Oh, Canada? (Part II: Ready To Serve)
"The Sobey Art Foundation is pleased to announce the short list for the 2006 Sobey Art Award: This division into "five regions" is wack. It means that "Atlantic" (Nfld&Lab., PEI, NS, and NB) has one 'curatorial advisor' for it's 2.3 million residents, while "Quebec" and "Ontario" (each a province of the same name) has one apiece for its 7.6 million and 12.6 million, respectively. Since the host institution is Halifax's Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, perhaps the advantage given to maritime artists is intentional.West Coast: Steven Shearer
Prairies / North: Annie Pootoogook
Ontario: Janice Kerbel
Quebec: BGL
Atlantic Canada: Mathew Reichertz
[Image: COMPOSITION (SCULPTOR WITH HIS FINISHED SCULPTURE), Annie Pootoogook]
The Sobey Art Award is a biennial award to be given to an artist under 40 who has had a show in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. A panel of curatorial advisors, one from a major gallery in each of five regions decides the shortlist: the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies and Northern Canada, West Coast."
"Prairies/North", rolls six geographically massive and culturally diverse provinces and territories into one region of 5.6 million: Alberta alone has 3.3 million, a million more than the entire wee "Atlantic" region (admittedly, that extra million probably just moved to Alberta from the East coast).
And "West Coast"? Why not just send out a press release to BC's interior saying "fuck you" in big letters? But seriously, why not just call it "British Columbia", for pete's sake? Whatever you call it, with BC's population of 4.3 million , the "Atlantic" artist has roughly a 2-to-1 advantage over the 'Pacific'.
The Sobey's can give their money to whomever they please, of course... but if they wanted to do it with more fairness of represention, what suggestions would you offer? I've got some ideas....Labels: Art After Postmodernism
posted by MC @ 20:14
11 Comments:
Hypothetical "Sobeysavant Art Award":
A team of 10 'critical advisors' from across Canada make semi-finalist shortlists, from which they select finalists and, ultimately, a winner.
There is one advisor for approximately every 3-millions of population: three critical advisors select semi-finalists for West, four select for Central, and three select for East.
These 3 regions (with provincial makeup and population totals) include:
Western Canada (BC+AB+SK+MB+YT+NT+NU=9.7M)
Central Canada
(ON=12.6M)
Eastern Canada
(QC+NF+PE+NB+NS=10M)
"There is one advisor for approximately every 3-millions of population"
With this as a principle, Alberta and British Columbia would each have a 'critical advisor'from their province ever year, with the third Western seat rotating between the other less populous provinces and territories.
Likewise, Quebec would be represented by two advisors on the panel, with the third Eastern seat going to an advisor from the maritimes.
Maybe the chances of being recognized would improve if we declared the NESW a province, or a territory at least. We already have the mugs and t-shirts.
Well, there's only three of us, so I think the best we could hope for is city-state status, like Washington D.C. or Vatican City. And, due to our low population, we'd only be entitled to 0.000001 of a 'critical advisor' (which is about how many curator visits we usually get, come to think of it).
...and, we need an anthem.
At least my ten-member panel scheme would put more representatives into the mix, who might be able to draw from a broader pool of talent.
Oh, and each 'advisor' would pick 3 artists from their 'region'.
So, to re-cap, 10 'advisors' (instead of 5), 30 artists shortlisted (instead of 25), and even odds across the country (about a one-in-a-million chance) of being shortlisted.
If I recall correctly, the Sobey family originally hails from Nova Scotia, and as Maritimers are as thick as haggis (I mean that relationally, not necessarily mentally...); I don't find it too surprising that the awards seem to to weighted in favour of those "from home".
Perhaps if you submitted a piece using tartan...
Thick as thieves, is more like it.
Unfortunately, your tartan scheme won't work, Joseph. There's nothing to 'submit' for the Sobey prize.
I don't know whether to laugh or vomit. I just popped back over to the Sobey Art Award page, to read:
"The five finalists for the Sobey Art Award 2002, as selected by the curatorial panel, represent the remarkable breadth of practices that make up contemporary Canadian art. Each of their careers is in tune with current thought and demonstrates commitment to a clearly defined creative practice. More simply put, these five artists know how to make stuff that is exciting and thought provoking which places them individually as the avant-garde; the leaders within their regions and the ambassadors for Canada on an international stage."
[emphasis mine]
Lordy, lordy! "In tune with current thought"? "Vee must all get in line vizzee current thought! Only zenn villvee see zee rrrremahrkable brrrredth of zee kontemporary praktizezz! Sieg Heil!"
Oh, no, wait... phew! "More simply put," it just means they make neat stuff, which makes you think about, presumably, other neat stuff.
What a bunch of chuckleheads...
2008 Sobey Art Award winner Tim Lee (West Coast and Yukon)
2007 Sobey Art Award winner Michel de Broin (Québec)
2006 Sobey Art Award winner Annie Pootoogook (Prairies and The North)
2004 Sobey Art Award winner Jean-Pierre Gauthier (Québec)
2002 Sobey Art Awardwinner Brian Jungen (West Coast and Yukon)
- - - -
Nary an Atlantic Winner Among them. Interesting.
I understand the arguments towards regionalism - however the winners have all been from outside the Maritimes.
Thanks for leaving a comment, Everygirl.
I agree, it is interesting that despite the structure of the competition clearly favouring Eastern artists, the final winner selected by the Jurors over the years have not picked a Maritime artist.
When I first made this post, "Prairies and North" were rolled in together, and "West Coast" was on its own, but I notice that in a few years they rolled "West Coast and Yukon" together.
I wonder if that's an indication of them playing with their distribution formula? Do you know, Everygirl?
I find it pretty easy to say that the best winner they've picked was Brian Jungen, in 2002 (although I haven't seen much from him since then that's impressed me).
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