October 21, 2021 – March 27, 2022
Meech Boakye and Christina Kingsbury, Shirin Fahimi, Jessica Karuhanga, LAL (Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray), Shaista Latif
Curated by Mitra Fakhrashrafi and Vince Rozario, 2021 recipients of the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators, Collective Offerings responds to the compartmentalization and fragmentation produced by colonialism and deepened by this period of unprecedented political, ecological, and public health crises. Recognizing the particularly heavy toll exacted on racialized, migrant, disabled, and low-income communities, the curators will work with artists Meech Boakye and Christina Kingsbury, Shirin Fahimi, LAL (Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray), Jessica Karuhanga, and Shaista Latif, whose performance and new media practices speak to collective interdependence, mitigating the impacts of isolation for communities, networks of care, and our bodies themselves.
This year’s Middlebrook Prize jurors included Nicole Caruth (independent curator and cultural strategist), Sally Frater (former Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Guelph; current Director, Oakville Galleries), and Denise Ryner (Director/ Curator, Or Gallery, and Associate Curator, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin). “Rozario and Fakhrashrafi’s project is an excellent example of place-based curating that considers local histories and demographics in the development of their proposal,” suggests Ryner, “They propose precise formats of engagement that extend their curatorial concepts into tangible experiences of inclusion and exclusion, which in turn supports the research and dialogical functions of their exhibition.”
Organized by the Art Gallery of Guelph and presented with the support of the Centre Wellington Community Foundation Middlebrook Social Innovation Fund, the Guelph Community Foundation Musagetes Fund, and private donations.
Interactive Tour | Enter the exhibition >
AGG’s interactive tours are presented with the support of the 2020 City of Guelph Emergency Fund.
The Craft of Precarious City Dwellers: A Conversation on the Science of Sand with Shirin Fahimi and Vince Rozario
Saturday, March 26 | 2 – 3:30 pm
In person | La Centrale in Montreal
Register here
La Centrale and articule in Montreal, along with the Art Gallery of Guelph, are pleased to present a conversation between artist Shirin Fahimi and curator Vince Rozario. Since 2016, Fahimi developed her practice into a body of works, multi-media installations, performances, and augmented reality series based on Ilm-al-Raml, the Islamic method of divination known as geomancy and translated literally as “Knowledge of the Sand.” This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Dot by dot like a baby gazelle at La Centrale curated by Mitra Fakhrashrafi, from Umm al Raml’s Sand Narratives, a solo exhibition by the artist at articule, and the exhibition Collective Offerings at the Art Gallery of Guelph. A recording of this conversation will be available on our website under Art Talks with transcriptions in both English and French.
Afterwords Communal Journaling Session
Going live on February 18 | Contribute now
These coldest months of the winter can make it especially difficult to connect with the land and its seasonal rhythms. As an exercise in grounding, artists Meech Boakye and Christina Kingsbury invite you to contribute to a communal journaling session between friends and strangers. This living document is a part of Afterwords, a collaborative land and water-based performance score created by Boakye and Kingsbury as part of Collective Offerings, curated by Vince Rozario and Mitra Fakhrashrafi and currently on view at AGG. Those interested will be able to anonymously add their words when the document goes live on February 18th.
Afghans of Guelph x Collective Offerings Fundraising Drive
December 1 – 31, 2021 | Donate now
E-transfer: freedomtrailcanada@gmail.com
After decades of imperialism, military occupation, and civil unrest, Afghanistan’s already weakened economy collapsed under Taliban rule this August. In response and with nurturing collective interdependence in mind, Collective Offerings has partnered with Afghans of Guelph, a local Afghan organizing group of volunteers working to provide support, resources, and aid to Afghan refugees. To assist them with the challenging transition of displacement and resettlement in Guelph and surrounding areas, we invite you to donate and support the sponsorship of 15 Afghan refugee families.
With gratitude for each contribution, artist Shaista Latif will be mailing a postcard-size print to the first 50 people to donate. Latif’s installation, How I Learned to Serve Tea, is currently on view as part of Collective Offerings – an extension of her practice of fostering solidarity across margins. To receive a postcard print, please send a screenshot of your donation receipt to info@artgalleryofguelph.ca as well as your preferred mailing address.
Gallery
(Click to view)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Image detail: Jessica Karuhanga, being who you are there is no other (digital still), 2018, 2-channel video installation