AGW lets you know your neighbours

By: Murad Erzinclioglu

 

The Art Gallery of Windsor is offering the community a chance to explore the connection between border cities around the globe.

 

Border Cultures: Part One (homes, land) is the current art show at the AGW. Border Cultures is a three-part exhibition that brings together regional, national and international artists to examine changing ideas about national boundaries. The exhibition as a whole will take place annually from 2013 to 2015 with each installment acting as a platform for artists to examine borders through different perspectives. The (homes, land) show features the use of drawing, photography, videos, sound installations and more to share views on nationhood, citizenship and identity in the borderlands.

Srimoyee Mitra, curator of contemporary art at the AGW, curated the (homes, land) exhibition that took the better part of a year to compile and organize. She said there is a great importance in understanding the connections between societies in border cities and regions.

 

“We live in a border town. Crossing borders or not being able to cross them is a part of our everyday life,” Mitra said. “The idea is to position the border discussion in Windsor and Detroit in dialogue with border context in different parts of the world. A border context is not unique in the entire world. There’s lots that we have to share.”

 

Two other current shows also relate to border communities taking an in-depth look at the relationship between Windsor and Detroit.  The first, called The Border Bookmobile Public Archive and Reading Room, gathers together books, artist projects, photographs and various ephemera about the urban history of Windsor and Detroit. Attendees are invited to photocopy their favourite photos and excerpts from the vast pool of collected materials. The second show, A River That Separates?, is drawn from the AGW collection and brings together a varied group of artist perspectives of the Detroit River over the past 200 years.

 

Justin Langlois, research director at Broken City Lab and assistant professor in the visual arts department at the University of Windsor, collaborated with colleagues to create a piece for the (homes, land) exhibit. According to their website, Broken City Lab is an artist-led interdisciplinary collective and non-profit organization working to “explore and unfold curiosities around locality, infrastructures, education and creative practice leading towards civic change.” Langlois and Broken City Lab have been attempting to create artistic and social connections between Windsor and Detroit for the past four years. They showed a halved mirrored acrylic heart engraved with the script “Together Forever, Never Apart.” Each half was publically displayed in the streets of both Windsor and Detroit before becoming a part of the current exhibition.

 

“I think the work tries to own up to the challenges you can have in a relationship between Windsor and Detroit,” Langlois said. “The cities are so close to one another and there are a lot of opportunities to make those connections, but I think on an on-going basis it’s like how I remember hearing about my parents kind of experience, having friends over there (Michigan) that would come over here. That doesn’t seem to be the case as much as it used to be.”

 

Residents of the city are invited to experience the pieces and create their own interpretations of life in a border community. All three exhibits will be on display until March 31.  For more information and listings of all programming and exhibitions visit www.agw.com.