DISTANCE OF DISTINCT VISION ONLINE & in B.C.

"This work is not about the third world. Nor is it about colonialism. It is about us in the first world and where and how we fail." So says Laiwan in her preface to the haunting "Distance of Distinct Vision." Originating as a 1992 exhibition, it now appears online in conjunction with "Limits of Tolerance: Re-framing Multicultural State Policy" in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia's Belkin Gallery.  Laiwan will also speak at the exhibition's symposium. For details about the symposium, show, opening shebang, and the other artists, continue reading.

       

Limits of Tolerance:       Re-framing Multicultural State Policy        EXHIBITION: May 19 - June 23, 2007        OPENING: Friday May 18, 8pm        Centre A         2 West Hastings St, Vancouver, Canada        Gallery Hours:   Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 -18:00   Sunday-Monday closed        SYMPOSIUM: Saturday May 26,   14:00 - 17:00, UBC Robson Square theatre   Speakers: Laiwan, Candice Hopkins and Keith Langergräber         Free to the public        GUEST CURATOR: Liz Park        Presented with support from the Alvin Balkind Fund for Student Curatorial Initiatives, the Department of Art History, Visual Art, and Theory, and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at The University of British Columbia.        A group exhibition with works by Dana Claxton, Stan Douglas, Laiwan, Paul Lang and Zachary Longboy, Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew, Anne Ramsden, Ruby Truly, Henry Tsang, and         Paul Wong.        In a country that has touted its multicultural policies, the resurgence of racist attitudes after 9/11 prompts critical assessment of race issues today. In an effort to review race politics in the context of Canada's colonial and immigrant policies, the exhibition Limits of Tolerance examines a period in recent history when cultural diversity became Canada's state policy with the 1988 Multiculturalism Act.        In the late 1980s, an increasing number of artists explored and questioned their own identity based on race, gender and sexuality, as lobby efforts and activism of people of colour and aboriginal ancestry gained momentum. With the 1988 Multiculturalism Act demanding government agencies to reform or invent equity policies, the arts and culture sector in particular underwent a turbulent period in which comfort zones of liberal attitudes were challenged. The present exhibition Limits of Tolerance , re-presents a selection of artworks produced in Vancouver in the late 1980s and early 1990s when artists, writers and academics engaged in intense debates about identifications based on race, gender, and sexuality. This selection emphasizes the various and often contrasting ways in which artists deal with issues of identity and critique social structures which inform their identity.        Press Release pdf 132 kb        INDEX