Charles Stankievech, The DEW Project (installation view), Confluence of Klondike + Yukon Rivers, Yukon Territory, Canada. 64o03’ N, 139o27’ W, 2009, Courtesy of the artist.
The Rooms, Level 3 Art Gallery
9 Bonaventure Avenue
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Date
Curator
Darryn Doull and Melony Ward
Helloland! brings together artifacts, archival documents, historical paintings and the work of contemporary artists. Each uniquely reflects upon the complicated legacies of wireless communication in Canada. Their diverse nodes of exploration include communal aspects of radio broadcast, sovereignty issues, economic self-determination, environmental stewardship and geographic militarization during the Cold War.
Editors' Comment
Growing up in the Labrador, large crumbling monoliths of concrete, and twisted rusting metal was just part of the Northern scenery. It was easy to imagine them as the ancient ruins of a long gone civilization as the elements and the lichen slowly pulverized these monuments into gravel. These “relics” were part the Cold War Era early-warning system, the Pinetree Line – and a piece of Canada’s wireless history, recognizable to anyone who has spent time in the northern parts of the provinces. Helloland! Art, War and the Wireless Imagination explores stories of Canada’s wireless and radio infrastructure. Curators Darryn Doull and Melony Ward bring to the Rooms a variety of artists and thinkers like Charles Stankievech, Jackson 2bears, Marc Losier, and Maureen Gruben who all bring different understandings to our wireless past from across the country. The exhibition reflects on the complicated legacies of colonialism, environmental stewardship, militarization, and sovereignty wrapped up in that are wrapped up radio waves. – Ossie Michelin, editor-at-large