The F Word Panel

Description:

In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, The F Word, a panel was held with featured artists and the curators. Artists Allyson Clay, Shawna Dempsey, and Lorri Millan were in attendance and screened excerpts of their work in the exhibition and contributed to a conversation that wrestled with both personal and collective notions of feminism.

Allyson Clay spoke about her work, Untitled Photo Series (Interior Speech) (2008), which she developed while in residence at Western Front. The work is an extension of her interest in the phenomenon of “interior speech,” the silent conversation that one has with oneself as if speaking to another person as its subject.

Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan presented their collaborative work, Lesbian National Parks and Services: A Force of Nature (2002). The project was created in Banff, Alberta and challenges the public’s idea of “natural” environment and tourism. They used humour and irony to address feminist and lesbian concerns within wider colonialist and nationalist discourses.

After the artist presentations, the curators Alissa Firth-Eagland and Candice Hopkins, moderated an audience question and answer period and discussion. 

Video documentation available upon request.