Curated by Srimoyee Mitra
Art Gallery of Windsor, Canada
January 31 – May 10, 2015
Participating artists
Bambitchell (Canada), Yto Barrada (Morocco / France), Patrick Beaulieu (Canada), RebeccaBelmore (Canada), Mahwish Chishty (Pakistan / USA), Harun Farocki (Germany), Chitra Ganesh and MariamGhani (Afghanistan / India / USA), Tory James and Alex McKay (Canada), ShelaghKeeley (Canada), OsmanKhan (USA), Evan Lee (Canada), Victoria Lomasko (Russia), Dylan Miner (Métis), Trevor Paglen (USA), Camal Pirbhai and Camille Turner (Canada), Tazeen Qayyum (Canada / Pakistan), José Seoane (Canada / Cuba), Charles Stankievech (Canada), Hito Steyerl (Germany), Syrus Marcus Ware (Canada / USA), Tintin Wulia (Australia / Bali)
Three years ago, the AGW launched Border Cultures, a series of exhibitions which deepen our understanding of what is means to be a border city in the 21st century. Located in the southernmost part of Canada across the river from the USA, Windsor is an important site for the arrival and departure for Indigenous, settler and migrant communities. Crisscrossing the geographic and national boundaries for generations in search of freedom, land, work and security, the collective memory, (oral) histories and cultures on these lands are at once deeply interwoven and splintered along colonial, racial and economic lines. This three-part exhibition Border Cultures: Part One (homes, land) (2013), Border Cultures: Part Two (work, labour) (2014) and Border Cultures: Part Three (security, surveillance) (2015) was conceptualized as a research platform, bringing together regional, national and international artists to examine the complex and shifting notions of national boundaries.
The final iteration of this series, Border Cultures: Part Three (security, surveillance) examines the impact of heightened militarization along national boundaries that has intensified deportations, detentions and mechanisms of surveillance of migrants and foreigners. The culture of fear has accelerated the latent colonial hierarchies across the world. In North America missing Aboriginal women in Canada and incarceration of black men in America urges us to reconsider questions of security and citizenship. Moving back and forth between these internal and external boundaries, Part Three proposes the border as a site of struggle between personal subjectivities and systems of power. The series has brought together 45 artists from diverse local, national and international backgrounds to re-imag(in)e national boundaries as bridges and meeting places to build solidarity and mutual respect.
The AGW thanks TD Bank Group, multi-year sponsor for the Border Cultures 2013-15 exhibition series.
Public Programs
Friday, January 30, 7–10 pm
Fridays Live! Opening Reception for Winter Exhibitions
Celebrate the winter exhibitions, participate in the Make Your Own Passport workshop, meet the artists, enjoy delicious treats, music by DJ Double A and a cash bar!
Location: AGW 2nd floor
Cost: $7.00 (FREE to AGW Members)
Saturday, January 31, 2–4 pm
Join us for a panel discussion, Border Talk # 3 : On agency, security and violence with artists Sharlene Bamboat and Alexis Mitchell, Patrick Beaulieu, Shelagh Keeley, Osman Khan, Camille Turner, Tazeen Qayyum, Syrus Marcus Ware and moderator Andrew Herscher. Pay-what-you-can admission
Saturday, February 28 12–1 pm: Curator-led tour of Border Cultures with Srimoyee Mitra
2–4 pm: Images of War: What is Forgotten, How Do We Remember? A panel discussion including John Greyson, Elle Flanders, José Seoane and Mahwish Chishty; moderated by Dr. Lee Rodney.
Pay-what-you-can admission
Wednesday, March 25
5:30–6:30 pm: Curator-led tour of Border Cultures with Srimoyee Mitra
6:30–8 pm: Two Drone an audio-visual performance by Osman Khan and Bekay Mobtu
March 26, 2:30–4 pm
A talk by CONFLICT KITCHEN followed by a reception.
Location: Room 115, Lebel Building, University of Windsor, southwest corner of Huron Church Road and College Avenue, Windsor. Admission is FREE and open to the public. Presented in Partnership with the School of Creative Arts, University of Windsor.
March 27, 9 am – 5 pm
Sustainable Economies: Regional Public Art Galleries and Art-Vibrant Scenes, a professional development exchange presented by the Ontario Association of Art Galleries with the AGW.
March 28, April 11, 18, 25, 12-2 pm
transcription events by Alex McKay and Tory James
Wednesday, April 1, 4-6 pm McPhearson Lounge, University of Windsor
Ah Raza! The Making of an American Artist, a multi-media performance created by the Tug Collective in the
USA-Mexico borderlands. Organized by Dr. Lee Rodney.
For more information, contact Nicole McCabe at nmccabe@agw.ca or 519-977-0013 ext. 134.
Art Gallery of Windsor, 401 Riverside Drive West, Windsor, ON N9A 7J1 www.agw.ca
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The AGW would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Photos : Rebecca Belmore; The Named and the Unnamed,; video installation (still); Collection of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, purchased with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and the Morris and Helen Belkin Foundation, 2005.
Yto Barrada;Le Detroit – Detroit – Trou dans le Grillage, Tanger 2003, From A Life Full of Holes: The Strait Project, (1998–2004). Courtesy Galerie Polaris, Paris.
