Latitude 53

Current

Megan Gnanasihamany | Curator-in-Residence

August 16 – October 7, 2020

Portrait of Megan. They have short green hair and are wearing a white think top with a embroidered snake and black shorts.

Photo courtesy of Lawrence Philomene.

Introductory Curatorial Talk | Thursday, September 3 at 6 pm

Megan Gnanasihamany is Latitude 53’s curator-in-residence from August 16 - October 7, 2020.

Over the course of the residency, Gnanasihamany will be researching the possibility of a curatorial practice that’s built on the theoretical frameworks of degrowth and abolition. Systems of incarceration, labour exploitation, and the protection of private property through policing perpetuate isolation and unfreedom. These systems target Black and Indigenous peoples, those living with disabilities, drug users, sex workers, and others whose failure to thrive under capitalism marks them for removal from the social bonds and material resources that are required for living together, making art, and sharing in its creation. The membership of artistic communities and collaborative networks is limited by pervasive structures of power and progress; these same structures maintain exclusionary access to academic programs, galleries, residencies, museums, and studios, further entrenching the boundaries around who can participate in art and collective labour or action. Gnanasihamany is interested in how the words community and collaboration are used both in curation and in the formation of bonds of solidarity. During the residency, Gnanasihamany will be seeking out artists who are exploring concepts of looting and theft, state violence, artistic labour, abolition, and capitalism in their work, as well as non-artists who want to work together on the project.

Some of Gnanasihamany’s previous curatorial and collaborative projects include: Hour Glaze at dc3 Art Projects (2017), Hibernaculum at The Works Gallery (2017) and Tennis Club, an artist collective of five guided by a co-created performative identity.

Introductory CuratoRial Talk:

Megan Gnanasihamany is Latitude 53’s curator-in-residence from August 16–October 7, 2020. Over the course of the residency, Gnanasihamany will be researching the possibility of a curatorial practice that’s built on the theoretical frameworks of degrowth and abolition. Systems of incarceration, labour exploitation, and the protection of private property through policing perpetuate isolation and unfreedom. These systems target Black and Indigenous peoples, those living with disabilities, drug users, sex workers, and others whose failure to thrive under capitalism marks them for removal from the social bonds and material resources that are required for living together, making art, and sharing in its creation. The membership of artistic communities and collaborative networks is limited by pervasive structures of power and progress; these same structures maintain exclusionary access to academic programs, galleries, residencies, museums, and studios, further entrenching the boundaries around who can participate in art and collective labour or action. Gnanasihamany is interested in how the words community and collaboration are used both in curation and in the formation of bonds of solidarity. During the residency, Gnanasihamany will be seeking out artists who are exploring concepts of looting and theft, state violence, artistic labour, abolition, and capitalism in their work, as well as non-artists who want to work together on the project. Some of Gnanasihamany’s previous curatorial and collaborative projects include: Hour Glaze at dc3 Art Projects (2017), Hibernaculum at The Works Gallery (2017) and Tennis Club, an artist collective of five guided by a co-created performative identity. Megan Gnanasihamany is a gig economy worker, artist, writer, and curator. Their work in video, performance, photography, and poetry examines systems of power and structures of meaning within language and visual media. Megan is currently working on a year long book project about authoritative images, and, this past spring, they began writing a weekly newsletter which you can read at https://tinyletter.com/Megan_G/.

Megan Gnanasihamany is a gig economy worker, artist, writer, and curator. Their work in video, performance, photography, and poetry examines systems of power and structures of meaning within language and visual media. Megan is currently working on a year long book project about authoritative images, and, this past spring, they began writing a weekly newsletter which you can read at https://tinyletter.com/Megan_G/archive.

  1. Hour Glaze ​installation image, Emily MacDonald and Brandi Strauss, Curated with Susie Winters and Tegan Bowers, DC3 Art Projects (2017). Courtesy of Tegan Bowers.

  2. Hibernaculum ​installation image, Natalie Castrogiovanni, Alexandra Bischoff, and Isabelle Kuzio, Curated with Emily MacDonald, Susie Winters, and Tegan Bowers, The Works Gallery
    (2017). Courtesy of Tegan Bowers.

  3. For God’s Sake Kate, Where is the Camera? Performance still with Tennis Club Pan-Albertan Tour, (2016). Courtesy of Alyson Davies.

Latitude 53 Communications