Home/land & Security: an exhibition at RENDER, Nov 6 - Feb 13, 2010

[Barbara Hobot]

*Home/land & Security*

*A project by Jeff Thomas commissioned by RENDER*

*November 6, 2009 through February 13, 2010*


*Opening reception, roundtable discussion and video screenings:*

*Saturday, November 21*

1 - 4 pm @ RENDER, University of Waterloo main campus

6 - 9 pm @ Waterloo Architecture, Cambridge

(additional screenings and gatherings TBA)


With *Home/land & Security*, artist and curator Jeff Thomas offers a
distinct response to the land disputes that have erupted along Ontario’s
Grand River valley on land defined as the Haldimand Tract. Initially
developed out of a consideration of the ongoing conflict between members of
the Six Nations and building developers in the town of Caledonia, Thomas’s
project has expanded to embrace broader concepts of home and security and to
explore the divisions between native and non-native communities.
Commissioned by RENDER, the project embodies a hybrid artist/curator
approach, with Thomas producing a new body of work that forms the basis of a
dialogue with other artists. Thomas’s goal is to encourage cross-cultural
dialogue and a deeper understanding of the history of the region.


The Six Nations were granted the Haldimand Tract by the British crown in
1784 following the American Revolution. Originally encompassing all of the
land six miles back from each shore of the Grand River, the tract was
reduced over the years through land transfers (many disputed) and government
intervention, leaving the Six Nations with only a small reserve located
between Brantford and Caledonia.  Challenges to the loss of land have been
ongoing since the late 18th century, however, in recent years these have
become more high profile and confrontational with the recent standoff at the
Douglas Estates near Caledonia being a prime example. Much of the original
Haldimand Tract is now the site of established towns and cities, including
Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge (RENDER’s primary programming region), and
areas of these communities are the focus of additional land disputes.


*Home/land &** **Security* includes new works by *Barry Ace, Sara Angelucci,
Mary Anne Barkhouse, Michael Belmore, Ron Benner, Rosalie Favell, Lorraine
Gilbert, Jamelie Hassan, Pat Hess, Penny McCann, Wanda Nanibush, Shelley
Niro, Bear Thomas* and *Eric Walker*, along with works by *Jeff Thomas* and
archival images from Six Nations. *Home/land & Security *is a major
programming initiative for RENDER. It represents a considered extension of
RENDER’s interdisciplinary research approach and further expands on the
critical links between the university and surrounding community by engaging
with a complex issue that will actively define the future of the region.


In addition to the exhibition in RENDER’s gallery space on the main campus
of the University of Waterloo, works will also be installed at Waterloo
Architecture and at the Grand House in Cambridge. *Home/land and
Security*has received the support of The Canada Council for the Arts
and the Ontario
Arts Council.


*Media Contact:*

Andrew Hunter, Director/Curator

RENDER

519-888-4567 x33575

renderprojects at gmail.com


RENDER

East Campus Hall

University of Waterloo

263 Phillip Street

Waterloo, Ontario

www.render.uwaterloo.ca


Waterloo Architecture

7 Melville Street South

Cambridge, Ontario

www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca


Grand House

68 Roseview Avenue

Cambridge, Ontario

www.wacsa.org/grandhouse




-- 
Barb Hobot
Curator-in-residence
RENDER
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave W
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
render.uwaterloo.ca
519-888-4567 x33575
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