Once again, UBC proves that it has more to offer than university classes. Today, I am taking part in a special tour of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery’s newest exhibit, Beginning with the Seventies: GLUT, which runs from Janurary 12th to April 8th, 2018. The exhibit, composed of three main rooms and a hallway, centers around what is deemed the Rereading Room created by Canadian artist Alexandra Bischoff to represent the 1973 Vancouver Women’s Bookstore, which has a unique history of its own. The original bookstore was opened during the women’s movement to showcase feminist literature that was largely unavailable in local bookstores. To bring the bookstore back to life, Bischoff has chosen several books from the original catalogue, including authors such as Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Emma Goldman, and many others.
Rereading Room photo taken by writer
The Rereading Room is set up to represent a real bookstore, complete with plush, cozy couches in the centre. Bookshelves line the wall, which guests are welcomed to touch, flip through, and enjoy while relaxing on the couches. Also central to the project, a long table sits in front of the bookshelves. The table will be used by thirteen artists, writers, theorists, and researchers who have been invited to serve as The Readers for the duration of the exhibit. Their job will be to read the entire collection of books within the Rereading Room in order to add annotations and commentary on the pieces of literature.
Rereading room photo taken by writer
Another unique touch to the exhibit is the beautiful textiles created by Kathy Slade that adorn the walls, each based on portrait paintings or filled with text. The textiles are meant to be used as blankets by those visiting the exhibit, allowing guests to literally wrap themselves in the art.
Kathy Slade Textile: “For the Readers: Emma Bovary or After Gustave Flaubert: She bought a map of Paris…” 2018, photo taken by writer
Apart from the Rereading Room, the other rooms of the exhibit, which act as bookends to the main attraction, showcase a multitude of artwork dating from 1968 to 2017 from female artists, with a focus on language as a medium and material. Some of the artists featured are Allyson Clay, Judith Copithorne, Gathie Falk, Jamelie Hassan, Germaine Koh, Laiwan, Sara Leydon, among others. The collections are from the Belkin Art Gallery archives itself or on loan from other institutions such as Kamloops Art Gallery, SFU Galleries, Surrey Art Gallery, and Vancouver Art Gallery. One thing that stood out to curators such as Lorna Brown while gathering pieces for the exhibit was the astounding lack of women featured in art collections.
Allyson Clay, “Double Self-Portrait” 2001, photo given by Artist
That said, the work that they did manage to find and chose to showcase is powerful and gripping. Together, the female artists depict economical struggles, multiculturalism, racial issues, voyeurism, colonialism, and a variety of other social and political issues through a feminist lens. One is left feeling both inspired and humbled by the experience.
One of my personal favourite pieces I saw was the series of acrylic ink on watercolour paper created by Divya Mehra in 2014. The paintings, each adored with sassy sayings, evoked laughter and nods of agreement; although they were humorous, they still touched on serious feminist issues. The purple ink stood out against the stark white white walls, as though they represented the voices of colourful women refusing to fade into the background.
Divya Mehra, various acrylic ink pieces, 2014, photo taken by writer
As the first of four exhibitions based upon the Belkin Art Gallery’s research project investigating of political movements of the 1970s, which will include environmentalism and LGBTQ+ rights, I am confident to say that they are starting off strongly. It isn’t often that a UBC exhibition is dedicated entirely to feminist issues, especially through language with the women reader as an artistic genre. GLUT is a unique and captivating experience, blending the issues of the past with ones that continue today. I highly recommend viewing this exhibit, which is free and open to the public, and admiring the power that art has, the power that women have. GLUT reminds us of the importance of reflecting on the past and admiring the women who fought for our rights while acknowledging that the fight is far from over.
The exhibit will run from January 12 to April 8, 2018 with special lectures and workshops throughout. Visit belkin.ubc.ca for more details.
Cover photo shows Elizabeth Zvonar, Origin of the World, Peaches in Space, 2010.