Call for Submissions – Art As Activism: Truth, Survivance, and Resilience
Image: Alex Jacobs-Blum, The Medicine Game
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, July 7, 2019
Guelph Museums invites contemporary artists to participate in Art As Activism: Truth, Survivance and Resilience, an exhibition about our collective journey toward decolonization, through the submission of art works that reflect personal experiences and challenge the conventions of institutional space. We are open to all stories and forms of expression inspired by lived experiences, including expressions of truth, survivance and resilience.
Guelph Museums was established in the 1960s to preserve and share this city’s local history. Since then, our founding story has been told through the narrative of the Canada Company. Founded by John Galt, who became its first Superintendent, the Canada Company is responsible for colonizing over two million acres of land on the shores of Lake Huron, now known as the Huron Tract. This version of our founding story implies that Galt established Guelph on unpopulated land and negated, by omission, the local history of the Original Peoples.
The exhibition, Art As Activism: Truth, Survivance and Resilience, will open on August 2, 2019 in conjunction with the performance of John Galt and The Instant City, a musical theatre production that navigates Galt’s background as a writer and Colonist. Both the exhibition and the performance will question Galt’s positionality in the context of our local Indigenous history and the impact of colonization that continues to shape Guelph today.
The call is open to all artists who produce wall-mounted works in a broad range of media. A maximum of three works may be submitted by each artist. Installation and technical requirements must be included in the application.
There is no cost to apply. Selected artists will each receive an exhibition fee of $149 CAD.
Submissions should include the following information:
- Artist Contact Information, including name, address, phone, and email
- Description of Art Works, including title, date, medium, and dimensions
- Short Artist Statement, no more than 150 words
- Digital image files, formatted to JPG (max. 300 dpi)
- All image files should be identified by number, last name and title of the work, for example: 1_owen_my_truth.jpg
Applications must be submitted to [email protected]
KEY DATES:
Submissions Deadline: Sunday, July 7, 2019
Opening Reception: Friday, August 2, 2019
Exhibition Dates: August 2 to December 1, 2019
Guelph is steeped in rich Indigenous history and home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis People today. Guelph Museums is situated on the Between the Lakes Purchase, No. 3 Treaty territory. We respectfully acknowledge the Attawandaron, Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee and Métis Peoples as the traditional stewards of the land, as well as our treaty partners the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. We continue to strengthen our relationships with the Original Peoples of Turtle Island, as we move forward together in the search for collective truth and healing.
For more information:
Dawn Owen | Curator, Guelph Museums
Public Services – Culture, Tourism and Community Investment
City of Guelph
[email protected]
