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Museum London’s TransAmericas examines relationships formed between people and places.

Museum London’s track record of producing outstanding, moving, and thought-provoking exhibitions for the community is impressive, and they’ve surely achieved that once again with the exhibition “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept.”

Running from Sept. 10 to Dec. 11, Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept” features the work of 15 artists with Latin American heritage celebrating culture and examining the relationships formed between people and places.

The innovative exhibition includes collage, graphics, textile, photographs, video, sculpture and installation works. “It’s about the blurring of lines,” Cassandra Getty, Curator of Art at Museum London said. “It’s a celebration of culture, but also about how culture changes – you bring it with you to different places. It’s sort of a ‘life on hyphen,’ where you have many different cultures that make up your life now. And, so, you have different insights.”

Two focus groups, with members of the local Spanish-speaking population, were part of the creative process along with artists Dianne Pearce, Museum London’s former Curator of Public Programs and Rita Camacho, a curator in Toronto of Latin American heritage.

An impressive roster of artists were chosen to contribute to “TransAmericas.” The artists live and work in Canada and the U.S., but they hail from Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba and beyond. The artists include: Laura Barrón, Dianna Frid, Alexandra Gelis, Pablo Helguera, Manolo Lugo, Juan Ortiz-Apuy, Eugenio Salas, José Seoane, José Luis Torres, Clarissa Tossin, and Giorgia Volpe.

“Some of the themes that came up when doing research were celebrating the differences in language, the idea of travel, the importance of community, and also symbols – for instance, bridges between different places and cultures,” said Getty.

Innovative Online / In-person Exhibition

In a unique project called “Click! Panoramic Americas,” Museum London has created its own bridge between the exhibition and its visitors – both in person and online.

Have a photo about Latin America? You can submit it online and it will be included in the exhibition – both online and at Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept.”

Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept”

“Contrast in Colombia”. A boy smiles as he mimics an officer at a gathering of police in the church square of Cartegena, Colombia.
Submitted by: Andrew Wyton.

Museum London began collecting submissions in late June, they’ve received photos from people living in Canada who are originally from Latin America, as well as Canadian citizens who have some connection to Latin America – perhaps they’re second or third generation. But you don’t have to be of Latin American descent. If you’ve traveled to Latin America and taken photos, “Click!” would love to see them. Anyone can submit to “Click! Panoramic Americas.”

A True Participatory Art Project

Photos so far have depicted themes like family, friends, cities, nature, traditions, food, festivals, religion, sports, politics, education and more. A true participatory art project, photos will be printed and shown alongside the professional artist’s works in the “TransAmericas” exhibition.

“The idea is to create a collective piece of art,” said Juan Andrés Bello, a local filmmaker originally from Venezuela who is coordinating “Click!” “And to create a dialogue about the many faces and aspects of Latin America that are not well known. So, it’s about presenting images that are in some way intriguing for our audience.”

Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept”

“Anima del Pica Pica”. Religious messages in Latin American public transport.
Submitted by: Alberto Rojas

Bello says “Click!” has already received some great shots taken by Canadians, and he cites in particular very interesting photos of Cuba from tourists who have captured a view of the life of ordinary Cubans.

Photos Are Representative of how Diverse Latin America is

“We’re very pleased with that we are getting,” Bello said.

“We’re trying to build a good collection of photos that are representative of how diverse Latin America is. It’s all about engagement, and people can really connect with a project of this nature. Maybe it can be a source of inspiration for people to make arrangements to travel to Latin America and get to know it.”

Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept”

“Telar”. Chiapas, Mexico. Submitted by: Matias Wieland Oliveira.

The call for submissions will continue throughout Museum London’s “TransAmericas: a sign, a situation, a concept” exhibition, which runs from Sept. 10 to Dec. 11. The citizen-as-artist project is something Getty sees as a way to really engage the average person in art.

“You have artists who train at universities or colleges, or they teach themselves … but creativity is something that we all have,” Getty said. “We all have something to say about what makes us … us.”

Details Details
TransAMERICAS: a sign, a situation, a concept
September 10th to December 11th.
Museum London
421 Ridout Street North London, Otario
519-661-0333
Open Tuesday to Sunday: 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm
Open Thursday: 12:00 noon to 9:00 pm
Closed on Monday

Do you have a photo about Latin America? Share it and include it online and at Museum London.
Click! Panoramic Americas.”

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Museum London’s TransAmericas examines relationships formed between people and places.

Keith Tomasek
30 August 2016
News and Rumors

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