Symposium: Traumatic Histories, Artistic Practice, and Working from the Margins

Presented by the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery with support from the UBC Curatorial Lecture Series.

The symposium will convene around questions arising from Witnesses: Art and Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, including curatorial issues, the role of artistic practice in reconciliation (along with a fundamental investigation of the concept of reconciliation), and a broader theoretical discussion around modernity and indigeneity.

The project of modernization in Canada, as elsewhere, attempted to segregate, assimilate, and erase Indigenous culture, leading to policies such as the Indian Residential School system. In this process, the artistic practices of Indigenous peoples have been both marginalized and at the same time, an important tool for cultural vitality and survivance.

In what ways have artworks taking up these oft-neglected aspects of modernity come to shape current practice in art and art history? What kind(s) of curatorial imperatives can, or ought to, contribute to the project of art and reconciliation?

Symposium takes place from 9:00am to 5:00pm. For more info:

http://belkinartgallery.com/_email/_main_belkin/20131115-traumatic/index.html

This is a free event. Space is limited.