May 1 — June 6, 2015
Detournements: activist strategies in text, printed matter, and culture jamming
Featuring work by Emily Davidson (Halifax, NS), Steve Lambert (Beacon, NY)
and various local activists, artists, collectives and non profits.
Curated by Andrea Slavik (Windsor, ON)
Opening Reception:
Friday, May 1, 8pm w/ the artists in attendance
Gallery hours: Wed—Sat, 12:00 — 5:00 pm
Admission and reception: ALWAYS FREE
Détournement translates into hijacking or diversion, and is a tactic coined by the Letterist International, and the Situationist International in 1950s France. From the trajectory of the détournement, emerged numerous historical and contemporary cultural practices such as socially engaged and activist art, culture jamming, punk, and DIY. Like the Situationists and their efforts to meld art and politics (as exemplified in their major involvement in the general strike of May 1968 in France), many artists that operate within these genres strive to have an actual sociopolitical effect.
The Adbusters poster that became a catalyst for the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the term 99% is just one high profile instance of Social Activist art that had the power to effect real-world change.The Detournements exhibit will feature work by Emily Davidson (Halifax, NS), and Steve Lambert (Beacon, NY) who each challenge neoliberal narratives at work in our everyday environment by engaging with various community groups through projects that lie at the intersection of art and activism.
Detournements will also feature a social justice-themed library of print publications, workshops and performances produced by local artists, activists, collectives and non profit organizations such as Lee Rodney & Mike Marcon and the Border Book Mobile Project, Arturo Herrera and the Migrant Agricultural Community, Broken City Lab, Arts Council Windsor Region, Artwindsor, Artcite Inc., Windsor Feminist Theatre, Mayworks Windsor, Windsor Peace Committee, Neighborhood Spaces, Go It Alone (Together), Nobel Peace Project, Canadian Union of Postal Workers local 630, Treaty Canoe, Windsoria/Windstoria,
The Scoop, Momentum Film and Video Collective, United Steelworkers, Pathway to Potential, Sarah Jane French, Allistair MacLeod, Mireille Coral,
Susan Gold, Windsor Youth Centre, Common Ground Gallery, Canadian Labour Congress, City of Windsor, University of Windsor Visual Arts, Nursing,
and Womens Studies departments.
This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the 2015 MayWorks Windsor festival celebrations, held annually in May.
