FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2014, KLEINBURG ON – For the first time, the McMichael will partner with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, the world’s largest photography event, and will be a premier site for the Festival. From May 3 to June 1, 2014, the gallery will present the exhibition Arctic Exposure: Photographs of Canada’s North, curated by Sharona Adamowicz-Clements, McMichael Assistant Curator, Collections, and Bonnie Rubenstein, CONTACT’s Artistic Director.
Arctic Exposure is a striking photographic record of the Canadian Arctic over more than one hundred years, from the late nineteenth century to the present day. It offers a unique view of the country’s remote northern regions through revealing portraits of the inhabitants and images of the spectacular polar landscape.
“For most people, photography provides a window into a place that otherwise would be inaccessible and unknown,” said Adamowicz-Clements. “It is the relationship between the photograph as an image record and the Arctic as Canada’s enigmatic expanse that is at the core of this exhibition.”
“It is a great honour and privilege to partner with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection this year for the first time,” said Darcy Killeen, Executive Director, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. “This powerful exhibition co-curated by our organizations will broaden the reach of the Festival and further add to our collective visitor experience. We look forward to a long-term relationship, and aspire that our audience will make the trip to Kleinburg to visit this venue of such significant importance to Canadian culture.”
Founded in 1997, the Festival has an audience of over 1.8 million and celebrates the art and profession of photography, bringing exposure and recognition to local and international artists who are driving the medium forward.
Arctic Exposure is organized around two subthemes, the first of which focuses on the Inuit and features the work of historical photographers from the late nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries—both professional and amateur—including Major Lachlan T. Burwash, Robert J. Flaherty, and Richard Harrington.
The second theme juxtaposes contemporary views of the Arctic by Donovan Wylieof Magnum Photos, Inuk photographer Jimmy Manning, and Canadian ethnographer Norman Hallendy. The works in this section focus on the landscape but allude to the human presence through images of manmade objects, buildings, and communities.
Hallendy’s photographs of “inuksuit”, stone constructions made by the Inuit, are particularly arresting. Part of a 2009 donation to the McMichael of over 7,000 colour images, these photographs speak to the life and activities of the Inuit who inhabit Canada’s most remote and inhospitable environments.
Arctic Exposure draws on works from the McMichael Archives, the Queen’s University Archives, the Collection of Neil David MacDonald, the Stephen Bulger Gallery, and private collections.
Arctic Exposure is complemented by Inuit Traditions, the McMichael’s permanent collection installation of drawings, prints, and sculptures, many of which are drawn from the collection of the historic West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, on long-term loan to the gallery since 1990.
This will also be the last opportunity for visitors to experience the exhibition Changing Tides: Contemporary Art of Newfoundland and Labrador, on until June 1. Arctic Exposure and Changing Tides, combined with the McMichael’s permanent installations, offer visitors the unique ability to experience Canadian art from coast to coast to coast.
About Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
CONTACT, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 and granted charitable status in 2011, is generously supported by Scotiabank, Nikon Canada, BMW Group Canada, La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, Torys LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Pattison Outdoor Advertising, Vistek, Grolsch Premium Lager, Stratus Vineyards, Transcontinental PLM, 3M Canada, Four By Eight Signs, Beyond Digital Imaging, Giant Container Services, Toronto Image Works, The Gilder, Hotel Le Germain, The Gladstone Hotel, The Globe and Mail, The Grid, and BlogTO.
CONTACT gratefully acknowledges the support of Celebrate Ontario, Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario, Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Hal Jackman Foundation, and all of our other funders.
CONTACT fosters and celebrates the art and profession of photography with an annual festival in May and year-round programming in the CONTACT Gallery. For more information: scotiabankcontactphoto.com
About the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, and the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of almost 6,000 artworks by Canadian artists, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, as well as First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists. The gallery is located on 100 acres of northern landscape and hiking trails at 10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in the City of Vaughan. For more information: mcmichael.com
The McMichael gratefully acknowledges the support of its media partners, The Globe and Mail and JAZZ.FM91.
For media inquiries:
Wendy Campbell
Manager, Media Relations and Online Presence
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2201
wcampbell@mcmichael.com
Rachel Weiner
Media Relations and Communications Coordinator
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2210
rweiner@mcmichael.com