Posting Notice: Newfound Lands, Old Emails, Etc.

I'm heading off for a vacation to Newfoundland tomorrow, so posts may be sparse until September 1. (This being a freelancer version of vacation, I do hope to visit, and perhaps report on, Eastern Edge's 24-hour art marathon -- always seem to just miss it at the end of August, but this year for the gallery's 25th they seem to be running it over a whole week-plus.)

Besides that, I've been alerted that some press and information releases from artists and galleries aren't getting through to me at my regular email address, leah [at] leahsandals [dot] com. This is a frustrating situation, as I still do receive a lot of emails without any problem, and I do like to hear what's going on out there! If you think you've had any problems of this kind with sending me emails, please elaborate in the comments below or email/cc me at leahsandals [at] hotmail [dot] com. Sorry for the trouble--I'm trying to figure the problem out and get it resolved ASAP.

Lastly, I'll just highlight an event I'll be sorry to miss while I'm away: the panel "Are we past the age of an aboriginal art show?" at the Art Gallery of Ontario on August 23. Taking its title from the text of a critical review by the Globe's Sarah Milroy (and promising her participation as well), the panel aims to address the following questions: "Are we past the age of an aboriginal art show, or any exhibition organized around identity? Are the issues and problematics that gave rise to a host of identity-based exhibition in the 1990s now completely resolved? Can an exhibition that considers hydridized identity formation be something other than an essentialist trap?"

Other panellists include Arizona's Joe Baker (who's dealt with some other identity-related controversies along the way), Cornell U's Salah Hassan and the AGO's own Gerald McMaster. If you read this blog frequently, you likely know what my views are. But if you go, I look forward to hearing/reading your views on what takes place—whatever they might be.

Image of Mark Nakamura's Back in Five 2009 from canadianart.ca