AT THE FAR EDGE OF WORLDS

At the far edge of worlds
January 28 to June 12, 2022

Curated by Žana Kozomora
Curated from the Permanent Collection of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Featuring work by Milutin Gubash, Jamelie Hassan, Tristram Lansdowne, Meryl McMaster, and Joseph Tisiga

Regardless of our place in the world, we are each enveloped in larger myths, histories, traditions and legacies. At times, these inheritances are paralyzing, stifling desired change and growth. At the edge of one world and the start of another, however, is a precarious and productive place. Rather than viewing this journey as a linear procession, each arrival can be imagined as a state of being in-between all that remains from the past and all that is yet to come. At the edge of worlds, tectonic shifts disturb the foundations beneath our feet, making space for narratives that reimagine the worlds we share.

How do we ground ourselves in this precarious place of shifting borderlines in the wake of conflict and colonialism? Facing this question, narratives of utopia and dystopia often emerge. Failures of utopic dreaming and dystopic unravelling can make for incisive warnings, but they may also perpetuate a state of inaction. The works in this exhibition point beyond polarization to explore the ways in which we are always navigating the edges between worlds, where shared histories remain open as sites of contestation and creation. By unravelling monuments and inhabiting sublime landscapes, while entangling the personal with the political, a position at the far edge of worlds is a place that supports the creation of others.

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Exhibition documentation courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Photos by Robert McNair.