Interpretive Guide & Hands-on Activities The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Re-Imaging Normal Anytime any person or organization stands in support of the vulnerable, progress is made at both an individual and societal level. Marilyn Bergstra Former Vice Chairperson of the Edmonton Catholic School Board The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program The Interpretive Guide The Art Gallery of Alberta is pleased to present your community with a selection from its Travelling Exhibition Program. This is one of several exhibitions distributed by The Art Gallery of Alberta as part of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program. This Interpretive Guide has been specifically designed to complement the exhibition you are now hosting. The suggested topics for discussion and accompanying activities can act as a guide to increase your viewers’ enjoyment and to assist you in developing programs to complement the exhibition. Questions and activities have been included at both elementary and advanced levels for younger and older visitors. At the Elementary School Level the Alberta Art Curriculum includes four components to provide students with a variety of experiences. These are: Reflection: Responses to visual forms in nature, designed objects and artworks Depiction: Development of imagery based on notions of realism Composition: Organization of images and their qualities in the creation of visual art Expression: Use of art materials as a vehicle for expressing statements The Secondary Level focuses on three major components of visual learning. These are: Drawings: Examining the ways we record visual information and discoveries Encounters: Meeting and responding to visual imagery Composition: Analyzing the ways images are put together to create meaning The activities in the Interpretive Guide address one or more of the above components and are generally suited for adaptation to a range of grade levels. As well, this guide contains coloured images of the artworks in the exhibition which can be used for review and discussion at any time. Please be aware that copyright restrictions apply to unauthorized use or reproduction of artists’ images. The Travelling Exhibition Program, funded by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, is designed to bring you closer to Alberta’s artists and collections. We welcome your comments and suggestions and invite you to contact: Shane Golby, Manager/Curator Travelling Exhibition Program Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.445.0130 Email: [email protected] AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.445.0130 youraga.ca The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Table of Contents This package contains: - Curatorial Statement - Visual Inventory - list of works - Visual Inventory - images Talking Art - Art Curriculum Connections - Artist Biographies/Statements - Curator and artist Interviews - Discussing ‘Normal’ - Definitions and Quotes - Terms of Reference: LGBTQ+ Terms for Discussion - University of Alberta Queer History Project: Rationale and Goals of the Exhibition - LGBTQ+ Rights in Canada and Alberta - a brief history - Somewhere over the rainbow: The Rainbow Flag, LGBTQ+ initiatives and recent developments in Alberta and Canada related to LGBTQ+ rights - Fine and Commercial Art and Design - Definitions and History - Art Genre and Styles Visual Learning and Hands-on Projects - What is Visual Learning? - Elements and Principles of Design Tour - Perusing Paintings: An Art-full Scavenger Hunt - Reading Pictures Tour - Exhibition Related Art Projects - Glossary - Credits - The AFA and AGA AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.445.0130 youraga.ca The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Curatorial Statement While Canadian society has made significant Re-Imaging Normal progress concerning the rights of LGBTQ+ identifying citizens and all Canadians, What does it mean to describe something or however, there are those who resist these someone as ‘normal’? What is ‘normal’ and who transformations. Whether speaking of gets to decide what is ‘normal’ or not? LGBTQ+ recognition and rights or the rights and values of other minority groups, there are As defined by curator Michelle Lavoie, the term those who promote an us vs. them mentality ‘normal’ refers to accepted ways of being: and strive to impose a narrow definition of culturally constructed ideas around gender, ‘normal’ on society. sexuality and expected and accepted behaviour. These norms create the limits of The TREX exhibition Re-Imaging Normal what is accepted by a society and ensure that questions such aims. Combining archival people stay within the boundaries. materials from The Queer History Project, developed by The Institute for Sexual Since time immemorial all societies have set Minority Studies and Services at the norms of behaviour. As stated by the Greek University of Alberta, with art works created philosopher Heraclitus (535-475 B.C.), by LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ - allied artists, this however, the only thing that is constant is exhibition challenges expectations and change and as expressed by Michelle Lavoie, allows people’s own stories to be told. while society creates limits on peoples’ actions, Through this sharing, the exhibition creates a these norms are always shifting. Such a view space for dialogue between different has been echoed by Canadian writer Scott communities so that the boundaries of what is Gilmore in speaking of Canadian society: considered ‘normal’ are questioned and possibly expanded. As expressed by Michelle Mercifully, Canadian values continually change. Lavoie: As a result, we now live in a nation where women can vote, Chinese immigrants don’t pay The only way to address the blind spots of our a head tax and Indigenous children are not sent own existence is by being in conversation. If to residential schools. Society evolves. Citizens these spaces aren’t held open they shrink and adopt new values. Progress marches on. this leads to a narrowing of vision and Scott Gilmore, Macleans Magazine, July, 2017 imagination. Society evolves and progress marches on. The art works and archival materials included Besides those aspects of Canadian society in the exhibition Re-Imaging Normal seek mentioned by Gilmore, a further component of to contribute to a concept of ‘normal’ which Canadian culture affected by changes in norms encompasses the richness of human has been views towards, and thus the rights experience. It is believed that through this of, Canada’s LGBTQ+ ‘community’. Prior to re-imaging everyone, not just the queer the late 1960s homosexuality was considered community, benefits and society as a whole a criminal offense and many homosexual men will become broader, richer and more were imprisoned as sex offenders. In 1969, inclusive. however, homosexuality was decriminalized and the following decades have witnessed a steady, albeit arduous, progression concerning The exhibition Re-Imaging Normal was curated the legal rights of LGBTQ+ citizens in Canada. by Michelle Lavoie and Shane Golby and was One result of this progress was the organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta for The legalization of same-sex marriage across the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling nation in 2005. Exhibition Program. AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.445.0130 youraga.ca The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Visual Inventory - List of Works Daniel Beaudin Trudi Sissons Princesses, 2017 No Trump 2, 2017 Digital illustration Digital collage on paper 12 inches X 16 inches 10 inches X 14 inches Collection of Daniel Beaudin Private collection - Trudi Sissons Daniel Beaudin Trudi Sissons The Last Kiss, 2017 No Trump 3, 2017 Digital illustration Digital collage on paper 12 inches X 16 inches 10 inches X 14 inches Collection of Daniel Beaudin Private collection - Trudi Sissons Daniel Beaudin Sleeping Beauty, 2017 Chris Swarz Digital illustration Top Image: Alberta Legislative Building, Pride 12 inches X 16 inches Week Edmonton, 2016, June 10, 2016 Collection of Daniel Beaudin Bottom Image: Holding the Transgender Flag March 31, 2016 Adebayo Katiiti Collection of the Government of Alberta Untitled #1, 2016 Oil based woodblock print Kris Swick 9 7/8 inches X 7 7/8 inches The Smoking Lady, 2016 Collection of the artist Silkscreen on newsprint 14 inches X 12 inches Adebayo Katiiti Collection of the artist Untitled #2, 2016 Oil based woodblock print Frater Tham 9 7/8 inches X 8 inches When We Care What Others Think..., 2016 Collection of the artist Faux vintage photo 12 inches X 18 inches Max Quilliam Collection of the artist Untitled #1, 2016 Acrylic on paper Frater Tham 14 inches X 11 inches When We Play We Grow Wiser..., 2016 Collection of the artist Faux vintage photo 12 inches X 18 inches Max Quilliam Collection of the artist Untitled #2, 2016 Acrylic on paper Frater Tham 15 inches X 11 inches When You Support Others..., 2016 Collection of the artist Faux vintage photo 12 inches X 18 inches Trudi Sissons Collection of the artist No Trump 1, 2017 Digital collage on paper Frater Tham 10 inches X 14 inches When We’re Self Assured..., 2016 Private collection - Trudi Sissons Faux vintage photo 12 inches X 18 inches Collection of the artist AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.445,0130 youraga.ca The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Visual Inventory - List