Curated by Sadira Rodrigues
What are the possibilities of talking about race today? It is critical that we cont inue to challenge the conditions of racism\, marginality\, exclusion\, and xenophobia. But how does one approach talking about a subject whose archaeo logies of knowledge have been laden with histories of conflict and contesta tion? And how does one do this with a commitment to generosity\, truthfulne ss\, and reconciliation?
Over the last year\, there has been an escal ating presence of race in every aspect of social\, political\, and economic life. Barrack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia became the most popular video in the world\, drawing 1.2 million views in the fir st 24 hours after it aired. Described by some writers as the most important speech on race given by any American politician\, it pointed to the fact t hat racial discord in the US\, although entrenched\, distracting\, and emot ional\, was not necessarily intractable. It is this disavowal of intractabi lity that forms the core of Speaking Truth to Reconciliation. Is it possibl e to engage with a fraught subject\, but with a commitment to moving beyond questions of accountability or accusation\, towards a conversation that bo th acknowledges the conditions of exclusion\, while seeking shared ground?< /p>
Through an exhibition and forum Speaking Truth to Reconciliation< /em> brings together artists\, writers\, and curators to consider the possi bilities of discussing this contested subject and “speaking out.”
The
artists will engage with Artspeak as a site of dialogue and discussion tha
t takes the principle of “truth telling” as a framing device\, while consid
ering these concepts poetically\, pedagogically\, and declaratively.
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//artspeak.ca/