Curated by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater, the exhibit features an extensive collection of artists including a diverse group of Canadians, as well as contemporaries hailing from the United States and the United Kingdom. 28 Days explores questions of representations, history, memory, visual culture and identity. The exhibit also addresses concepts of Black identity and “post-blackness,” a theoretical standpoint that has been raised and continues to be debated within contemporary aesthetic discourse.

Celebrated in the US and Canada throughout the month of February (and during the month of October in the UK), Black History Month has become a contentious and sometimes controversial event. Although the importance of the Month is recognized, there is much debate surrounding the value of having a month dedicated to commemorating the history of one particular race.

As its title suggests, 28 Days is intended to offer a space in which to confront established notions, and to re-think how and what this month-long event signifies in our contemporary frameworks. Curator Sally Frater explained, “When we were first discussing the exhibition we were particularly invested in the idea of having artists respond (critically) to the practice and notion of Black History Month, and in creating dialogue that centered around this topic.”

28 Days takes an interested approach to understanding the ways in which the work of Black artists is framed and consumed within the context of Black History Month exhibitions, and examines what it means for an individual artist to choose to exhibit work within the framing of this event. “Within the institution of the museum...we hope to raise discussion around this,” Frater emphasized.

The exhibit also challenges considerations of African diasporic and Black expressive cultures, and the interrelations between culture, and global contemporary art. Frater explained the importance of the relationships formed between representation and experience. “Now it seems as though the show has shifted to a point where the focus is more about the engagement with history and memory in relation to representation and how this is performed and/or manifests itself in the practices of the involved artists.”

The well attended opening reception took place on January 18. The overall atmosphere reflected a deep sense of appreciation and inspiration, as visitors, artists and curators alike lingered on past the scheduled 8:30 closing time.

Artist Denniston Ewan described his sculptures as functioning within the thematic structure of the exhibition. “Playing with interrealities, mixing the surreal, and the imagined, with the histories of experience. Bringing the sculptural, which is the imagined, into real life.” His intentions reflect the potential offered by 28 Days.

The video works are especially seductive, enticing the viewer to stay for hours and become viscerally engaged in the narratives. 28 Days is a space for contemporary artists to respond to the practice and notion of Black History Month, and involves a dynamic variety of sculpture, prints, photography, video-art, and graphics.

28 Days: Reimagining Black History Month
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House
January 19 - February 19