Centre at the Forks Outdoor Screens
Racquel Rowe’s Bodies of Water continues Southwest Seen, a series of three newly commissioned digital media artworks that reflect this region’s diverse culture and history. During hours of darkness, outdoor projections from the Museum’s Centre at the Forks windows will overlook the Forks of the Deshkan Ziibi (Thames River).
Southwest Seen is a partnership with Windsor-Detroit’s Media City Film Festival (MCFF), which is also hosting the media works online from July 10 to August 10, 2023. Artistic and curatorial partners include MCFF’s Artistic Director Oona Mosna; the London Ontario Media Arts Association (LOMAA) (Christine Negus); and jury members Evond Blake (aka MEDIAH), Anahí González Terán, and Amanda Myers/Kitaay Bizhikikwe.
Bodies of Water is a vision birthed between two places: Lake Huron and the Thames River in Southwestern Ontario, and the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean surrounding Barbados. The work explores the artist’s connections to both regions she calls home, including histories of the waterways in both places, early migration to the regions, and connections between Black bodies and water.
The split screen work features footage of waterways in all the locations, complemented by a performance in which the artist and another performer explore the connection to water as a site of rebirth and revival of self, through submergence. Using the imagery of baptism, the artist is also effectively regenerated.
Racquel Rowe’s exhibitions include programs at Queens Park Gallery, Bridgetown, Barbados; Gallery TPW and Trinity Square, Toronto; Ed Video Media Arts Centre, Guelph; Optica centre d’art contemporain and La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal; Cambridge Art Galleries; and the Zavitz Gallery, University of Guelph.
Southwest Seen features projections by:
Calla Moya (December 16, 2022 - March 2, 2023)
Racquel Rowe (March 3 - May 18, 2023)
Jude Abu Zaineh (May 19 - August 10, 2023)
Outdoor projections are during nighttime hours at the Centre at the Forks (behind Museum London). Please note that during private events and on statutory holidays at the Museum, the projections will not be on view. If you have questions about the outdoor projection schedule, please contact Museum London during open hours at 519-661-0333 or info@museumlondon.ca.
Image: Racquel Rowe, Bodies of Water, single /double channel digital video, 7.56 mins, Courtesy the Artist
About "Southwest Seen"
Southwest Seen is a special initiative involving the commission of new digital media works by Calla Moya, Racquel Rowe, and Jude Abu Zaineh; three artists with meaningful connections to Southwestern Ontario. Outdoor-facing projections from the Museum’s large Centre at the Forks windows, overlooking the Deshkan Ziibi (Thames River) will occur during hours of darkness. The works will run during three different time periods from December 2022 through August 2023.
Southwest Seen is developed in partnership with Windsor-Detroit’s acclaimed Media City Film Festival (MCFF), which will also host these media works in 2023. The project involves artistic and curatorial partners including MCFF’s Artistic Director Oona Mosna; the London Ontario Media Arts Association (Christine Negus), and London artists Evond Blake (aka MEDIAH), Anahí González Terán, and Amanda Myers/Kitaay Bizhikikwe.
Calla Moya’s media works have been exhibited at Artspace, Peterborough; The8fest and Vtape in Toronto; the Oberhausen Short Film Festival, Germany; and Festival Phénomena, Montreal. Moya has participated in LOMAA’s Broad Topics series, and completed art residencies at Saw Video and Studio 303.
Racquel Rowe’s current and past exhibitions include programs at Queens Park Gallery, Bridgetown, Barbados; Gallery TPW and Trinity Square, Toronto; Ed Video Media Arts Centre, Guelph; Optica centre d’art contemporain and La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal; Cambridge Art Galleries; and the Zavitz Gallery, University of Guelph.
Jude Abu Zaineh has presented her work at the Ontario Science Centre and MOCA Toronto (residency); Cultivamos Cultura and the Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia in Portugal; Centro de Cultura Digital, Mexico City; Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris; SVA, New York City; the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco; Forest City Gallery, London; and Art Windsor Essex.
We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Image: (from L to R) Racquel Rowe, Jude Abu Zaineh, and Calla Moya. Each image courtesy of the respective artist.
