McMaster Museum of Art exhibition We Remain Certain portrays Haudenosaunee’s complex history to strike conversations about our future
The We Remain Certain exhibition had its opening reception on Jan. 11 from 5-8 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art, and will be available for public viewing until Mar. 22, 2024.
This exhibition was funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. Their other supporters include the Ontario Arts Council.
We Remain Certain depicts the lasting connection between the Haudenosaunee people and their Grand River Territory home. The Haudenosaunee, also known as “people of the longhouse,” Iroquois or Six Nations, are members of a confederacy of Aboriginal nations that reside across southern Ontario, eastern Quebec and south into New York State. This exhibition is curated by a collective of Haudenosaunee artists, and the contemporary pieces delve into Haudenosaunee land tenure, exploring the intricate history, treaty agreements and displacements along the Grand River. It ultimately aims to ignite conversations and thoughts around our collective future, utilizing Haudenosaunee "Original Instructions" as a foundation for understanding and collaboration.
This collection was curated by Protect the Tract Collective, a Haudenosaunee-led project that conducts research, policy development and encourages civil engagement through the promotion of land stewardship (caring for and continuously learning about a piece of land despite its ownership) over the Haldimand Tract, featuring artists Dakota Brant, Denny Doolittle, Betts Doxtater, Kaya Hill, Rick Hill, Arnold Jacobs, Ken Maracle, Steve Maracle, Shelley Niro, Greg Staats, Steve Smith, Kristen Summers and Jeff Thomas.
The exhibit aims to communicate that, while the past remains certain, the future can be changed based on what we learn from our history.
“Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s. Awęhęgyeh shęh hodęˀ dewahde:nihs, haˀgadagyeˀshǫˀ shęh nˀagwanigǫ̲ha:do:gę: It does not matter what continually changes, our understanding remains certain,” as stated on the M(M)A website.
Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s. Awęhęgyeh shęh hodęˀ dewahde:nihs, haˀgadagyeˀshǫˀ shęh nˀagwanigǫ̲ha:do:gę: It does not matter what continually changes, our understanding remains certain
M(M)A website
The temporary art event held at Pier 8 over the month of Novemeber, immersed community in a unique sound and light show in an effort to draw them to the waterfront
From Nov. 1 to 26 between the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., the city of Hamilton held a temporary art exhibition at the Pier 8 waterfront called Sonic Runway. The event immersed citizens in a light installation, which sent sound signals to create patterns of light down a walkway. The exhibition was free for everyone to attend.
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager for the city of Hamilton, explained that from, the beginning, the exhibition hoped to create awareness for the waterfront, showcase the potential of Pier 8 and encourage community members to visit.
Fortune's role in the city is to come up with placemaking and public art initiatives to transform spaces and make them appealing places to visit. Placemaking refers to developing a part of a city so that people would want to live and establish themselves there.
Community members can approach Fortune and share with him what they are hoping to see and he can then work with them to bring creativity to the city.
Fortune discussed how Sonic Runway was the first large-scale placemaking initiative the city has run.
"I don't think the site has experienced anything like that before. . . also this is one of the few times that we've brought in nationally recognized artists [for events like] Sonic Runway," said Fortune.
Feedback for the event was overwhelmingly positive. Over 20,000 people visited the exhibition while it was open.
Fortune hoped that, with this event and others like it, the collective creativity identity of the city will continue to develop as the community gains more insight and involvement with Hamilton's creative and artistic side while taking part in placemaking and meaningful experiences.
Fortune also highlighted how the principal part of the exhibition was to encourage students and others to dream, by showing how the things they learn in class can be translated into the real world and offering an opportunity to learn more about the chance to learn about the technical side of placemaking, such as user interface design and electrical engineering. Students could see how they might apply their own skills within this field and how choosing an arts-based career, while it might be difficult, does pay off.
Fortune also hoped the project helped to change student perspective of the city, highlighting how there is more to it than just campus and giving places like the waterfront a new image and identity, rather than being only seen for industrial purposes.
"Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that]," said Fortune.
Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that].
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager, city of Hamilton
Fortune encouraged students to check out future events the city of Hamilton will host, especially for the winter and holiday season. With so much creativity in the city, there is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. Events can be found here.
Shakeel is a Toronto-based experimental musician and multimedia artist. The OCAD University student has performed solo and collaborative shows in her home-town, as well as Karachi, Pakistan and at the Torstraßen Festival, a music and arts festival in Berlin, Germany.
Sculpting Time is an exploration of the concept of time beyond our naturally linear perception of it. Unlike space, it is difficult to conceive time as a concept that can be designed and navigated. Shakeel intends to allow the audience to take time into their hands by using sandglass clocks. Sculpting Time evokes a sense of control over time as each individual interacts with the sand and subsequent sonic responses.
Jay is a Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from Concordia University, multidisciplinary artist, creative director and graphic designer. Her work revolves around questioning human behaviour and collective memory through digital and physical sculptural installations.
In Sacred Space, Jay explores belonging and the transience of home and loss of home through a multimedia installation. Physical structural bodies and floating holographic images are contained within healing structures that represent a place of a refuge. Sacred Space depicts that belonging can be found within one’s self.
Jenkins is a Hamilton-based multidisciplinary artist who is currently working at the Niagara Custom Lab, a motion picture film laboratory. He has a fond interest for handmade culture, writing, documentary practice and personal film making.
The E6 Process commemorates the chromogenic process for developing color reversal film through audio recordings. On the brink of extinction of color reversal motion picture stock, the E6 Process is a unique way of keeping the story of a precarious ritual and all its hidden labour alive.
Baptista is a Toronto-based creative developer, multimedia and interaction artist. Baptista’s artwork focuses on incorporating physical and digital realms. He is passionate about interactive sound and is currently challenging the ways mediums are used to interact with sound.
His installation is an experiment that explore the impact of dampening and absorption of a material on a sonic waveform. Participants will be able to make sounds with water, as the water controls an analog synthesizer capable of producing sounds electronically.
Eccinaccea is a Montreal-based artist. They produce multimedia installations, music, poetry and collages. Their work focuses on embracing the poetic and sensual potential of technology, such as the C# programming language and modal synthesis units, by transforming and incorporating them into audio and visual installations.
Beachballcoral@clone.zone (two of three from Incubation Cove series) is an ambient installation that incorporates Eccinaccea’s video and audio work. The installation is experienced in a virtual space through a Virtual Reality headset. Through the installation, Eccinaccea aims to explore and question the future of technologies like artificial intelligence, and how it interacts with the world if it becomes sentient and self-reproducing.
Basanta is a Montreal-based sound artist who aims to draw awareness to the undiscovered and overlooked aspects of the listening experience. His work utilizes a diverse range of media to create three-dimensional simulations to explore conceptual, sensorial, psychological, bodily and mechanical dimensions of the listening experience.
A Line Listening to Itself is a sound sculpture consisting of a single microphone tilted towards an extended line of seven reclaimed speaker cones. Basanta incorporated computer-controlled feedback networks, which allow the microphone to pick up its own amplification from each speaker, generating a seven note rhythm of sonic ebb and flow.
For a full schedule of events and gallery hours click here.
By: Tiffany Tse
While the Hundred Dollar Gallery may have recently concluded its final exhibition, its gallerists have been quick to begin a new project in the very same space.
Located at the corner of James Street North and Cannon, The Assembly co-op art gallery will re-open in the same location as the Hundred Dollar Gallery.
The low rent and supportive Hamilton community have encouraged the gallerists to prepare the space quickly to begin showcasing their artwork.
This time, an additional team of artists that will share the space to display their work which includes a diverse variety of abstract work, textile, 3D art, and more.
Stephen Altena, a local artist and gallerist, describes The Assembly as a natural fit for this gallery space.
His primary interest lies in Hamilton’s art scene and he believes that The Assembly will be a nice continuation from the Hundred Dollar Gallery he started with Andrew McPhail.
Altena’s colleague, Andrea Carvalho, agrees and reflects upon the established history of an artist-run co-op in downtown Hamilton.
The original art studios that inhabited the area in the 1970s were run often run on the co-operative model. The presence of popular restaurants, bars and cafes on their street provide The Assembly’s unique combination of being a co-op in a commercially-driven space and neighborhood.
A total of 16 members will work together to present this gallery, each of whom have been previously involved in the Hundred Dollar Gallery project.
“As things are quickly evolving and spaces are becoming more difficult to access, it’s important to continue having a foothold within the area for initiatives such as The Assembly,” explained Carvalho.
“When the idea of a co-op was first discussed, it was something that a few of us right away wanted to see happen, so we moved quickly to make sure it could happen.”
This is by no means the collective’s first venture together, having met through local art initiatives in the community. Altena describes a level of comfort amongst them that allows them to work together successfully in this capacity.
“Everyone is working on a professional practice and has similar goals and ambitions,” explained Carvalho.
Despite the challenge of making decisions with all 16 members, Altena and Carvalho welcome the new and unexpected challenges that may occur.
In fact, these challenges will bring them together as they share their passion to bring artists together to form connections with the public to create a sense of community.
The most significant goal of The Assembly is to present an opportunity for artists, emerging or established, to showcase their works.
It encourages experimentation and will allow local artists to develop their skills and build connections.
Join The Assembly for the presentation of their first exhibition, “Working in the Dark,” by John Haney on Nov.11, from 7-10 p.m.
Sophia Topper
The Silhouette
From the Hellenistic Era to the Space Age, the McMaster Museum of Art covers it all. Thursday, Sept. 19 marked the opening of the Museum’s fall 2013 exhibits.
The exhibits span the spectrum, from modern art like John Noestheden’s Sterrenstof, ‘Stardust’ in Dutch, to Worldly Possessions, curated by Professor Gregory Davies and several of his McMaster students, containing Baroque art and natural specimens.
Noesdtheden’s works explore the mathematics of astronomy and site-responsiveness, creating works that command the gallery. On a deeper level, Sterenstof also explores our origins on a cosmic scale, and describes our entrancement with the notion that we are all, in fact, stardust.
Another new exhibit, Thelma Rosner’s Homeland, also examines our origins on a more domestic level. This vein is quite different from her past work that focused on patterns and repetition, but Homeland still incorporates these phenomena into captivating painted cross-stitch rugs, with motifs that morph into machine guns. This work is also influenced by her interest in craft, showcasing mediums like textiles and calligraphy that were once thought of as lesser, women’s hobbies.
Worldly Possessions, described by curator Prof. Gregory Davies as “ambitious”, also explored a setting of rapidly shifting values, the 17th century Netherlands. This exhibit seeks to explore how acquisition of wealth was justified in a highly moralistic society, especially when that wealth resulted from the horrors of Colonialism.
Davies says he hopes that visitors “reflect on those ideas, especially as they apply to their own lives”, as two of the main themes, consumerism on the backs of the third world, and humanity’s interaction with nature, are equally applicable today.
Voyager, featuring Albrecht Dürer, William Hogarth, and Patrick Mahon with Stowaways, explores moralizing through art as well. The “ship of fools” trope is used to show the consequences of poor behaviour in an attempt to dissuade the view from engaging in the same sins. Shipwrecks, showing vessels in states of devastation and demise, add an immediacy to the message.
Antiquities, curated by Owen Phillips and Dr. Spencer Pope, showcase McMaster’s collection of ancient glassware and Greek and Roman coins. The glassware collection is an enlightening glimpse into the everyday life of our ancestors, and the art they produced.
Likewise, the coin collection gives us information about the economic, political and artistic culture and, with research occurring right here at Mac, tell us about the political structures of antiquity by showing where metals for coins come from by creating “isotope profiles for silver deposits,” as explained to me by Dr. Pope.
He believes that the exhibition is an incredible way for students to interact with artifacts direct.
The on-campus museum, with free admission for students, is a place to get out of the Mac bubble and think about the world as a whole. It is a chance to ponder how the very roots of civilization in antiquity, flowing through the moralistic lessons of the Baroque era, influence the conflict in the near east and our daily lives on our own “ship of fools” and our place in the universe.
Photo credit: Tyler Welch / Assistant News Editor
