Situating Reconciliation

Once again, the blur of travel and activity. We're back from Cape Town and into the fray of multiple tasks. Most pressing is the "Situating Reconciliation" project a large group of us is trying to pull together. It will involve more than 40, probably much more when it comes down to the actual project, artists and academics and groups and associations from Canada, South Africa, Northern Ireland, and Australia, working on artistic responses to the complicated terrain of 'reconciliation.' The letter of intent for this project is due in a few weeks, and now's the time when many hands make light work, so they say, and we hope it all culminates in a nod toward doing the full application for this Major Collaborative Research Initiative supported through SSHRC. Alongside (and with the same unfortunate deadline of month's end!) is the culmination of another SSHRC project, this one a research-creation grant that sees my ms, *A Little Distillery in Nowgong* transmogrifying into an installation at Centre-A in Vancouver. The novel itself will be released later this year by Arsenal Pulp Press in Vancouver. So the next few weeks will involve much video and photo production up at CiCAC (now that the Coquihalla is open post-mudslide) and a hefty amount of editing toward all these projects. Send warm vibes from whatever part of the globe you inhabit -- it's the backstretch, the 11th hour, and we need the smoothest of trajectories!

Christmas time food and scenery in wine country, Franschhoek

year end in CT

A buzz of activity over the past few days. Artists, organizations, sites, all toward trying to get a sense of this place in all too brief a time. In the midst of it all, of course, the crisis in Zimbabwe worsens, feeding into a sense of where hope might come from. It's still convincing to think that once NGOs and government bureaucrats have had their say, that the participation of artists in this particular mix is perhaps a creative if-not-solution, then suitable question and/or process. More on this as we reflect...

krishna, cope, creativities

Eventful few days here in CT. We went to a township with a couple of people we met through the Hare Krishna temple here. Vraj is from Bulgaria and he and his group do a weekly veg lunch distribution in a township just adjacent to Cape Town, so we accepted his invite to tag along. It was an engaging time, the kids very playful and energetic, and the scene one of bustle and strangeness as Vraj and his colleagues drummed and chanted and the kids followed along in an odd rendition of a pied piper show. Yet all of this was quite interesting -- while the homes were shanties, built of corrugated iron and bits of wood, the streets were newly laid ashphalt with curbs and gutters, and amidst the homes were occasional handpainted signs advertising corner store goods and oddities like cell phone services. A matronly woman was Vraj's contact, and she orchestrated the kids, who seemed far more interested in playing games and grabbing a drink of the provided juice than having lunch, even though it was quite a nice-looking curry. Then we stopped at another township to move out the rest of the food, and again it was more fun and games with the kids as cars of all types and sizes drove by the narrow streets. Quite an adventure. Also a feeling of conspicuousness, our very attendance in the township, both in terms of optics and intent. How must we have appeared to the people there? An experiment to be sure. At the very least, showed the incredible latitude of experience and disproportionately distributed wealth here in this city. Emotionally quite an odd experience as well. In the middle of all of this, South Africa prepares for national elections in 2009. The splinter group Cope, formed from the disgruntled core of the ANC, is changing the landscape in all kinds of ways. They won a series of byelections just yesterday, boding well for their performance next year, and all of this creating a feeding frenzy in the media as it reflects on the young democracy, barely a decade and a half old. And amidst all of this, the impending sense of violence and gloom, interterpreted variably from families to taxi drivers to waiters. A sense of things spiralling out of control, and yet all within a deep lament and love for the land. All very hard, near impossible, for visitors to grasp as there are only glimmers of reality outside the metaphorically and literally locked doors it seems.

pleasures of the dance

Low light, slow shutter, and an almost-three-year-old... That's Zahra on her first visit to Cape Town :)

looking to reconciliation day

Today was a day of bureaucracies, trying to get the home accommodation hooked up to the internet. Turns out you can't get there from here, in the logic of the day! That said, everyone at UCT has been very nice and helpful, and it is amusing to be there as the graduands celebrate convocation in Jameson Hall (named for one of the architects of UCT but also roundly critiqued for imperialist policies -- indeed, if there is any one thing that stands out in CT, it's the inevitable backhanded commentary around all public spaces and ventures, it seems. For instance, a large portrait-sculpture of Cecil Rhodes looks out over the city, and a didactic notes how he put Afrikaaners and Brits together post-Boer to create a uni environment, but that his racist and imperial legacies were still prominent in making of the site... in other words, rather than eradicating histories as often happens with toppled monuments etc, there is a sense here of 'language' coming to bear on the situation. The mission statement at UCT, for eg, is explicit in its movement to produce an equitable postsecondary site that recognizes the histories of apartheid...)

The other major happening that we're in the midst of is a series of byelections that will lead to the general election in January. The ANC seems to be unravelling at an alarming rate, while the splinter party, COPE, borne partly from its ashes, is taking a more key role. On the surface, it seems more progressive, but there seems to be a large number of surfaces here in CT, so hard to say!

Meanwhile, we continue to meet up with academics, researchers, artists, plying the for information and seeing how we might work with them toward this Major Collab Research Initiative, now tentatively titled "Situating Reconciliation," which will focus on how artistic means might address global intersective issues of reconciliation, quite a massive task, but necessary despite its problematics.

Tomorrow we are going to take a lunch trip out to a nearby township with an interesting fellow, Vraj, a monk with the Hare Krishnas here near the uni. We chatted with him at length a few days ago and it was quite fascinating. Weekly, they serve a free veg lunch to a group of children so we are going to tag along and find out a bit more of the local scene.

More photos and narratives once there's better access!

Cape Town and reconciliation

Arrived in Cape Town last week, spent a few days near the water front getting used to the time zones and climatic changes, crazy trip in to amsterdam and then on straight south.... But we're here, meeting some fascinating folks on the street, at the uni, and around town. Promises to be an exploratory adventure, leading us to all kinds of places. Initially, hope to find folks who are interested in connecting up with the Major Collab Research Initiative on reconciliation. More on that as it unfolds.

summering kamloops

Back in the loops now, settling in and setting up the loft to make it fully functional. Hosting a gathering Saturday next to bring folks together for midsummering, and to open (officially) the Speakeasy Gallery, a unique very Long and very Narrow space that is adjuncted, indeed, encompassed, by the flat. The idea is to do an interactive piece based on the space itself, to wit, on John Fremont Smith. Something quite deep is engaging about this and it's exciting to think through and about possibilities. Meanwhile, whiling away the time and getting a grip on the ensuing few months. It's good to have this down time before things pick up again. But the picking up, too, is fully engaging and far from threatening. Lots of talks of recent on critical inquiry, taking on questions of reconciliation, near and far, and how to make things progress. Revelling in this process...

John Fremont-Smith

Heading back to the flat in the Fremont Block in Kamloops, reflecting on some of the research on John Fremont-Smith. After perusing photos in various archives over the last bit, am somewhat transfixed by the visceral data of the image, how it goes beyond the fact of history. This one photo, probably the best known and certainly most distributed, of Fremont-Smith, has much to offer, and I'm interested in the various 'moments' of the photo, the placement of bodies, how the grain takes over and writes its own story. More on JFS in the coming weeks...

beoynd paris

Not officially part of CiCAC business, but post-Derry, came out to Paris for a few days, just to relax and recharge before heading back home. First taste of summer for some time, as most previous sites have been oddly cool and sometimes climately nasty, but Paris has been warm and sunny. We arrived here on the night of the solstice, the summer music festival filling the streets around the Latin Quarter, and that's created a nice re-entry into cosmopolitan life! Mostly occupied ourselves walking all over and around, a bit of time in parks and talking in cafés, but no serious museum-attending or event-taking-in. Tonight, our last here, will see a Chopin performance at an old church nearby, then relax back in for a flight home tomorrow.

blog on bogside artists

Another day wandering around Derry, this time with a more defnitive purpose. I had dropped a note to the "Bogside Artists" a three-person collective of muralists who have produced what can only be considered to be a definitive living-history of the Troubles from a distinctly Derry perspective. Their latest mural, an homage to cultural/social activists such as Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, was unveiled only a few days ago (images from that new mural here), the latest in a series of works they have created over the years.


I met up with them at their studio, chatted about mural-making, artist activism, and the importance of inhabiting spaces of social agency, all with an eye toward perhaps having them work with local Kamloops artists at some undetermined point in the future. Off the top, I suggested the possibility of them working with First Nations youth in the area, perhaps developing a mural project of some order. Initial stages, but they were very accommodating and forthcoming, and since they will be in Canada next summer (albeit in the Maritimes) we thought we might work toward something such as this. Their level of commitment and closeness to various political struggles is admirable, and I hope we can work out something with CiCAC and in Kamloops, Something to ponder.

masala and scarman

Had to try this Indian-Asian fusion spot just up the road and right by the uni. The proprietor said they have run a variety of indian restaurants for a couple of decades, but then started this three years ago as a Japanese and Asian place, blending in Indian options soon after. The bento boxes only come out at lunch, so i had a couple of starters - jhinga tandoori and wok fried spicy squid - along with a pilau. The beer was Tiger (homage to bengal, praps, tho this was a brew from indonesia bottled in the uk), and the pre-app was a plate of pappadum with a truly odd assortment of sauces. The prawns were quite something and it was all an exquisite experience of identity. Upon finding out I was visiting from Canada, the proprietor asked with some concern if I might be French Canadian, as the Euro2008 match was on and, he glibly informed me, the Italians were going to beat handily the French team. I assured him I was not of Quebecois stock; and he was right in that the Italians scored twice to advance over the French. The rest of the evening I spent wandering downtown, explored the glitzy and flashy Kremlin club, then caught some live music at Aunty Annie's pub. Today it's back to special collections where I will look at the Belfast Creative Writing Group portfolio and more of the Scarman tribunal -- although the entirety of this text documenting the civil unrest in Derry and Belfast in 1969 is all online, seeing the original police photographs, the typescript, the hand-done timelines, is an exercise of fascination. One such photo of the bombed out Grosvenor Post Office is striking in the capture of a moment of play amongst the distress. In the background, the smiles and laughter of young boys, belieing the gravity of the situation, perhaps, or allowing for those moments of delight-resistance to shine through....

murals and musings

Yesterday spent at Queens University, first talking to poetry research chair Ed Larrissy, then exploring special collections, where I'll return to this afternoon. After the time at Queens, went to Falls Road to visit the multitude of Republican murals. Most striking was the desire to connect local to global movements; thus, many of the murals are not specific to Northern Ireland, but addressing issues such as Palestine, Cuba, and Iraq in terms of imperialism and militarism. When I asked Prof Larrissy what was happening these days in terms of creative means of social/political engagement, he noted that there was a younger generation of poets who define themselves, their work, their era, as "after the Troubles" and so there is a connection to the (not too distant) history but a recognition that there is a shifting reality. Yesterday, too, George Bush paid a final presidential visit to Belfast, the final stop of his last tour of Europe, which marks a significant shift in global politics. A great deal of anti-Bush sentiment here and in much of Europe, makes me wonder what it might be like should Obama win the election in November. Different times of engagement.

Music@empire

So Scratch was a scratch - lots of blazing wall lights str8 out of Austin Powers, but no people and no vibe. But down the street at Empire a five-piece band was turning springsteen and chapman and other charters into deep blues & ragtime ala jerry lee. Spectacular keyboards, vocals, guitars, kept the place hopping. So worth the walkabout exploration on a sunday night. Tomorrow, into poet-researchers at Queens + special collections for the day...

Euro 2008

Resituated to the uni district, staying @ the Botanic Lodge B/B while working/researching around the corner at Queens U. Watched the 1st half of the Turkey/Czech game at pubs Botanic and Eg just up the street. Dining@ a noodle takeaway, tho tempted by "Masala Masala," a south & east asian not-quite-fusion place on uni ave. Picture bento boxes featuring assortments of curry, tempura, and nan. Will see how this melds into a northern island cuisine tomorrow. Tonight might experiment with "Scratch," a newish club also round the corner -- its name resonates for a variety of reasons, so worth a looksee...

Arrived in Belfast yesterday, settling in and adjusting to time lags of various orders. I'll be meeting up with poetry prof and researcher, Ed Larrissy, on Monday, and meanwhile working on a bit of a poetry project that should wrap itself up, under the rules and guidelines of this particular piece, by the time I head off to Derry on Thursday. I'm hoping to meet up with poets and producers of various ilks here in Belfast, hopefully create interest for residencies at CiCAC. Today we went to the Botanical Gardens adjacent to Queens; the photos here are from the rose gardens and general areas and the university.

spent the day at the bray...

Leisurely morning, walking through the ghost buildings of the Archie Bray. The institute has functioned as a gathering place for ceramics artists since 1951 -- before that, it was the Western Clay Manufacturing Co brickworks. Architecture and evidence from that period is still very present behind tall grass and amidst more than fifty years of art remnants left behind by ceramicists. This morning I spent some strange time inside one of the brickworks domes -- the circular brick walls create an astounding aural effect so that every sound from the centre is magnified, first heard by the crunching volume of feet on sand. The tiny oval opening to the sky creates a luminous effect and I spent some time photographing this phenomenon, exposing first for sky, then for the darkened interior, then playing with strobing to balance both. It was an eerie space, as if sound and light layers from all of history trapped therein. Outside, I spent some time photographing the site and also the various lifesize figures that are scattered around the yard, silent and kiln-fired witnesses to the place itself. Altogether, I cannot get a read on the site, whether it is a calm and reflective space for creativity (which it is to some degree, no doubt) or if its industrial history overwhelms and perhaps dwells in an uncomfortable co-existence...

@ the archie bray

yes yes yes, back to blog after endless deferrals... I'm at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (http://www.archiebray.org/), a unique residency programme in Helena, Montana. The director of the Bray, Steve Lee, invited me down to write brief catalogue essays on four long-term residents who will be exhibiting in August. Renee Audette, Jeremy Hatch, Brian Rochefort, and Anne Drew Potter are fellows at the Bray and I am quite excited to talk to them about their diverse work and write something up. Some samples of their work appear below, in the same order as their names above...

where the research comes from, goes to

Whoops. How the weeks turn into months off blog.... I really do blame the ubiquity of facebook for the absence of this writing. Ironically, of course, there is very little 'writing' to be done on fb; one can post 'notes' or create events, but by and large, it's the purview of a social networking system like fb to reduce things to a one-on-one form of communication, albeit quite public (status updates, walls, and the like). But it does eat up time, and that is my (and a lot of other folks') excuse, I'm sure. That proviso'd, the most pronounced update for the work through CiCAC and my own research/creation was a christmas trip to India. It came about rather suddenly since I hadn't planned to go there to do any research, even though the novel is set at a particular grandparental site that I had wanted to visit, but then I ended up going for a large family wedding. It was important to accompany my dad as he needed some assistance in travel, but it was also important for familial reasons. That said, while I was there (vacation time and 'off the clock' as it were), it seemed opportune to go to Nowgong, which is about a two-hour drive outside of Khajurao, which is itself a day's journey (or, as time was pressing, an hour's flight) from Delhi where we were based. The journey itself was eventful -- we had a car hired from Khajurao and the driver found the distillery site fairly easily, which now also included a brewery. The managers of both distillery and brewery were very welcoming to us, curious about our lives in Canada, and they not only toured us around the facility, but insisted we have lunch with them in the very compound where my mother grew up. Was a strange sense of recapturing history, or if not a recapture, then a type of redux, a mapping of image and video (for we took a fair bit in the hours there) onto and about a site that comes from a certain history. Much more to say about this in terms of the emotional connections, the sense of visitations and revisitations, but shall leave it at that for now. Images that came from Nowgong and the general trip to India are beginning to comprise a part of the installation project, a push off the novel into the sensuality of language and text, but this, too, for another description...

on the rock

Taking the Distillery project out to the east coast, here in a St John's autumn, writing/thinking/meeting with artists and thinking through the various possibilities. I'm giving what I might call a project/projected project talk at the Eastern Edge this saturday, hope to meet with artists/writers who may be interested in participating in this project in some fashion. Meanwhile, exploring spaces like Signal Hill give a chance to breathe in the atlantic air and think about the movement across land masses, between oceans, and the politics of migrancy/migration. Just came back from the Transcanadas conf in Guelph, working through issues of the nation and citizenship and processes of body and mind. Productive time, but brings to mind the need/desire to work through creative means of addressing these same issues...

back on track

Crazy busy times here, back and forthnesses. Putting in for a couple of grants through CiCAC, this time focussing on the idea of residencies and performance, all the legacy of the cyprus voyages earlier this year. Looking at both SSHRC and the bc-based Arts Partners granting programs, trying to set up complementary projects that would bring in performance artists/performers/writers to cicac for month-long gigs. But have to get these off the rails this wknd, because a month long of travel upcoming. First stop, toronto, where I'll get to see the launch of David Chariandy's first book, _Soucayant_, a marvellous novel that has hit the long list for the giller. Shortlist announced on Tuesday, so we all wait eagerly. Then to the transcanadas conference in guelph next wknd, followed by further research/development on the east coast, looking to bring in some st john's artists into the distillery project. Finally, back through winnipeg in early nov to attend/present at the Art Tomorrow symposium put on by anthony kiendl and the plugin gallery, a rethink of contemporary art institutes in canada. So, not back in the loops for some time, a strange estrangement, trying to work in/at a place, often far too virtually. There, I have a class of graduate students in education, a new pgm for TRU, and it's quite exciting really. They're on their own devices for the next month, the pgm schedule modified to allow for them to develop research projects and take ideas forward toward their final work. Some of them extremely eager and well-placed to do some radical education, so this excites and inspires. Back to the grant mill...

oopsy dates

Still not weaned from facebook, though problematizing that space for sure! Great interactivity, but somehow a lack of 'narrative' possibilities. Maybe it's just that I like to write in uninterrupted fashion! But truth is, to elaborate on CiCAC activities, it's hard to do in the oneline nature of fb. That said, here's where we're at....

Just on the last leg of a multi-city trip that took me to ottawa, montreal, toronto, st john's, meeting with various folks re both the Distillery project and CiCAC in gen. I'm trying to establish a connection with Memorial U that would let me work on the east coast, the 'entry-point' to canada for so many migrants, to stage a version of the Distillery exhibition. Connections in other cities were predicated on meetings with folks who would be visiitng Kamloops soon (Bennett Fu) or had something to do with other CiCAC events. Back to Vancouver tomorrow where I'll be attending/reading at the international Postcolonial conference sponsored by ACLALS (info at http://ocs.sfu.ca/aclals/). Finishing off the edits of the Distillery novel, too, with great hope(!) and getting set to teach (with fab co-instructor Rachel Nash) a grad course in the new M.Ed programme at TRU.

That, in a nutshell, is what's going on CiCACways. A summer of editing/articling and a fall of visiting artists. Onward...

hiatus, fb widow...

My oh my...More than a month since any postings to CiCAC, though certainly not for lack of activity. Problem is, as will be familiar to many out there, the sudden ubiquity of facebook. The time and resources it takes to maintain a presence on fb is, well, sometimes phenomenal. And it does contribute to a leaving be of other electronic updates, blogging up there among them. But as some friends (no, not just fb friends) have noted, the activity of facebooking is somewhat different, more esoteric and freewheeling, than blogging and, as such, doesn't get to the substance of detail sometimes. That said, I have just started up a CiCAC group on fb, open to all, so those who are coming across this entry and who are themselves unwilling subjects of fb, you might want to search and sign up. Or not...

What has been happening this past month cicac-wise... Well, the Centre is now fully equipped, including the new softwall technology that allows for a very modifiable space. I've put up on the cicac site some bare bones details for residencies that I hope start to happen this fall. The stumbling block here is funding -- I would like this to be a fully-supported rez program, and currently have a few applications in the works to this effect, but at present, don't have funds in place to bring artists in easily. The space itself, however, is avail and will be cost-free to artists who are part of the program, so those whose work fits the mandate of cicac and who have some form of support (sabbatical, cancouncil grants, etc), can take advantage of the program as it stands. I do hope, though, to be able to provide not just full travel.accomm support, but stipends as well, though all remains to be seen.

Otherwise, finished a teaching stint at UBC-Okanagan, co-teaching a graduate seminar in the summer institute of indigenous studies down in Kelowna. Great experience, and kudos to Stephen Foster and Mike Evans for getting that program off the ground. This fall, will be co-teaching another grad course, this to Masters of Education students at TRU, the focus being on development of their thesis/research proposals. Look fwd to this as well, a chance to explore what's out there in critical pedagogy these days.

Planning the guts for fall activities, starting with a visit by Taiwanese scholar Bennett Fu on Sept. 12. Will also try to orchestrate a grand opening of cicac, but will prob look at a mid-fall date for that.

And hopefully the next update shan't be a month down the road, now that i think i have fb somewhat sorted and the dreams of new 'friends' and status updates are no longer as pressing!

Imagining all kindsa places

Spent the last week at the Imagining Places rez in banff, meeting artists and discussing cicac possibilities. Will return there later this week to do more of the same, and to attend the opening of the "informal architecture" exhibition, curated by Anthony Kiendl. Will prob write something on that show for a site as yet to be determined. For now, am visiting the famed Peter's Drive-in, calgary, where the summer festivities of tearing up roadwork has begun! Glad just to be visiting the city for a couple of days rather than residing here this summer...
_____
CiCAC
Centre for Innovation in
Culture and the Arts in Canada
p. 250.852.6284 w. www.cicac.ca

amateur-crastination

My oh my, looking on here, see it's been three weeks since my last confession... Talk about putting things on hold. Since that last post, have been huddled down to various bits and pieces of work, some personal, some work-ly, some a combination of both. Currently squatting at the banff centre where i just gave a talk to the artists residing in the "imaginary places" thang. Have been meeting on and off with said artists since then, and buckling down to some book edits. But most of my 'public' and/or virtual spaces have been occupied with my new obsession with facebook, the Next Newest And Best and Brightest thing in our world of communication. So folks can see what i'm up to there, mostly, and how that reflects on cicac. Speaking of which, have just filed my annuals for the crc and the cfi, thinking back on the first 24 months of this enterprise, and realize now that the CiCAC space is all set to flower. Artists will be coming in, utilizing the space, working with other artists and communities, and there should be a vibrancy there from here on in... Meanwhilst, i'll be here in banff for another few days, then after a dropin at calgary, back to parts westward again. In early July, I'll be co-teaching a graduate course called "Diaspors, Peoples, Places" at UBC-O in Kelowna, an intensive fourday course which i look fwd to greatly. Then more time to shipshape things at cicac and do some more writing, as well as a bit of longterm planning... now that cyprus is behind us, want to use that resource as a springboard of sorts to future actions. No telling where that will take us. This blog, however, is bogging down, so will think about how best to utilize, but might return to this space as an on-the-road report from my mobile, which will mean less photos and videos, more shorthand text... will have to see....

Re-centring

On the tarmac @YYZ now, heading to parts westward after a signif absence. Cyprus behind us, now working on getting vid/photo docs up online. Also came back to the publication of an article written by Rita Wong & me in FUSE, a piece focussing on equity issues in cdn artschools. Just revising that now for pub in a collection ed'd by Smaro Kamboureli and Daniel Coleman, so that shd be good for getting the work circ'd. Some down time to look fwd to, but summer, what with various forms of teaching and art research, will be not so quiet in the long run!
_____
CiCAC
Centre for Innovation in
Culture and the Arts in Canada
p. 250.852.6284 w. www.cicac.ca

Performing images...

Well, it's done, the Performing Identity / Crossing Borders symposium is now history. A very hectic schedule and intense time of identities performed, borders (of all kinds) crossed, and enormous amounts of sharing between artists, academics, and audiences. Photos below a mere smattering of some of the symposium and related activities -- performances by Hiromi Goto and David Bateman; by Ann Holloway; and by David Khang (more photos)...

Also side trips to Salomis and Famagusta in the north. Much more to come, including video and audio work, all to be posted at www.cicac.ca.

end of Ledra Street

Just thinking borders and crossings on the approach of the Performing identity symposium - the photos below show the change in the main promenade, Ledra Street, between last year and this. The first two photos I took in May of 2006, the wall blocking the north/south a bit of a tourist spot complete with observation post; the second photo from a few weeks ago during a press conference at the same site, post-wall. Replacing that and the observation booth is a type of temporary barricade most often seen at the edges of parks during festivals, a rather switch to an informal, obliquely temporary (although such temporariness, as we have seen, can last a great length of time!) impediment to passage...+a

PI/CB venue and hotel

Below, a few images of where we'll be holding the Performing Identity symposium, fyi. Top left is the Castelli Hotel, where many of you are staying. If you walk about fifty metres down the road, you will come to the symposium venue, the Kasteliotissa. The image top right is of the interior of the space (taken during a saxophone event there today); the remaining images are various exterior shots. If you travel a bit further down the road, not very far, you come to one of the crossing points of the 'green line.'

more nail art

Performing Identity / Crossing Borders: the cyprus symposium is set to begin. Arrived in Nicosia yesterday. Tomorrow a basic checkin day with hotels, venues, other such odds and ends. And, of course, always throw some colour in there to signify an event!

Toronto>Cyprus

Riding the subway in tee-dot up to finch 2 collect some belongings (my travel stuff distributed about the city, disorderly) before doing lastminute oddenders here as I leave the nation on tuesday. Somehow, all is pulling 2gether for the symposium, may 3-6, Performing Identity / Crossing Borders. Now have all the presentations in (well, mostly) so delegates can read ahead and the symp time will be more discussion than delivery.

Thinking about cultural politics, nationalism, identity & identification - on the subway, a ream of red as fans head to a Raptors game, icons of support temp-tatt'd to arms and cheeks - and what it leads to. On Beverly st yesterday, saw a group of youth sharing a schoolyard court. They were all using the same orangey lowbounce ball. But the group close to me, south asians whom I guessed hailed from south india, practiced their cricket bowling - the other group, all east asian, played street hockey, adorned with standard icehockey gear. Every once in a while, an errant ball went from cricket 2 hockey or versa, and a stick or hand wd return the sphere to rightful team & sport. I stood transfixed by this for some time, not sure why, the game, the history, the nation (however that comes to mean!). And now, shortly, to cyprus. Info, as always, @ www.cicac.ca.

_____
CiCAC
Centre for Innovation in
Culture and the Arts in Canada
p. 250.852.6284 w. www.cicac.ca

I started a joke, video shoot

A faux fur, a rented PTCruiser, and a dog... all that was needed for a short video shoot on the south hills of Kamloops. We went shooting a short video this past week, produced/directed by David Bateman, inspired by the BeeGees song, "I Started a Joke." Starring David, with Hiromi Goto and Gita as extras. Bill Greene as videographer, Ashok as set photographer... below, contact sheets of the shoot. Video to be released in the next couple of months...

Once Upon an Elephant podcast

Keep forgetting to post this info. CBC radio has posted an excerpt of Once Upon an Elephant, my first novel, as a podcast. The description of the 'cast, which went up on Valentine's Day of this year, was as follows.

Elephants on Parade and Canada Reads
With a nod to Ganesh, the Hindu deity and patron of writers, we hear from elephants today. Readings from Dale Estey´s "The Elephant talks to God", and "Once Upon an Elephant" by Ashok Mathur. Canada Reads feature continues with Barenaked Lady frontman, Steven Page speaking to David Bezmozgis about "Natasha and Other Stories". And an interview with Don Hannah about his latest book, "Ragged Islands." More info on CBC podcasts

Direct link to Once Upon an Elephant podcast

Poetry extravaganza

A happening weekend. First up, a double launch of poetry books by Jacqueline Turner and David Bateman. Jacqueline is launching her third book; David, his second. As much of JT's family is from the Chase area, and DB just wrappng up another teaching session at TRU, this is a likely locale. We're going to host this event at a local downtown club, Players, and it promises to be a show and a half...

Then, on Saturday, a big opening at the Kamloops Art Gallery. Jimmie Durham's "Knew Urk," curated by Candice Hopkins, is the internationally-acclaimed artist's first solo show in Canada, originally exhibited at the Walter Phillips Gallery in 2005. It's a fascinating exhibit, and quite thrilling that it's coming to the KAG. Also showing will be "Overstepped Boundaries: Powerful Statements by Aboriginal Artists in the Permanent Collection." In this exhibit, three young aboriginal women -- Erika Lakes, Ayla Joe, and Julienne Ignace -- worked with KAG curator, local artists, and educational officers to compile a show from the gallery's collection. It's a challenging move by the KAG and it promises good things in the offing I would think. Of course, there is far more info on the KAG's website.



Related to this double-exhibition is Panel Discussion that I will be facilitating on Sunday. An excellent group of panelists, all with particular expertise in the concept of aboriginal arts education. I see this as a wonderful springboard for possibilities in the arts community here. Below, the official blurb.

Panel Discussion
Stepping Across Boundaries

Sunday, April 1, 1:00 pm

Ken Lepin and Tricia Sellmer Studios

In conjunction with the exhibitions Overstepped Boundaries and Knew Urk, KAG is hosting a special panel discussion. The discussion focuses on the limited Aboriginal content in arts instruction at various levels of education in Kamloops and across Canada, and ways of overcoming such limitations. Join panellists Wendy Chanin, a parent concerned about the absence of Aboriginal cultural content in local elementary schools; Deb Draney, Principal of Aboriginal Education for School District 73, and cofounder of the Interior Aboriginal Artists’ Society; Garry Gottfriedson, a local poet, educator, and activist from the Kamloops Indian Band; Candice Hopkins, curator of Knew Urk; Mary Longman, professional artist, teacher, and Aboriginal education researcher; and Tania Willard, an artist and editor with Redwire Native Youth Media Society. Facilitated by Ashok Mathur, Canada Research Chair in Cultural and Artistic Inquiry, Thompson Rivers University, the panel looks at ways of crossing the boundaries that limit access to Aboriginal art and developing Aboriginal arts education. Free admission.

more on ceramics

That's me and Brendan Tang above, and if you look sharply in the back kitchen corner, that's Yuichiro Komatsu. This was taken in Vancouver while Brendan was there for TRU/ECI exchange; Yuichiro was just out here in Kamloops speaking to folks at TRU and having one-to-one sessions with ceramics students. Was really good to get such exchanges going, have the artists spending time together and with interested parties.

Quicktime Movie of Yuichiro's presentation

Now things gearing up for the weekend, which promise to be a host of spinning activities!

Ceramics Instructor exchange

During the week of March 12, TRU ceramics instructor Brendan Tang visited the Emily Carr Institute as part of an instructional exchange supported by CiCAC. Tang delivered artist talks, worked with students, and was part of a panel on art and craft during a craft show in the Concourse Gallery at ECI (above, Brendan Tang with ECI instructors Paul Mathieu and Deb Koenker). This week, in exchange, ECI ceramics instructor Yuichiro Kamotsu is visiting TRU for a similar program. Images and video of this latter exchange to follow.

This is a reflection of Glen Lowry and me in Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture in Millenium Park. That's the Pritzker Pavillion, a Gehry creation, in the background.

Chicago is...

...a bustle of architecture, a real contemporay babel, city of art+architecture. Here in this windy city for a film/media conf where a group of us - Randy Lee Cutler, Sadira Rodrigues, Glen Lowry, & i - presented a workshop panel on media+sound, its potentials and potential pitfalls in contemporary art practice. A huge conf, a range of materials therein, and as usual, the most productive side was the collegial exchanges. Today, sussed things out at the museum of contemp art, a good show on the past 4 decades of photography. Had a moment of irony, seeing the "no photography" sign inside the photog exhibit! Speaking ironies, very curious scene full of that atop the hancock building (which was, for a brief moment in 1970, the tallest bldg in the world. There is an elaborate "installation" set up there, made to look like the exterior windows of the ob deck. Full of "window-washing" regalia, the onetrick pony concept here is for tourists to pose "as if" they were outside the bldg. To round out the simulacra, and to balance the light, the backdrop of the scene is an evenly-lit city skyline "as if" the scene was actually behind the posing tourists. Of course, this is necessary, photographically-speaking, so that the skyline is "visible" and neither grossly overexposed nor covered in fog/darkness/etc. Still, the ironies abound. Thinking a lot about tourism in various climates of security, economic decline, spectacle, and such. Photos soon to come, both of chicago and the earlier trip to miami - have been offblog for too long now, time to get back at it....The one photo here is of Glen Lowry looking out over the Chicago skyline from the Hancock observatory...

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Miami visitations

Arrived @MIA last evening, greeted by friend & colleague, Rita Wong, whose creative writing class at the Uni of Miami I'll be visiting tomorrow. A quiet evening - we picked up Larissa Lai who has been here a few days already. Today we may get to the everglades, or praps to south beach. All in all, a relaxing day before the lecture-visit tomorrow. Etceteras to come...
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Ashok Mathur
Canada Research Chair in Cultural and Artistic Inquiry
Thompson Rivers University
office: 250.852.6286
cell: 604.790.4910
web: amathur.ca
blog: http://ashokmathur.blogspot.com/

Trippin' 2 SF

Heading down to san francisco now, on the tarmac waiting for the green light. Will meet up there with Paula Levine, a wonderful artist i first met when she participated in the IntraNation rez i directed a coupla yrs back now. Paula intersects art w/technology, fusing both with an ascerbic and critical eye toward socio-political engagement. Want to work with her on a future project, just in nascent stages now, but worth meeting with her and colleagues to start ideas flowing. Will also connect with an old colleague, Sky Ward, who works at Berkeley creating possibilities for international students. May be a tenable option for TRU students sometime soon... Will see what she says, then talk to folks at the home institution and see what possibilities exist. A fast trip, just 48 in SF, then back to co-ord upcoming talks at Miami U, Chicago, & Toronto over the next 2 weeks. Will post more on those events soonish. For now, getting my head around the Bay area and how to engage/solicit artist-researchers in the pair of days upcoming...
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Subject: SanFran, GPS, parrots & more
Time of year when travel & activities are actively juggled - lots of items in the air as we try to bring things into/around CiCAC. Just returned from a very brief visit to san franciso for a couple of equally brief meetings. First off, met with Paula Levine, an artist-researcher i first met when she participated in the IntraNation rez i directed at banff in 2005. Paula teaches at SF state university, working on digital arts and technology. Her work is both technologically savvy and cutting edge and politically astute, so i look fwd to being able to do any sort of project with her. One current interest I'm sharing with others at TRU and elsewhere is the intersection of art + science, a way of integrating such knowledge bases to investigate everything from globalized militarism to alternative sources of energy to expanded media in the arts. If CiCAC can work as a thinktank on such arenas, perhaps developing networks through NSERC and other national/regional funding bodies and f
oundations, there could be something remarkable to build on for graduate students, public intellectuals, and artists from all over. Paula is also working with Henry Tsang and others (including Glen Lowry at ECI, CiCAC, etc) on a project that will look at how Dubai architects are essentially reproducing vancouver's false creek as part of a development plan. Such international approaches (that is, the integrated involvement of artists with critical attention to implications of such issues) is important to theorizing globalization and its variegated effects. More on this as it develops.

Also met with an old colleague, Skye Ward, someone i first encountered back in 1990 at the gay games in vancouver. At the time, she was part of Aché, a black lesbian collective working out of the Bay area. She had just started then at Berkeley and is still there as the summer sessions International Student Services Manager. While mostly we caught up on international engagements (like me, she has an interest in taiwan where she does a fair bit of recruitment) while touring the bay, i want to see what sort of arrangements could be made for tru students who might have an interest in studying for a session at berkeley. Might invite her up to talk to our internat study folks at some time if it's feasible.

The other point of note from SF was our sudden discovery of the wild parrots of telegraph hill. Some folks out there in blogland might have read the book on this subject, though more are prob familiar with the recent feature doc on the parrots. We were descending from the hill when we came upon a flock of very noisy, very green, very active birds, flitting from tree to tree on the leeward side of the hill. Spent some consid time photographing them. Will post images when I'm not settled into an airline seat composing notes on the bberry...

Yes, today off to calg for a brief and non-business visit, back in the 'loops sunday, then to van on monday so i can catch an early early tues flight out to yyz to catch my connector to miami where I'll be doing creative writing class visits for emily carr prof (currently visiting prof at UMiami). Then on the way back through toronto, partaking in a workshop session at an event sponsored by the Metropolis Project folks. Will be speaking to citizenship and artistic intersections. That toronto visit will also give me a chance to followup with folks at the South Asian Visual Arts Collective on future collab projects, so we'll see where that takes us.

More events to tell about as things transpire...

i confess!

FWIW, the presentation I did at Jacqueline Turner's class on 'blogs, youtube, and confession." Note that these are only notes toward a presentation, so there are lots of gaps and spaces - imagine them filled with all sorts of extemporizing!

"i confess!" notes
Images from powerpoint

Meta blog

Tomorrow, a metaproject of sorts, visiting Jacqueline Turner's social science class on "Blogging, YouTube, and Confession" at the Emily Carr Institute. I've been quite intrigued by the notion of blogging over the past little while, its possibilities and pitfalls, its nuances and newness. As a (one time) journalist, it recalls a type of reportage, a telling-the-world in a particular way, although, of course, its ubiquity means something quite else. There's a quotation attributed to Hemmingway, that journalism was only "literature in a hurry"; if so, then blogging may just be journalism on speedballs, a hurry-up-please-it's-time type of writing that bases itself in 'reality' if sometimes a virtual one. At any rate, tomorrow's talk will be intriguing. I plan on talking a bit about journalism, a bit about how i came (in)to blogging as part of an artistic practice, and a bit about confession (and autobiography in all its myriad forms). Since Jacqueline has her students reading some Augustine and Foucault, might use that as a jumping off point. This will be somewhat of a cross between a formal lecture and a face-to-face blogging encounter, and I'm strategizing was to make this function in just such a manner. One thing I have extolled in the past is the usefulness of working together with other artists to complement our various practices, and this is no different. I more or less volunteered to come speak to Jacqueline's class because we have worked together in the past; she, in turn, will be coming to Kamloops on March 30 to launch her recently-published book of poetry, Seven into Even (ECW Press), a co-launch with David Bateman's new book of poetry, Impersonating Flowers. To that end, I think I'll be incorporating some of DB's work on confession/autobiog into the classblogtalk tomorrow as well, using a clip from his Bravo-distributed short film, The Bather (that's a video-grab from the film to the left). What comes around comes around...Might post a precis of the blog/confession talk, or at least a ppt bit if I decide to go that route...

Failure as aesthetic

The panel at the Dowsing for Failure installation at Open Space was engaging indeed. The conversations ranged from the curatorial process to the theoretical and conceptual notions of failure in artistic practice. It was a productive time, and hats off to Doug Jarvis and Ted Hiebert who put this complex project together. As for my role, I put together some brief notes toward the topic and link my presentation on failure here as a word file.

Failures

Flying over the gulf islands on my way to victoria wherean this aft, will give a talk on "failure" at the artist-run centre, Open Space. Curated by Ted Hiebert & Doug Jarvis is an exhibition there, focussed on this very notion: failure and what that means in artistic practice. When i first saw their call for sub's, i wrote to ted+doug, expressing interest in what they were doing and how they were approaching the topic. So when they invited me to speak at a panel regarding the show and its concepts, i jumped at the opportunity. I partic like their insistence that we not (always) look at "failure" as ultimately recuperable, for there are times when it might be best not to see failings as but a way toward success (whatever those terms mean). Will see the show early this aft before the panel, will post my talk (or notes toward such) on this site presently. Meanwhile, sunny skies prevail here on the island, a switch from the wintery 'scape that is kamloops at this moment in climatology!
____
Ashok Mathur
Canada Research Chair in Cultural and Artistic Inquiry
Thompson Rivers University
office: 250.852.6286
cell: 604.790.4910
web: amathur.ca
blog: http://ashokmathur.blogspot.com/

cicac in the saddle

Equipment starting to roll into CiCAC now, so the officey space is chockablock with boxes of macs and assorted gear. Will spend the next few getting things set up, fixing places for setups, and doing general interior dec'g. Still lacking furniture (prob stalled somewhere in purchasing or on the rogers' pass!) but have enough to start things up. Will upload photos of the process soon. Meanwhilst, the photo at right clipped from a kamloops webcam - or go to a current view of looking down the valley toward the north shore...

Melbourne: day last

Near the end of a productive visit. Met today with playwright and shortstory writer Chi Vu, whose work with communities in Melbourne sounds quite engaging. After connecting with her, Tom Cho, Paul Carter, Peta Stephenson, and Som Sengmany (all through the vast network that is Tseen Khoo!), I'm certain that there are loads of possibilities with artists and theorists here for CiCAC and such. I picked up Paul's book, Material Thinking after meeting him, and I'm excited by our congruity of ideas around artistic research. One of his central tenets is that creative research "studies complexity and it defends complex systems of communication against over-simplification....Its success cannot be measured in terms of simplification and closure. Exploring the reinvention of social relations at that place does not produce a 'discovery' that can be generalised and patented. It is an imaginative break-through, which announces locally different forms of sociability, environmental interactivity and collective storytelling" (13). He goes on to state that such creative research is all about processes of self reinvention, a very attractive and necessary project, I would suggest. So I close down the Melbourne chapter with some reflections. Up on Lygon Street (thanks to Haema Sivanesan's recommendations, she of the sydney-to-toronto recent migration!), the Italian quarter replete with boyz in sidewalk cafes and pumped bikes and cars racing down the divided boulevard, quite an experience in the summer heat as folks jockey for position at gelato stands. The beach image



is down St Kilda street where the day started at 40-plus, but then the buzz along the stall operators that "the change" was coming at 3 pm. Sure enough, as i sat watching the waves, a wind picked up and blew twenty degrees right off the mercury in less than an hour. Then there was the ubiquity of lane-shopping in the melbourne cbd, this taken from "Hells," just off Degraves. And, afternoon sun does wonders to the design aesthetics that pepper the streets, this silvery array functioning as a footgrip on the corner of Bourke and Exhibition...

Bush fires

Temperature broke forty degrees today, a hindrance to those fighting bush fires near Melbourne. News reports that what with the severe drought, extreme temperatures, and excessive winds, this inferno has the potential to rival the devestation of 1939 when fires ravaged the region and killed more than 70. Some of the smaller towns are on evacuation alert and firefighters are being brought in from different parts of Australia and different nations to help contain the flames. Yesterday, woke up to a thick fog of smoke over Melbourne, socking in the city and delaying flights as the smoke set off smoke detectors which automatically shut down baggage handling. One of the images below shows the city in the morning smoke; another image shows a NASA photo of what the region looks like from orbit, the smoke clearly forming a distinct weather pattern of its own. Today was a bit clearer (or maybe we're just getting used to the smell) and the temperature dropped a remarkable ten degrees in what seemed to be a few minutes, a welcome relief from the intensity of the heat.

in & around melbourne

Wandering around the city, abuzz with people and places to see. Some images below, the bright Flinders Station, and below that the much-photographed "3 Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch" sculpture, installed in 1994 by artists Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn. I also like the state library aesthetic, a building contemplating its own ruins in some sort of romanesque reflection. And, of course, the municipal xmas tree standing stall on Swantson St. Have also been meeting with academics doing cool work in Asian-oz and Indigenous art/culture production. Hoping to get back here next June when the Asian-Australianists will be conferencing together. And in my wanderings, getting interested in urban music, found a pretty wild Latin/hiphop group from Melbourne, Labjacd and also here's a sample from an Aboriginal hiphop group, Culture Connect, just recorded on the iPod.

Taipei 2 Melbourne

A few days off-blog, much of that in transit and down time post-transit... Left Taipei on Dec 3, a connector to HongKong and then the voyage down to Melbourne. The city is not as hot as it often is this time of year, mid20s rather than high30s, so that's pleasant enough. Have spent most of my time here just roaming around, a quiet time after the busyness of the tour in taiwan. Staying at the Quest on Bourke, a tidy apt-hotel that is quite nice and spacious. Central to the main district, so much so that i have yet to explore transit as i've just been en pied for the time here. Meeting with Tseen Khoo in a couple of hours, a mover and shaker of the Asian-Australian scene, and she's set me up with a number of other academics and artists for future CiCAC purposes. Met with Peta Stephenson yesterday, a researcher whose work involves investigating the current movement of Australian Aboriginals toward Islam as well as looking at Indigenous/Asian cross-cultural histories in oz. Good meetup and a good contact for the future. Looking, today, for some Aboriginal hiphop and such, thinking about current and contemporary expressions of globalized artistic currency around racialized communities. Have a line on a few bands. Off to do that now.

National Taiwan Normal Uni

That's our host, Leonard Reil, Deputy Director/General Relations for the Cdn Trade Office in Taipei, just before our NTNU event, and below that, an image of Hiromi reading to the seminar group at NTU later that day.


We decided to do a bi of a changeup this time starting with context instead of the readings. It's a smaller group, but very engaged, and host Iping Liang, professor of English here, has been as gracious as have all the other hosts. I set things up around the changing landscape of Canlit over the last 20 years, how we're no longer in the (relatively) exclusive domain of writing from the wilderness, so to speak. Hiromi is speaking now, talking of how we can 'imagine' ourselves into our texts, a strong concept that is definitely worth pursuing. As per usual, she is very clean and precise in her articulations, and I can see how the students are thoroughly engaged. (Makes me slightly envious! But this also goes toward how our trio is quite complementary in how we come together and give out different things that the audience seems to be able to draw together.) And now David is up, connecting the dots around autobiographial storytelling. He talks of identity and identity-blurring, again effectively connecting with the students about race and queer politics. What i particularly like about this entire tour is how we've resisted the formality of the occasion, talking "off the cuff," that is, not off the page. We then turned to some readings: i began with the opening gambit of Once Upon an Elephant, a good piece to throw canadian-context into a series like this; Hiromi reads from Hopeful Monsters, a funny bit that covers the transcanada highway, so, again, a good bit for this group; David shows a photo of his costume from the Lotus Blossom Special production, then his Powder Blue video. From there, we went into questions of technology and the body, all within the context of 'crossing borders' and what that means (or meant)....