Re Present: Photography from South Asia is a landmark exhibition, the first of its kind in Western Canada to present a diverse range of the rich and varied histories of photographic media from the Indian subcontinent.

Photography was introduced to India almost immediately after it was invented in Europe. Louis Daguerre’s instructions for the new media were published in France in August 1839, and by 1840 professional photography studios were open in major cities like Calcutta and Bombay. Photography was soon adopted by the British colonial government to document the many different populations and communities they sought to control, and as a result the medium is deeply entangled with the colonial project as a tool of surveillance and policing. At the same time, photography was also enthusiastically embraced by Indians themselves as a means of personal expression and modern experimentation. The painted and embellished photographic practices that developed in nineteenth century South Asia are a unique contribution to the global history of the medium.

Re Present includes a historical section of nineteenth century photographs with examples of both colonial and vernacular forms of photography, including work by major artists including Samuel Bourne, Raja Deen Dayal and Linneaus Tripe, as well as work by many unknown or unnamed studio photographers. The second part of the exhibition features the work of several contemporary artists who use historical images or well-known compositions of visual iconography as the basis for their contemporary interventions. By re-presenting and subtly manipulating imagery that at first appears familiar, these artists insert the past into the present moment in a way that challenges long-held assumptions about photography’s capacity for accuracy and truth.

In addition to featuring the work of artists from South Asia, Re Present includes work by artists of South Asian heritage who live in the diaspora, including South Asian-Canadian artists, who use photography to reflect on themes of migration and relocation. The exhibition includes an interactive educational space highlighting the history of South Asian communities in British Columbia and the importance of photographic records in the immigrant experience.

This exhibition has an accompanying publication available here.

Bringing together contributions from participants in the Arbour Aboriginal Artists’ Collective, this exhibition acts as a kind of retrospective, celebrating the commitment and engagement of these participants over the past four years and presenting artwork made by Indigenous youth in our community.

Two works by Gary Pearson – Under the Blue Palms, 2005 and When I get to Baton Rouge, 2005 – are on loan to the Kelowna Art Gallery for inclusion in the major solo exhibition Gary Pearson: Short Fictions. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published with Black Dog Publishing, and includes essays on Pearson’s work by Aasron Peck, Michael Turner and curator Liz Wylie, as well as a transcript of an interview with the artist by writer and curator Ihor Holubizky.

Garnet Dirksen works in photography, opting to shoot with film for its attachment to a
history of documentary photography. He looks at shifts in trade and industry, their effects on local economies and the human element within built environments. Having grown up in Merritt, BC, Dirksen has documented the effects of economic downturn and the closing of resource-based industries and their impact on workers, residents and associated businesses. He seeks out work spaces altered by labourers with their own personalized touch and the emptiness of spaces in the absence of them.

Currently residing in Montreal, QC, Dirksen explores the fur industry in the city after a decline in the 1990s and 2000s. He documents retail spaces, workshops, processing spaces and storage revealing a human element of those involved in the industry today. While it’s true there has been a recent resurgence in the market for fur, increased global competition and cheaper labour abroad have forced many of Montreal’s traditional furriers out of business. Dirksen looks at the changing industry through personal touches of workers within utilitarian spaces. The images show present-day working places and consider how inseparable this industry is from its role in the history of Canada. The images ask the viewer to question the relevance of this industry in contemporary terms and revisit its historical significance.

Three works by the Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson are on loan from our collection to the Audain Art Museum in Whistler for the exhibition Stone and Sky: Canada’s Mountain Landscape. Curated by Darrin Martens in recognition of Canada’s sesquicentennial, the exhibition explores how Canadian artists have interacted with the monumentality and vastness of mountain vistas over time. With over 100 objects on loan from 20 different public and private collections, Stone and Sky is the largest and most comprehensive art historical project that the Audain Art Museum has thus far undertaken; the exhibition is also accompanied by a book with essays by Martens, Roger Boulet and Lisa Christianson. The KAG was delighted to lend South of Razor Mt, BC, 1914; Mount Paul, Kamloops, BC, 1945; and Five Mile Glacier, Mt. Robson, 1914
for inclusion in the exhibition.