Open Forum: A Thousand Cuts, Censorship Discussion

Open Forum / Tuesday, September 25 from 6PM to 8PM

Where / Chinese Cultural Centre (197 1 St. SW), room 235 

Schedule /6-7PM - overview of the censorship incident followed by opportunity for questions and large group discussion7-8PM - informal small group discussion

On Friday, September 14, 2018 Arts Commons committed a final act of censorship, removing the remainder of B.G-Osborne’s exhibition, A Thousand Cuts, from The New Gallery’s (TNG) +15 Window. This troubling act of erasure continues the trend of taking away opportunities for critical discourse and engagement around the exhibition and Arts Commons’ decisions of censorship.

While it is unfortunate that this exhibition is no longer available at Arts Commons, TNG is pleased to announce that despite attempts to remove this exhibition from the public eye, multiple venues have stepped up and offered to show B.G-Osborne’s artwork in solidarity with the artist and our organization. B.G-Osborne has determined to exhibit A Thousand Cuts in three new venues: the University of Calgary Art Department (Calgary, AB), Latitude 53 (Edmonton, AB), and Left Contemporary (Windsor, ON). We would like to thank the multiple other venues and individuals throughout Calgary who offered space, but at this time, the artist will be focusing on displaying their work in one venue per city. Additional venues in other cities may be added in the coming weeks. Please contact individual galleries for viewing hours and dates. Audiences who are unable to view the work onsite are still able to view the work on TNG’s website for the coming month: www.thenewgallery.org/a-thousand-cuts/

In another important act of support, multiple artists who are currently exhibiting in other +15 Windows will be cancelling their exhibitions’ closing receptions, which was scheduled to happen tomorrow, Thursday, September 20. Tomorrow’s cancelled event would have also been the closing reception for A Thousand Cuts, and petitioning artists include Alice Schoenberg at Stride Gallery, Declan Hoy at Untitled Art Society, Rosalie H. Maheux at TRUCK Contemporary Art, and Fiona Couillard at Marion Nicoll Gallery. We thank these artists and organizations for their integral action of support regarding this censorship.

TNG is also invested in holding space to have the crucial conversations necessary to better understand contemporary art practices, censorship, LGBTQ2S+ issues, and the intersections of these topics. We have invited Arts Commons’ leadership team to participate in an open forum in the coming week regarding these topics, but at this time Arts Commons’ has declined to participate in the public discussion. TNG will be moving forward with this opportunity to hold space for conversation next Tuesday, September 25 from 6PM to 8PM in room 235 at the Chinese Cultural Centre (197 1 St. SW). The invitation to Arts Commons’ Board and staff remains open, and TNG has also extended this invite to the other +15 Window exhibiting artists’ as an opportunity to celebrate and discuss their respective exhibitions. 

On behalf of TNG and the artist, thank you to the many organizations and individuals who have come forward to support the exhibition and the artist’s freedom of expression over the past few weeks. The ongoing and vocal support of A Thousand Cuts has been encouraging and strengthening during this discouraging dispute.