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Artists
¤ Carrie Allison
¤ Pansee Atta
¤ Candice Baldwin
¤ Chrystal Clements
¤ Emily Davidson
¤ Charles Doucette
¤ Kaashif Ghanie
¤ Barbara Hunt
¤ Neon Kohkom
¤ Gary Markle
¤ Ruth Marsh
¤ Allyson Mitchell
¤ Kim Morgan
¤ Robin Muller
¤ Anna Taylor

Curator
¤ Julie Hollenbach

Themes
¤ Alterity
¤ Drawing & Printmaking
¤ Gender & Feminisms
¤ Nova Scotian Artists



Home » Exhibitions » Unpacking the Living Room

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Unpacking the Living Room

Sketch by David Dahms
Sketch by David Dahms

Sketch by David Dahms
8 Sep 2018 – 10 Nov 2018

Living rooms are spaces we arrange and create around ourselves to support the comfort and wellbeing of family, to host friends and loved ones, to display precious and prized belongings, and for leisure and relaxation. But living rooms are private spaces packed with emotions and history, as well as social and political investments. The kind of living room we create can reveal our background, our values, our social position, and our aspirations. Even the privilege of having a living room speaks volumes when so many people live in precarious situations, are without shelter, or have been displaced from their homes and traditional lands.

This exhibition explores the many dynamics of domestic environments by staging a radically re-imagined living room in the gallery space. Unpacking the Living Room will host thoughtful community discussions about craft and art, amateurism and professionalism, leisure and labour, and the private and the political. Through playful and insightful interventions, Unpacking the Living Room invites community members to reflect on the histories and ideologies that ground understandings of self, home, belonging, and resilience.

Unpacking the Living Room and MSVU Art Gallery are situated in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, and within sight of the historic location of the Africville community.

– Julie Hollenbach, curator

Financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia and Attica Furnishings Limited is gratefully acknowledged.

OPENING RECEPTION Saturday 22 September 2:00-4:00pm
Please join curator Julie Hollenbach and participating artists for a relaxed reception with refreshments. Artist Emily Davidson will install her wallpaper piece, How It’s Made during the reception.

WORKSHOP Saturday 29 September 1:00-2:30pm
Artist Carrie Allison will introduce the basics of beading and discuss her current collaborative project The Shubenacadie River Beading Project and its sister project Shubie River. These projects invite people to map the Shubenacadie River in beadwork, raising awareness about Indigenous sovereignty and land rights in the process. Capacity is limited and advanced registration is required. Please email claire.dykhuis@msvu.ca by 26 September to register.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION Saturday 29 September 3:00-4:30pm
Please join El Jones, Sherry Pictou, Lynn Jones and Gloria Ann Wesley for “Unpacking Colonialism and Environmental Racism in Halifax” a roundtable discussion of these topics and the destruction and displacement of the communities of Turtle Grove and Africville. The discussion will be followed by a relaxed reception and refreshments in the gallery, sponsored by the MSVU Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies. A free wheelchair accessible shuttle, sponsored by the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group, is available for this event. Capacity is limited and seating (round trip) will be offered on a first come, first served basis. Information about the vehicle can be found here.

- to MSVU Art Gallery -
2:00pm meet at Dalhousie University in front of the Killam Memorial Library
2:15pm depart for MSVU Art Gallery drop-off in front of Seton Academic Center.

- from MSVU Art Gallery -
4:30pm meet outside MSVU Art Gallery in front of Seton Academic Center (same as drop-off spot)
4:40pm depart for Killam Memorial Library (same as pick-up spot)

WORKSHOP Wednesday 3 October 12:00-1:30pm
Join artist Ruth Marsh for a hands-on workshop, using deceased bees and retro-electronic components, to learn how environmental change is affecting delicate bee ecology.
Capacity is limited and advanced registration is required. Please email claire.dykhuis@msvu.ca by 26 September to register.

PERFORMANCE
Saturday 20 October 2:00-4:00pm
WORK OUT|WORK OUT is a two-phase collaborative performance piece by Julie Hollenbach and Gambletron challenging idealized feminine gender performance through an immersive theatrical romp that includes culinary sculpture, hobby craft kitsch, and a multi-media dance. The first phase (2:00-3:30 pm) follows a group of friends as they attempt to construct self-portraits. The second phase of the performance (3:30-4:00pm) sees the friends forgo the arduous task of performing femininity to perfection. Opting instead to glitch, disembody and otherwise intervene in the prescriptive works of mainstream feminine gurus such as Jane Fonda, Martha Stewart, Sheryl Sandberg, and Iliza Schleslinger. This phase of the performance witnesses the friends' collective embrace of the queer pleasure of gender failure. Visitors are invited to drop-in or attend the whole performance. Financial support for this performance from Arts Nova Scotia is gratefully acknowledged. Financial support from Arts Nova Scotia for this performance is gratefully acknowledged.

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All are welcome to events and there are no admission fees.
ASL is available for all public events on request. Two weeks’ notice prior to an event is recommended but arrangements will be made whenever possible based on interpreter availability. Please email claire.dykhuis@msvu.ca to request an interpreter.

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Exhibition Image
Click on the image to enlarge it.
Sketch by David Dahms       


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