FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

Visual Arts by Kay Burns This summer, programming at Glenbow entails a thematically linked series of exhibitions revolving around the work of German/American wildlife painter Carl Rungius. As part of it, Glenbow has included a Connections to Collections exhibition to offer a perspective on contemporary interpretation of the wildlife genre. Connections to Collections, now in its fifth presentation, usually features a solo contemporary artist who is invited to select works from Glenbow’s collection and to respond to those works through the creation of their own installation/artwork. It is an interesting way to tie in works from the collection as well as feature contemporary artists. With the current Connections to Collections, Glenbow has done something different. They invited four local artist-run centres (Truck Gallery, Stride Gallery, EMMEDIA and Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers) to participate by developing exhibitions that respond to the works of Rungius and to the topic of "wildlife." The work produced by the artist-run centres include the following: Truck Gallery features an installation of a fictional cabin setting and a stereoscopic film documenting 3D landscape; Stride Gallery presented black-and-white photographs by artist Dick Averns, whose work positions the human as animal and the landscape as habitat; EMMEDIA presents a curated compilation of seven video works by Western Canadian media artists; and CSIF explore the changing relationship between man and nature. Since Glenbow’s cancellation of the Alberta Biennial, their only remaining opportunity for feature presentations of regional contemporary art has been through Connections to Collections. With the arrangement this summer, even that series has evolved into a token gesture to contemporary art – not due to the nature of the works presented by the artist-run centres, who always produce thought-provoking programming, but through the structure of the partnership arrangement. There are a number of disconcerting issues apparent in this undertaking. First, the decision to use a Connections to Collections slot for this exhibition means that this Connections to Collections period is not available for a feature presentation of contemporary art that permits the artist some latitude with the works he/she chooses to work with from the collection, but only as an adjunct to predetermined programming. Secondly, because this partner project came about well after the Glenbow programming was in place, essentially all the exhibition space in Glenbow was occupied with the Rungius exhibition and therefore the screenings do not happen in the context of the collection’s artworks (as is the case in the other Connections to Collections), but as separate screening events in the Glenbow’s theatre or in off-site spaces — Stride and Truck produced the exhibitions for presentation within their own venues. The most significant issue, however, is that although Glenbow invited these organizations to participate as part of the museum’s current programming, Glenbow offered minimal financial contribution. Glenbow provided part of the standard CARFAC (Canadian Artists’ Representation) fees to the artists who are shown in EMMEDIA’s and CSIF’s screenings in the Glenbow theatre, with the artist-run organizations paying the other portion. Glenbow is not paying curator’s fees to the participating organization’s curators, nor are they contributing anything towards the artists’ fees for Truck or Stride. Glenbow presents the idea of this partnership as "sharing resources" by allowing some components of the Glenbow collection to go to the Truck and Stride venues as part of the off-site exhibitions. This is a curious partnership given that in past Connections to Collections the invited artists were paid artists’ fees by Glenbow and were also given access to works from the collection for their exhibition (as well, Glenbow would be responsible for installation and administrative costs). It is a bit of a concern given the extremely limited budgets of the small artist-run centres who are contributing the curatorial co-ordination and organization for these exhibitions as well as a substantial portion, if not all, of the associated costs of the exhibitions. The initial notion of Glenbow’s community-minded gesture to partner with these small organizations suddenly seems to border on exploitation. Essentially, Glenbow is able to include non-mainstream, regional, contemporary art as part of their programming with minimal obligation. Granted, all arts organizations these days are having a challenge with funding, and therefore it is understandable that Glenbow, like any other organization, will seek means of generating quality programming with minimal expense. But there appears to be an injustice here even though it provides an opportunity for these artist-run centres and their artists to obtain wider publicity. Glenbow has indicated an interest in continuing to find ways to partner with other organizations in the future. Given the exciting work that these smaller organizations can bring to the table, let’s hope that Glenbow can find a means of including them in a way that ensures a more balanced benefit to the participating organizations.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |