September 20, 2014 – December 13, 2014
Black Diamond Dust
Artist Multiple artists
The Nanaimo Art Gallery
Image: Peter Culley, Untitled, 2012, Colour Photograph
Black Diamond Dust is a multi-site art exhibition, which considers the sedimentary nature of stories and histories. The title Black Diamond Dust refers to the coal mining industry that Nanaimo was built upon; an industry that both formed and fragmented communities through economic development, racial segregation and labour inequity, and served as the foundation of global industrialization.
The artists in Black Diamond Dust look toward forgotten or under-acknowledged histories, while considering both local contexts and the forms of cultural expression that surround global industrial practices. From sculpture, to video, to folk song, Stephanie Aitken, Raymond Boisjoly, Edward Burtynsky, Peter Culley, Devon Knowles, William Notman & Son, Jerry Pethick, Kerri Reid, Scott Rogers and others employ a wide range of creative approaches to articulating the contemporary resonance of material pasts.
These artworks will be shown alongside historical artifacts borrowed from the Nanaimo Museum and the Nanaimo Archives. In addition, the gallery will screen three video works that look to past and present miners struggles in other parts of the world: “The Battle of Orgreave” by Jeremy Deller and Mike Figgis (UK), “To the Light” by Yuanchen Liu (China) and “Dreadful Memories: The Life of Sarah Ogan Gunning” by Mimi Pickering (USA).
The exhibition will be based at both Nanaimo Art Gallery locations, and will also involve a series of off-site public projects including a billboard display, a poetry reading, a newspaper insert, and an artist’s intervention in the Nanaimo Museum, among others. There will also be tours of the gallery exhibitions by Historian Lynne Bowen and curator Jesse Birch. Details below.
The material traces of industry, not only continue to produce the built environment and the objects within it, but also inform the cultural identities of communities that were built on resource-based economies. Through art, Black Diamond Dust enters into a creative dialogue with Nanaimo’s industrial past.
Curated by Jesse Birch
2014 Downtown Exhibitions
Black Diamond Dust
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September 20 to December 13, 2014
Opening at both locations on Friday, September 19
Campus Gallery opening 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Downtown Gallery opening 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Black Diamond Dust is a multi-site art exhibition which considers the sedimentary nature of stories and histories. The title Black Diamond Dust refers to the coal mining industry that Nanaimo was built upon; an industry that both formed and fragmented communities through economic development, racial segregation and labour inequity, and served as the foundation of global industrialization.
The artists in Black Diamond Dust look toward forgotten or under-acknowledged histories, while considering both local contexts and the forms of cultural expression that surround global industrial practices. From sculpture, to video to folk song, Stephanie Aitken, Raymond Boisjoly, Edward Burtynsky, Peter Culley, Devon Knowles, William Notman & Son, Jerry Pethick, Kerri Reid, Scott Rogers and others employ a wide range of creative approaches to articulating the contemporary resonance of material pasts.
These artworks will be shown alongside historical artifacts borrowed from the Nanaimo Museum and the Nanaimo Archives. In addition, the gallery will screen three video works that look to past and present miners struggles in other parts of the world: “The Battle of Orgreave” by Jeremy Deller and Mike Figgis (UK), “To the Light” by Yuanchen Liu (China) and “Dreadful Memories: The Life of Sarah Ogan Gunning” by Mimi Pickering (USA).
The exhibition will be based at both Nanaimo Art Gallery locations, and will also involve a series of off-site public projects including a billboard display, a poetry reading, a newspaper insert, and an artist’s intervention in the Nanaimo Museum, among others. There will also be tours of the gallery exhibitions by Historian Lynne Bowen and curator Jesse Birch. Details below.
The material traces of industry not only continue to produce the built environment and the objects within it, but also inform the cultural identities of communities that were built on resource-based economies. Through art, Black Diamond Dust enters into a creative dialogue with Nanaimo’s industrial past.
Curated by Jesse Birch
Black Diamond Dust: Living Histories
In addition to the gallery exhibitions, Black Diamond Dust will include a number of public events and projects called Living Histories including:
Campus: Saturday, September 20, 2:00pm
Poetry reading by Peter Culley an art writer, poet, and artist who lives in the South Wellington area of Nanaimo.
Downtown: Friday, September 26, 1:00pm
Campus: Friday, October 3, 1:00pm
Exhibition tours by Nanaimo Art Gallery’s Interim Executive/Artistic Director, and Curator of Black Diamond Dust Jesse Birch.
Saturday, October 18, 11:00am – 12:00pm (Downtown) 1:00 – 2:00pm (Campus)
A tour of the exhibition with renowned Nanaimo author and historian Lynne Bowen in dialoque with curator Jesse Birch.
Off-Site projects for Black Diamond Dust:
August 12 to October 15
Stephanie Aitken, Scott Rogers, and Peter Culley will be artists in residence at the Buttertubs Marsh Miners Cottage:
Aiken (August 12 to 19),
Rogers (September 6 to 19),
Culley (October 1 to 15).
Use of the cottage is made possible through a partnership with Nanaimo’s Culture and Heritage department.
August 15 to December 15
Artist Raymond Boisjoly will produce a billboard work visible upon nearing Nanaimo heading south at Nanoose Bay.
Saturday, October 4, 2014, 2:00 pm
In association with Black Diamond Dust, the Friends of the Morden Mine will give a free tour of the mine site.
Duration of Black Diamond Dust
Artist Devon Knowles will create a sculptural intervention in the Nanaimo Museum for the duration of the exhibition.
Kerri Reid will produce a work that will be on display in the Sointula Museum on Malcolm Island, BC for the duration of Black Diamond Dust.
The Gallery Store
Nanaimo artist Jesse Gray will make a special edition jewellery work that will respond to themes in Black Diamond Dust. Available in the Gallery Store for the duration of the exhibition.