28 Days: Reimagining Black History Month
28 Days: Reimagining Black History Month
January 19–February 29, 2012
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Curated by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater
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Presented by Third Space Art Projects
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Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
28 Days brings together the diverse work of Canadian artists with that of their international contemporaries in the United States and the United Kingdom to explore the staging of Black History Month. Featuring works in print, video, photography, painting, drawing, and sculptural installation, the exhibition examines the confluence of history and memory and its relationship to contemporary art and representational space. Celebrated in the US and Canada in February, and in the UK in October, the annual observance has sparked increased debates in recent years about the value of a designated month committed to the history of one particular race. While some artists refuse to show their work during Black History Month exhibitions as a political stance against the marginalization of their practices, others feel it is one of few opportunities they have to participate in the broader cultural landscape, particularly with work that addresses issues of Black identity and visual culture. At the current moment, in which the idea of “Post-Blackness” continues to be debated within contemporary arts discourse, the ways in which the politics of representation are related to Black History Month is also being questioned, particularly within our increasingly globalized environment.
Exploring the impact of African diasporic and Black expressive cultures on the evolving geography of global contemporary art, the artists create an international dialogue that complicates and transgresses prevailing notions of representation, memory, history, nationalism, and identity as they are presented in the site of the gallery.
28 Days is presented by Third Space Art Projects, a Canadian-based curatorial collective co-founded in 2009 by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater as a forum for the promotion, presentation, and development of contemporary art projects that engage transcultural and diasporic communities, with a particular focus on visual cultures of the Black Atlantic.
The exhibition continues at Georgia Scherman Projects, January 19-February 29, 2012.
Opening Reception
Wednesday, January 18, 6:30–8:30pm
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Panel Discussion
Saturday February 18, 1-5:00pm
Hart House East, Common Room
Opening Reception
Saturday January 21, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Georgia Scherman Projects
Media Coverage
Our Supporters
We gratefully acknowledge the operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts, with additional project support the Ontario Arts Council and TD Bank Group.
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Title Image: Installation view of 28 Days: Reimagining Black History Month, 2012. Image credit: Toni Hafkenscheid.