Thunder Bay grain elevators on 110th Avenue. Photo by Sean Marshall/Flickr. On the night of January 28, 2017, Barbara Kentner, a 34-year-old Anishinaabe woman, was walking in her Thunder Bay neighbourhood with her sister when she was struck in the gut by a trailer hitch thrown from a speeding car.
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Art Threat: Condé and Beveridge depict two visions of our future
The following text was written to accompany the show “Scene Otherwise: recent work by Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge,” which ran from April 17 to May 12 at the Khyber Centre for the Arts, curated by the Anna Leonowens Gallery as part of the Halifax Mayworks Festival. We live in
Continue readingArt Threat: Activist pasts, austere presents, queered futures: An interview with Emily Davidson
“Imagine a new relationship to every aspect of everything.” “Capitalism has fallen; Art must be redefined.” “You get to pick your gender when you come of age, but feel free to change your mind.” “Living together is still hard; Art makes it better.” These missives from the Inner City Artists’
Continue readingArt Threat: An open letter to George W. Bush, the artist
Dear Mr. Bush, I was heartened to learn of your recent exhibition of paintings at your own Presidential Library in Dallas. Some may have considered this a crude display of the vanity of power, but I happen to think such crudeness has its own aesthetic merit and honesty. It is
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Virality, Solidarity and Meme Warfare
Ff course one can’t really be against memes, because it would do no good. It’s not like they can be voted off the internet island. But there are a few reasons to be suspicious. While cats worldwide are no doubt thrilled at the digital attention they always knew they deserved,
Continue readingArt Threat: Privatizing creativity: the ruse of creative capitalism
Ties by Henry Gepfer (henrygepfer.carbonmade.com) 1. The new hype about creativity Who can hate creativity? Who would want less of it? No one, obviously. But something profound has happened to the idea of creative expression in the past 20-30 years that should give us pause. For one, it’s become big
Continue readingArt Threat: What’s the value of an art school? – Contextualizing the crisis at NSCAD
NSCAD's modern new Port campus overlooks Halifax harbour. Photo by Rory Hyde. Celebrating its 125th anniversary next year, The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design is the oldest of Canada’s four dedicated art universities. With slightly over 1000 full time students and spread across three campuses in downtown Halifax,
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