Articles

Modern Photographic Outlooks in “Carbon 14: Climate is Culture” Exhibition

ROM Contemporary Culture and the Cape Farewell Foundation

Present

“Carbon 14: Climate is Culture Exhibition”

NOW OPEN, Until February 2, 2014

Roloff Beny Gallery, Michael Lee Crystal, Level 4, Thorsell Spirit House, Level 1 of the
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The exhibition features the following 13 art installations, “including seven new commissions by Canadian and international artists, from various disciplines, all confronting the facts of climate change and responding in powerful and creative ways:”

    1. Global Warming, a soapstone and walrus bone carving, by Jaco Ishulutaq.
    2. Our Baffinland, a new interactive iPad installation, 2013 and photography installation (archival pigment prints, 2013); by Zacharias Kunuk, Ian Mauro + IsumaTV.
      • “Using a new generation of GPS-enabled cameras, this spatial media project explores the place-based knowledge of Inuit elders and hunters, and their experiences in a changing and increasingly industrialized Arctic.
      • Mauro’s photographs remind us that climate change, culture, and development are a tapestry of interwoven issues.”
    3. Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change, the first Inuktitut language film, by Zacharias Kunuk and Ian Mauro.
    4. Kobe, a film by Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël + Zacharias Kunuk.
    5. Quniqjuk, Qunbug, Quabaa, a series of photographic portraits (archival pigment prints, 2011) by Donald Weber.
      • Quniqjuk: indistinct horizon, hazy,
        Qunbuq: brightness on horizon indicating presence of ice on ocean,
        Quabaa: split things that are frozen together.
      • “Donald Weber travelled to Igloolik, Nunavut, to photograph its residents and during a session at Ataguttaaluk High School, he photographed his subjects illuminated by whatever device they had on them.
      • In light of radical cultural and environmental change, these photos present modern Inuit as they combine traditional values with modern technology to navigate their future at the edge of a radically changing world.”
      • This work was commissioned by Canadian Art for “Ideas North,” Fall 2011.
    6. Deep Time, a new video project by Melanie Gilligan and Tom Ackers.
    7. The Potential Project, a new installation by conceptual artist, Mel Chin.
    8. #crazyweather, a new motion graphics piece by Sharon Switzer.
    9. Beekeeping for All, a new installation by architect Janna Levitt and artist Myfanwy MacLeod.
    10. Climate Change Atlantic, a new collaborative interactive iPad installation, 2013 and photography installation (archival pigment prints, 2013); by Ian Mauro, Craig Norris, Ben Phillips + Marc Labelle.
      • This video presents “Climate Change in Atlantic Canada HD Trailer.”
        • Trailer for the upcoming feature film Climate Change in Atlantic Canada by Ian Mauro.


      • “Using interactive video and photography, this exhibit represents a consultation with over 100 stakeholders across the region, and documents their real world experience with climate change and adaptively responding to it.
      • Spanning Atlantic Canada, this project explores the cartographies of knowledge regarding climate change, its impacts on coastal communities, and how people are responding through mitigation and adaptation.
      • Norris’ photos and the team’s iPad mini-documentaries reflect on the region in this time of immense change.”
      • Learn more about this project online: www.climatechangeatlantic.com .
    11. The Silver Bullet, a new sculpture by David Buckland and Tom Rand.
    12. A Draught of the Blue, a new film by artist Minerva Cuevas.
    13. The Unsolicited Reply, a new interactive light and sound installation by Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak.

Please click here for more info about the exhibition Carbon 14: Climate is Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum.