November 17, 2022 – An exhibition exploring relationships between art institutions and Black artists opens on Saturday, November 19 at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG).

While Black: a forum for speculation on what the gallery can’t hold documents the relationships that Black artists working in Canada have to art galleries and their systems of representation. Through multimodal and multimedia responses, these artists offer questions, imperatives, proposals, and insight into their own experiences within contemporary art institutions and the cultural life beyond them.

The exhibition will be on view at the CCAG from November 19 – March 5 and will be uniquely displayed in a recreation of an apartment, featuring several rooms that patrons can wander through and explore. While Black is a co-production with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and is organized by Charles Campbell, Michelle Jacques, and Denise Ryner.

Several artists from Prince Edward Island will be featured in the exhibition, including Niyi Adeogun, Selecta Chevron, Robin Gislain, King Kxndi, Sammo Mossa, Baha Royalty, and Reequal Smith.

“The project has come to be about the unstoppable, joyful, and complicated nature of Black cultural production, both in and outside the gallery, says curator Charles Campbell. “The exhibition here is centred on a set of dynamic and creative work by young Black artists from Charlottetown, and how they’re creating a space for themselves to make art and thrive.”

This is the third event in a series of planned forums and public presentations organized by curators based across Canada, in conversation with artists, to consider both the limits and possibilities of the relationship between contemporary art spaces and Black art, arts workers, and audiences.

This exhibition will kick off with Celebrating While Black, an opening event in partnership with the Black Cultural Society on Saturday, November 19 at 8 p.m. The evening will include a dance party with music from DJ Selecta Chevron, food from Island catering company Out of Africa, and a cash bar.

For information on all CCAG events, visit confederationcentre.com or call 902-628-6111.

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Photo cutline: Spatial Esk, Afro Space, 2021, Digital Print