| A plan by a local arts organization to display art at several C-Train stations in September was derailed by Calgary Transit officials who objected to the content in several of the installations. In the aftermath of the failed project, cries of censorship and creative interference are now being levelled against the management of Calgary Transit.
Artcity, a 16-day festival celebrating visual arts and architecture, had planned to include the works of 13 artists and architects in a city-wide project called Full Extension that was to incorporate the entire Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. Instead, three of the installations were deemed unacceptable by Calgary Transit and were either cancelled or modified. Now Artcity organizers are involved in discussions with the City of Calgary to implement a public arts policy that will not depend on the personal judgments of city bureaucrats.
The controversy first erupted when Calgary Transit administration objected to photographs of statutes without arms or heads that were to be projected at a downtown LRT station. Those photographs are of figures that are part of a famed collection of sculptured marble known as the Elgin Marbles. Named after British diplomat Lord Elgin, the statues had originally been located on the sides of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. In 1801, Lord Elgin had 56 sections of the marbles removed from that historic building and relocated the pieces to England.
"The statues have been on display either in the centre of Athens or at the British Museum for the past 3,000 years," says Andrew King, the Calgary architect who was spearheading the project. "Fundamentally they (Calgary Transit) don’t know what public art is or what a public art policy should be."
King, an adjunct professor of Architecture at the University of Calgary, was recently awarded the $34,000 Prix de Rome by The Canada Council for the Arts for his contributions to contemporary architecture. He says the photographs of the sculptures to be used as part of the C-Train installation were originally taken by his wife, Angela Silver, and the projected images were to form an integral part of the work called LRTLUX. The project was also going to include theatrical lighting created by Brian Pincott, technical director of Alberta Theatre Projects.
"LRTLUX was conceived as a way to explore architecture’s ability to create theatre from the ubiquitous space that surrounds us," says King.
The cancellation of the project has left King fuming at Calgary Transit management.
"I was willing to bend over backwards to have the installation go ahead," says King. "We were even willing to project text on the wall explaining why the photographs weren’t being shown, but Calgary Transit wouldn’t go for that either. Quite frankly, these guys are assholes."
Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins says that the company currently has no formal guidelines on what is or isn’t acceptable, and that judgment is made by marketing manager Brian Browning, together with general manager John Hubbell.
"We think it’s inappropriate material to display to our customers," says Collins, referring to the Elgin Marbles. "It’s not in line with our corporate image or community values."
Another artist whose work was rejected by Calgary Transit during Artcity is Toronto-based Kika Thorne. Her project, titled Dehomogenized, was to involve placing directional signs that used multiple languages at C-Train stations across the city. The idea was to focus attention on the problems new immigrants to Calgary face in navigating the transit system.
Calgary Transit says Thorne’s installation was unacceptable because some of the signs could have interfered with sightlines at C-Train stations, potentially causing a public safety hazard.
However, the artist believes the only hazard the project presented was to the internal politics at Calgary Transit, by exposing an organization that is struggling to meet the needs of its diverse customer base.
"I am interested in real-time social systems," says Thorne. "Making art that takes the common sense observations and ‘wouldn't-it-be-better-if’ type conversations about the city and inserts a more realized image or proposal into public debate. Talk is crucial, but it has a tendency to stagnate."
A third artist, Tomas Jonsson, who is also the director of The New Gallery in Calgary, was asked to remove one photograph from the installation titled Transfer – a work that he helped to create along with Joanne Lindsay and Kerri Ravndahl.
"It was a photo of a parcel of land at Sunnyside before the LRT station was built," says Jonsson. "It referred to a contentious time."
Jonsson says he was surprised that he was asked to remove the photograph, especially as the controversy to build the Sunnyside LRT station dates all the way back to 1987.
"It’s censorship," he says. "The New Gallery plans on holding a conference on the issue in February or March."
Tom Strickland, who is on the board of directors of Artcity and was the main contact between Artcity and Calgary Transit, says that Artcity organizers are very concerned about the situation and believe it speaks to the need for a formal policy to be adopted by Calgary Transit and the City of Calgary on the use and display of public art.
"Currently, Artcity and a number of supportive organizations are forwarding letters of protest to Calgary Transit and the City of Calgary," says Strickland. "We are also aggressively trying to find a way to open a dialogue with the City of Calgary regarding their public art policy…. The City of Calgary has been working on a public art policy for a number of years now and the completed mandate is due out in March."
Calgary Transit spokesman Collins says transit officials are taking the feedback they are receiving on this issue "under consideration." |
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