Art as Resistance
Art Action at Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture in Edmonton
Busy Saturday at Latitude
An art show worthy of celebration, "LET IT BRING_____," opened at Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture in Edmonton on February 10 and runs to March 16 at their new space downtown on 100 Street. A group action composed of work from several artists, it focuses on resistance movements presently occupying streets in Edmonton and globally.
Latitude 53 is one of the oldest artist-run societies in the country, opening in 1973 with Canada Council funding after starting in 1971 as an initiative of Edmonton artists Sylvain Voyer and Harry Savage. The group of young artists now running Latitude 53 has transformed a problem into a brilliant initiative of immediacy, by using the uncertainty associated with a recent gallery move to show art supporting the vigorous resistance movements currently active in the city. Be sure to ask for their indispensable "LET IT BRING_____" brochure.
Immediacy in this art action combines with unusual curatorial collectivity where everyone on staff curated the work. A feeling of rough discovery directly out of the studios is heightened by the presence of a working loom, a silkscreen station and a writing station ready for use. Saturday afternoons, the artists have welcomed people to weave, to make silkscreen prints, and to write letters and postcards to authorities on behalf of the resistance movements.
On the walls you
find a gorgeous screen print, a grid of keffiyeh knots overlaid
with
the statement: "INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SAY: OCCUPATION IS A CRIME."
To its
left, a massive bolt of canvas stretches from 10 feet up the
wall down
over the floor and into a thick roll, collectively carrying the
names,
in cursive writing, of Gazan martyrs of genocide, now at about
30,000.
Both these are contributed by the print artist, Veronica
Fuentes.
Across the room, textile artists Fern Facette and Fatme Elkadry work with a four-shaft floor loom to perfect the saya, a striped silk belt for Fatme to wear with her grandmother's hand-embroidered and sewn Palestinian dress. On the wall near them is a four-part series of handwoven studies that explore a variety of traditional Palestinian textiles, "Weaving to Reclaim."
This work relates
to Threads of Diaspora, squares of Palestinian cross-stitching
--
"Tatreez" -- a global project of the Palestinian diaspora
organized by
the Canada Palestine Cultural Association (CPCA) of Edmonton.
Already
CPCA has built a massive wall piece of resistance from tiny
squares
sewn all over the world, and the project continues with global
reach.
The artist Riaz Mehmood contributes his video Kawtaray/Pigeons 2020 that weaves horrific truths of the U.S.-Canada armed occupation of Afghanistan with a loving story of a pigeon keeper in his home village who releases homing pigeons when he spots a U.S. soldier, warning the locals and in particular, his grandson.
Manpreet Singh's
two large, glossy photographs from Edmonton demonstrations for
Palestine, with wind gusts and snow flakes participating in the
enlivened actions, convey joy for their courageous beauty in
face of
genocidal horror.
"LET IT BRING_____" features the work of Threads of Diaspora, Fatme Elkadry and Fern Facette, Veronica Fuentes, Ruthann Godollei, Riaz Mehmood, and Manpreet Singh.
Latitude 53 explains how the show was conceived. "The Question of Funding Collective (QOF), a collective of artists and cultural workers, spoke to Elitqa Collective in Gaza about how amidst destruction and desperation, canvases and frames from the gallery were burned for warmth. QOF asks "What is art in the time of genocide?"
"Latitude 53
responds to this call by showcasing the work of local
Palestinian
artists, and artists working in solidarity, speaking out on
their
experiences with displacement. From the ongoing genocide in
Palestine
to the unhoused encampment sweeps locally, we turn to art to
resist
erasure and support our communities.
"The title pays tribute to Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer's last poem, ‘If I must die.'"
For more information see the show brochure on Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture's Facebook page. The show runs from February 10 – March 16 at 10130 -100 St NW, Edmonton.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 17 - March 12, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS541713.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca