Pamila Matharu, "adjacencies," installation view, 2020
mixed media, variable dimensions (photo courtesy of Durham Art Gallery)
Toronto-based artist Pamila Matharu is the winner of the 2020 Burtynsky Grant for the book project Index: Some of All Parts.
The $5,000 grant, established in 2016 by Ontario photographer Edward Burtynsky and the CONTACT photo festival, fosters the creation of photo books by Canadians.
Awarded annually, it supports artists and photographers at an advanced stage of developing a cohesive and rigorous body of work for publication.
The jury, composed of Edward Burtynsky, Kotama Bouabane, Letticia Cosbert Miller, Cat Lachowskyj, Brian Paul Lamotte and Marcus Schubert, reviewed a wide range of proposals from across Canada.
“Through a combination of photography, collage and archival material, Index: Some of All Parts by Pamila Matharu responds to the questions of what voices survive in the narrative of Canadian art history, and what voices are erased," the jury said.
"Exploding with ideas and presented with little compromise between concept and images, Matharu’s striking photo book addresses crucial gaps in representation during this time of ongoing reckoning with the photographic canon.”
Honourable mentions went to Leyla Godfrey, Esmond Lee and Laurence Philomene.
The Burtynsky Grant has previously supported Teresa Eng, Birthe Piontek, The Broadbent Sisters and Aaron Friend Lettner.
Their books are available through the CONTACT shop.
Source: CONTACT