Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 Musée canadien de l'immigration du Quai 21

Position As Desired / Exploring African Canadian Identity: Photographs from the Wedge Collection

January 22 to March 30, 2013 Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 Ralph and Rose Chiodo Harbourside Gallery 1055 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS

OPENING RECEPTION Friday, February 8 at 5:30 p.m.

Top Left: Detail of: Stacey Tyrell, Position As Desired, 2001/2010, Digital print. © Stacey Tyrell and Dr. Kenneth Montague / The Wedge Collection Right: Detail of: Dawit L. Petros, Sign, 2001, Digital print. © Dawit L. Petros and Dr. Kenneth Montague / The Wedge Collection

What does it mean to be African Canadian? Explore the topic of Black identity in Canada in the context of immigration and multiculturalism as you discover Position As Desired / Exploring African Canadian Identity: Photographs from the Wedge Collection. The exhibition presents photographic works from the Wedge Collection, ranging from rare vintage portraits of the first African immigrants to Canada, to contemporary works by four emerging artists documenting the experiences of African Canadians. The exhibition also features a local component, incorporating works produced by African Nova Scotian artists that express personal interpretations of African Canadian identities. Curated by Wedge Curatorial Projects Director, Kenneth Montague.

MEDIA PREVIEW Media are invited for a preview of the exhibition in advance of the public opening reception. This is an opportunity to explore the exhibition and to interview exhibition curator Kenneth Montague, featured artists and (bilingual) Museum staff about the creation and vision for Position As Desired.

Friday, February 8 | 2 to 3:30 p.m. Ralph and Rose Chiodo Harbourside Gallery, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

Opportunity to speak with: • Kenneth Montague, curator Position As Desired, Wedge Curatorial Projects Director • Stacey Tyrell, contemporary artist featured in Position As Desired • Shyronn Smardon, local artist featured in Position As Desired • Philippa Gunn, exhibition co-curator, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 • Tanya Bouchard, Chief Curator, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

1 Media contact: Please RSVP your attendance at the Media Preview with Cailin MacDonald, Communications Manager, at (902) 425-2320 or [email protected]. Events and Programming

Opening Reception Friday, February 8 ǀ 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Explore the exhibition and hear from curator Kenneth Montague as he introduces and shares insights on Position As Desired. Light refreshments will be served.

Curator’s Tour Saturday, February 9 ǀ 1 p.m. Join curator Kenneth Montague as he offers an in-depth look into the themes of Position As Desired: historical perspective, identity politics and featured contemporary African Canadian artists.

Panel Discussion Saturday, February 9 ǀ 2 to 4 p.m. Hear from featured Position As Desired artists as on African Canadian they participate in panel discussions on art and African Canadian identity, moderated Art Practices: by curator Kenneth Montague of Wedge Curatorial Projects. Light refreshments will be Photography served.

Film Screening and Saturday, February 9 ǀ 7 to 9 p.m. Come out for an evening exploration of perceptions of Discussion: Race race and identity in film. Hear from Dr. Sylvia Hamilton, filmmaker and writer, and view and Identity in Film her short film Keep on Keeping On. Followed by Nova Scotian writer and director Sobaz Benjamin’s featured documentary Race is a Four Letter Word. Discussion and reception to follow.

Read As Desired Tuesday, March 5 ǀ 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. All Canadians are invited to read Lawrence Hill’s memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. Join us at the Museum for an author reading and book signing and hear from Lawrence Hill on the topic of identity. All are welcome but space is limited. Please register with Matthew Ritchie at [email protected] by February 28, 2013. Black Berry, Sweet Juice and other Lawrence Hill titles are available for sale at the Pier 21 Gift Shop.

Tuesday, March 5 ǀ 7 to 9 p.m. Join us for an exploration of African Canadian identity in literature, featuring an author reading and book signing by Lawrence Hill, author of Listen As Desired The Book of Negroes. Dr. Afua Cooper will provide the evening’s introduction. All are welcome but space is limited. Please register with Philippa Gunn at [email protected]. Light refreshments will be served.

All programing is free of charge and will take place at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, 1055 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS. Visit www.pier21.ca for details.

2 SELECT CONTEMPORARY Artists Christina Leslie studied photography at the College of Art and Design, earning her BFA in 2006. Her work has been featured in Revolutionizing Cultural Identity: Photography and the changing face of Immigration at Oakland University in Michigan; at FAMU in Prague; at Rockstone and Bootheel: Contemporary and West Indian Art at Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut; Missed-PERCEIVED at the Gladstone, and most recently Position As Desiredat the . She has been interviewed and featured on CBC’s Metro Morning radio show with Matt Galloway and Ryerson’s 88.1 FM. Leslie’s photographic practice seeks to test misperceptions and racial constructions that often plague African and Diasporic communities. Her work focuses on her own bi-racial ethnicity and Jamaican heritage. She will often incorporate text, satire and narrative within her photography by approaching her work from a performance perspective. Toronto-based artist Megan M. Morgan received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in June of 2012. Previous studies include the Carleton University school of Journalism and a BA in Sociology and Geography. She completed her dual degree in Art and Art History at the and Sheridan College in 2009. Her work is best known for its ability to transgress familiar notions of identity and place, incorporating re-definitions of beauty, gender and race. Although Morgan’s work is primarily focused on photography, she is a multidisciplinary artist working in video, textile installation and performance. Most recently, Morgan performed in the Mad Couture Catwalk show at the . Through his photography and mixed-media installations, Eritrean born, New York-based artist Dawit L. Petros (b. 1972) investigates boundaries in artistic, geographical and cultural contexts. Petros has exhibited his work in group exhibitions throughout Canada and the United States, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI; Wedge Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA; Massachusetts College of Art, Boston; Harbourfront Gallery, Toronto; Observatoire 4, Montréal, Canada; Maison de la Culture Frontenac, Montréal; and Prefix Gallery, Toronto. He has received Fulbright and Bombardier Internationalist Fellowships, as well as an Art Matters Foundation grant; and has participated in residencies at the Center for Photography, Woodstock and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Stacey Tyrell was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She attended the Ontario College of Art and Design where she majored in Photography. In 2003 she was chosen as one of the top emerging Canadian photographers by Gallery 44 in Toronto. Her work has appeared in such shows as “Position As Desired: Exploring African Canadian Identity” at the Royal Ontario Museum and “Photography NOW 2009” at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY. Her images are part of Heritage Canada’s permanent collection and have appeared in such publications as Canadian Art Magazine, Prefix Photo and Applied Arts Magazine. In 2012 she was the recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Grant for Emerging Artists. CURATOR Kenneth Montague is a Toronto-based art collector, and the founder and director of Wedge Curatorial Projects. Montague has been exhibiting photo-based work with a strong focus on work that explores black identity and the African diaspora since 1997. Montague grew up in a Jamaican-Canadian family on the border of Canada and America; his family was one of the first Jamaican immigrants in the community and closely immersed in issues of race and representation. Currently Montague sits on the Advisory Board of the Ryerson Image Centre, and the Africa Acquisitions Committee of the Tate Modern. He has sat on the Photography Curatorial Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario (2009-2012) and is also a frequent panelist at international art symposiums including the Bamako Encounters, ARCO, AIPAD. He has been invited to lecture on photography at The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal.

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