moment at OCAD U when we are embracing a holistic indigenous curriculum, such conversations are key to examining complex and often troubling relationships. This multi-media exhibit invites the community to explore their own histories and stories within this context in exhibition, conversation and workshop. 

The OCAD University Graduate Gallery is open from 12pm to 5pm daily.

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University Graduate Gallery (Ground floor, 205 Richmond St. West)
Email: 
ppatterson@faculty.ocadu.ca
Cost: 
Free
Land Liminality Loss poster featuring cropped mixed media painting and collage from each artist with show date and location