An Eksperimenta! Moment
Joanna Black & Miriam Cooley at CWSE |
by Hilda Hashimoto
On January 18, 2012, WIA
Projects held a seminar on curatorial collaboration in which curators and
art educators Miriam Cooley and Joanna Black discussed their role as Canadian curators
in the international exhibition Eksperimenta!
held in Estonia, 2011. Contrary to the myth that an artist works alone and,
creatively in isolation, fashions an individualistic work of art untainted by
others and belongs to him or her alone, the execution and presentation of art
needs more than just the artist. Curators and other collaborators, specific to
an exhibition, are responsible for developing and presenting the display;
providing information on the art and artists; and developing and shaping the
concepts the curator, artist, and institution wish to convey. Estonia was
chosen as the location for Eksperimenta! which is quite a distance to transport
art and artists. The distance alone caused a strain due to the inadequate
Canadian funding for this art project. Miriam Cooley and Joanna Black
acknowledged this fact and together with creativity and innovation sought a solution - to exhibit mainly digital Canadian
art. For those who did not attend this seminar, Ekperimenta! is the first
international exhibition that welcomed art from high school students all over
the world. The theme was space. The innovated choice of Miriam Cooley and
Joanna Black to choose new media works served to strengthen Canada's identity
on the international art stage. Not only was Canada the only North American
country to participate in this event, Canada was also the only country who
chose to use digital art as their medium for the delivery of the aesthetics and
concepts surrounding space. The use of digital art made viewers aware of how the
arts are critical to education in general. Students learn about technology and
even acquire more complex understanding of international relations and national
institutions. This medium also reflected how the idea of space has changed with
technology - objects, people, ideas are now easily portable, saved on a small
CD, USB, or DVD. The Canadian Exposition at Eksperiment! was the result of effort
made by curators, teachers, and student artists. The result reinforced Canada's
identity in the international art world as visionary, imaginative, and
inspiring.