Orientalism and Ephemera

Opening: Friday, March 14, 8pm

Event Schedule

SYMPOSIUM (free admission) In collaboration with the Simon Fraser University Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures Friday, March 14, 10am - 4pm The Fletcher Challenge Canada Theatre, Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street

Key note speakers

Steven Caton, PhD, Professor of Contemporary Arab Studies and Director of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University Silvia Naef, Professor of Modern Arab Art at the University of Geneva and President of the European Association of Arabists and Islamicists

FILM SCREENING (free admission) Every Saturday during the exhibition (3-5pm) See below for details.

About the exhibition

Many of my projects reflect on the cultural space of the Middle East and the legacy of Edward Said's groundbreaking book Orientalism (1978). In Orientalism & Ephemera, I draw on my archives and collection, as well as a selection of works by other artists and collectors, to create an exhibition that brings multiple aspects of my own practice and interests together: creative, curatorial, research and collecting.

Orientalism & Ephemera thus explores the attraction and presence of the "East" within our everyday experience. For many artists, this awareness presents a way to counter the violence of today's conflicts. Much of our contemporary cultural exchange is in response to the repeated and boundless violence of the politics of empire-building projects, which attempt to colonize the spatial, disempower the colonized, and destroy cultures. In Orientalism, Said addressed the Orient, not as a threatening other but as "an integral part of European material civilization and culture" (Said 1978). By focusing on ephemeral artefacts, souvenirs, pamphlets, postcards, catalogues, travel and commercial items, documents and photographs, the exhibition I have organized reflects a certain closeness and offers an alternative space from which to consider the innumerable manifestations of Orientalism within our everyday culture.

The exhibition, Orientalism and Ephemera, was first presented at Art Metropole, Toronto in the spring of 2006, and was exhibited at the Art Gallery of Windsor in the 2006/ 2007 and at the Ottawa Art Gallery 2007/2008. It's presented at Centre A, Vancouver in March 2008 with the addition of artworks by artists from Vancouver & Winnipeg.

Orientalism & Ephemera will be presented at Centre A, Vancouver opening in March 14, 2008 with the addition of artworks by Vancouver artists, Abbas Akhavan, Babak Golkar, Jayce Salloum and Robert Stevenson,Ottawa and Winnipeg artist, Aganetha Dyck.

Participating Artists

Diyan Achjadi, Vancouver Abbas Akhavan, Vancouver Ron Benner, London, On Duncan de Kergommeaux, Chelsea, Québec Stan Denniston/Jamelie Hassan, Toronto/London, On Aganetha Dyck, Winnipeg Luitgard Eisenmeier, Vienna, Austria Babak Golkar, Vancouver Rawi Hage, Montreal Jamelie Hassan, London, On Farhang Jalali. London, On Johanna Kandl, Vienna, Austria Farouk Kaspaules, Ottawa D. H. Monet, Ottawa Fabiola Nabil Naguib, Galiano Island, BC Garry Neill Kennedy, Halifax Ernest Normand Lisl Ponger,Vienna, Austria Jayce Salloum, Vancouver Julie Sando,Windsor Sato Makato, Tokyo, Japan N.Neal Solly Rob Stevenson, Ottawa Jeff Thomas, Ottawa

Jamelie Hassan, Exhibition Curator Artist, curator, and cultural activist Jamelie Hassan was born in London, Ontario, where she continues to live. In 2001 she received the Governor General's Award in recognition of 30 years of contribution to visual arts in Canada and in 2006 a Chalmers Art Fellowship. Her work is included in many public art collections including: the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt; the Art Gallery of Windsor, and The Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery, The University of British Columbia.

Centre A gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its patrons, sponsors, members, partners, private foundations, as well as government funding agencies, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver through the Office of Cultural Affairs.

The curator, Jamelie Hassan acknowledges with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, the Chalmers Arts Fellowship and the Ontario Arts Council for their financial support in the artist's work, research and in the circulation of this exhibition.

Orientalism and Ephemera
Kurator: Jamelie Hassan

mit Diyan Achjadi, Abbas Akhavan, Ron Benner, Duncan de Kergommeaux, Stan Denniston / Jamelie Hassan, Aganetha Dyck, Luitgard Eisenmeier, Babak Golkar, Rawi Hage, Jamelie Hassan, Farhang Jalali, Johanna Kandl, Farouk Kaspaules, D. H. Monet, Fabiola Nabil Naguib, Garry Neill Kennedy, Ernest Normand, Lisl Ponger, Jayce Salloum, Julie Sando, Sato Makato, N.Neal Solly, Rob Stevenson, Jeff Thomas