Lies that Tell the Truth opens in Halifax

July 17, 2011 to August 14, 2011

Khyber Institute of Contemporary Arts
1588 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Curated by Suzanne Caines and Claire Hodge

The Centre for Art Tapes and the Khyber Present
Lies that Tell the truth: Local Curatorial Residency Inaugural Exhibition

In 2010, the Centre for Art Tapes piloted its first Local Curatorial Residency for local emerging curators specializing in media arts. In this program the Centre supports curators as they uncover the intricacies of building a media arts exhibition.The result of this residency will be seen in the inaugural exhibition curated by Suzanne Caines and Claire Hodge titled Lies That Tell The truth, an exhibition scheduled to take place at the Khyber Institute for the Contemporary Arts between 15 July 2011 and 14 August 2011.

Lies That Tell The Truth gathers works from 6 artists using various reenactment strategies as the basis for their artwork. The artists are: Adad Hannah (Montreal), Johanna Householder and b.h. Yael (Toronto), Yam Lau (Toronto), Alison S. M. Kobayashi (Toronto), Jeanne Ju (Halifax), and Aoife Collins (Ireland).

Over the course of time, some events are viewed as significant enough to be memorialized. These moments in history are often re-enacted by actors who deliberately endeavor to be loyal to the minutest details of the events they perform. The artists in this exhibition constantly negotiate how closely aligned to the original their work will be. Making these choices, the artist becomes a curator of sorts, a curator of their own reenactment. The question remains, what is the relationship between the artistic gesture and the original upon which it is based? Even if an artist chooses not to include an aspect of the original, is it still there? Is it necessary for a visible trace to remain in order for its presence to be felt?