Giving a paper entitled “Beyond the Multitude: Psychic daylighting an urban stream,” focused on show I curated this past fall around annual Scajaquada Clean-up! Panel is from 4:30-6:00pm, Thursday, April 21, at York University in Toronto, ON. Abstract follows:
A small urban waterway located in Buffalo’s northern neighborhoods, Scajaquada Creek has a history that is intimately intertwined with that of the city through which it runs. “Beyond the Multitude” – Scajaquada, roughly translated – was an exhibition in September 2010 that focused on the complex ecologies of urban stream and up-and-coming neighborhood, of immigrant and invasive, sediment and sentiment. Combining selected historic photographs and maps with work by contemporary painters, photographers, performers, historians, videographers, experimental geographers and many others, the show sought to encourage a dialogue, both inside and outside the gallery, between art and activism. Coordinated with a watershed cleanup event and supported by regional non-profit organizations, the show potentially yields a promising framework for combining cultural practices with meaningful environmental activism. “Beyond the Multitude” suggests an approach for recovering both an aesthetic and an ecological awareness of urban waterways, a “psychic daylighting” for both streams and memories long buried.
More information here!