As some of you know, I’ve been collecting documentation of some of my past curatorial projects. In 2009, I curated a variety of works from The Photographers Gallery Permanent Collection, which was on display at paved arts in Saskatoon, from November 20th to December 12th, 2009.
The gallery statement was as follows: On the occasion of the launch of our all-new dark room within the fold of the PAVED Arts production facilities, we proudly announce the first exhibition of works from the Photographers Gallery permanent collection to be staged in our main Gallery space.
The Photographers Gallery was incorporated in 1973 as a production and presentation organization, serving the community in Saskatoon with gallery, library, collection and darkroom facilities dedicated to the furtherance of photo-based practices in the region. At the time of its founding, the permanent collection of The Photographers Gallery was one of only three such collections of contemporary Canadian photography nation wide. Over the years the collection developed through donations and bequests as well as significant first-hand contributions made by artists who produced artwork in the centre’s production facility. In 2003, The Photographers Gallery merged with Video Vérité to become PAVED Arts. The current exhibition is designed first and foremost as a celebration of the accomplishments of our predecessors. The fantastic array of work contained in the collection both reflects many facets of the cultural experience particular to Saskatchewan, as well as boasting important historical works in the ongoing development of photography as an art form.
Please join us on Saturday, December 5th at 7:30 PM for a panel discussion that will draw together some of the individuals who played key roles in the formation and development of The Photographers Gallery permanent collection. (Panelists include Doug Townsend, SAB Visual Arts Officer and past Director of The Photographers Gallery; Patrick Close, Director of CARFAC Saskatchewan, and past Director of The Photographers Gallery, and Sandra Semchuk, one of the more significant and prolific artists associated with TPG. This will be moderated by the curator of Personal Geographies, Bart Gazzola).
The article above is from the CARFAC Saskatchewan Newsletter (many thanks to them, for exploring the archives to find this for me). Clicking on the images will open larger, more legible files.
The images below are installation shots of the exhibition. I’m grateful to David Lariviere for locating them and passing them on to me, from the paved ‘archives’ (as with the images above, you can click on them to see larger images). The featured / header image on this post is a work by Don Hall titled House, New Development, Regina, from 1979.
The original gallery page for the exhibition can be found here, and I’d add that curating this exhibition, and the wonderful panel I facilitated, was a major factor that informed my idea and decisions with Sandy Fairbairn’s Welland: Times Present Times Past, which you can read about here.