multimedia archive exhibition 

April 15 - June 24, 2016

University of Alberta
Rutherford Library
South Atrium



Curated by
Vicki S. Kwon
PhD student, History of Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Alberta

In collaboration with

Ange Kindrachuk
multimedia artist & curatorial assistant

Travis Holmes
designer, MA candidate, Visual Communication Design, University of Alberta

Heather Leier
MFA graduate, Printmaking
University of Alberta

T. J. McLachlan
MFA candidate, Sculpture
University of Alberta

Won Seok Koh, MBA (Art Management)
curator
Asia Culture Centre, Republic of Korea

And  Moe Taylor, MA
documentary filmmaker
PhD student, History, University of British Columbia

Mass Games: Nation-building Spectacles in Postcolonial Guyana and North Korea displays rare visual materials created by artists during a decade of transnational artistic and cultural exchange between North Korea, in East Asia, and Guyana, in the Caribbean, from 1980 to 1992. In collaboration with North Korean artists invited to Guyana, Guyanese artists and students created an annual national event by performing what are known as mass games—spectacular multimedia performances played out by three thousand students, visual artists, dancers, and musicians performing group choreography and a huge-scale card section play.

The exhibition features schematic drawings, photographs, photo albums, and choreography sketchbooks created in the 1980s by Guyanese artists and performers. The backdrops, displayed by means of card section play, portray the plants and animals of the Amazon, the multi-ethnic people and culture of Guyana, and messages of peace and self-sufficiency, subjects which became iconographic national images of Guyana. Artists such as George Simon and Philbert Gajadhar, who designed the ​​backdrops, became celebrated artists in Guyana.

The exhibition lets us glimpse an unknown history of the postcolonial global south, which attempted to create national identity and claim its position on the international political and ideological map by means of visual spectacle. 

Programmings

The exhibition will include a series of events

• Opening reception:  April 15, Friday 5pm
• One-day symposium and a documentary film screening: June 16, Thursday
  • A curatorial tour led by Vicki S. Kwon
  • A curated conversation of professors in art history, visual culture studies, sociology, globalization, and cultural studies, as well as Edmonton residents who were mass games performers in various countries
  • A documentary film screening
  • And more, to be confirmed
  • Location and time  TBA

Confirmed Speakers

• Dr. M. Elizabeth (Betsy) Boone, Professor, Art and Design, University of Alberta
• Dr. Sourayan Mookerjea, Professor, Theory & Cultural Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta
• Yi Li, fine art professional
• Jin Li, BFA student, University of Alberta 
  
• Fluorine Tang, Exchange student from University of Hong Kong
• Moe Taylor, historian, University of British Columbia
  

Additional speakers TBA.
For the participants information, please check Exhibition Team and Participants.

The archive preview

Looking for former mass games performers!

We are looking for people who have performed, designed, or watched mass games in their home countries, such as China, Guyana, Ethiopia, North Korea or South Korea. Mass games include card section plays and group choreography for school, corporate, and national anniversaries. All are welcome!

​For all enquiries, please contact the curator
Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon
vkwon@ualberta.ca

The research and exhibition are generously supported by

The exhibition is hosted by the University of Alberta Libraries.

Click for
Exhibition Team and Participants 
The Hours and Location 
Press Release
Acknowledgments
Contact