Artists Stanley February, Maryam Izadifard and My-Van Dam, from the CODE BLANC collective, have all been professionally affected by issues of inclusion and equity in the art world. In the exhibition The Ministrythey present an installation and performative work that reproduces the codes of a ministerial office, thus questioning the power dynamics of the Quebec cultural sector.
Mme Izadifard and Mr. Juillet met when they were both masters in art at UQAM. Mme Izadifard says she felt excluded by her classmates during her university career. Mr. February, the only other racialized person in his cohort, approached her. During a class trip to a well-known gallery, Maryam Izadifard asked the person responsible for their visit why there were no names of immigrant artists displayed. In particular, she wanted to know the procedures for exhibiting her own works.
She was told that “even if the gallery wanted to present her, collectors would not buy her because she is an immigrant woman artist! [Elle a dit ça] in front of everybody ! exclaims Mr. Juillet. “I thought I heard wrong, but she repeated it! It was scary to see that I was the only person to react of the 23 students and 2 teachers! The solidarity between the two artists continued for the rest of their studies into their respective careers.
For his part, My-Van Dam was doing a bachelor’s degree in visual arts at UQAM when the other two were at the master’s level. He was one of the only racialized people in his cohort. She says that after submitting an assignment on galleries that have a mandate to promote diversity, although she received a good grade, the professor left her as a comment “be careful when you say that politicians are racist” . This refusal to acknowledge systemic racism pushed her towards inclusion activism.
From conversation to decision-making powers
She explains that at the start of her career, in the mid-2010s, there were conversations about these topics, but not yet a public questioning of power dynamics.
” Today, [cet enjeu est] more important because it’s time for these communities to take a decision-making position within cultural institutions,” says February. He is tired of the approach of representativeness, which consists in giving all the responsibilities concerning a marginalized community to a person from this community.
The professional experiences of the collective and its desire to make these discussions public inspired its installation. The exhibition is designed as a ministerial office, where each artist plays the role of a different cultural minister. Upon entering, the public can consult information leaflets, admire photos hanging on the wall, fill out forms with questions related to equity and inclusion topics.
Two days a week, the artists are on hand to play their roles. The public can then discuss various subjects with them in the manner of a public consultation. The artists also offer a discussion table, on November 2 at 7:30 p.m., to give the public and people working in the cultural sector the chance to speak out on issues of inclusion and equity.
“We did this work because there are not many people in power who belong to different communities or who have perspectives that allow us to create these structural changes. We wondered: who is in power in the end? How are the decisions made? Who sits on decision-making committees, advisory committees, management committees? explains My-Van Dam.
The collective exchanged with other artists during its creative process. “We had testimonies dealing with the same difficulties, the same questions as us. But we had no way to raise these issues publicly in the media, says Maryam Izadifard. I think the work is a platform that helps us and others to have a platform to talk about it freely. »
For Stanley February, challenging institutional power goes beyond hiring. “It is first of all a structural questioning of the environment and the recognition of the fact [que la façon dont on a fonctionné] for decades [ne fonctionne plus], he says. However, artist-run centers must also reflect and find solutions together on how to restructure themselves. For me, that’s what brings change. It’s not fair to fire someone and put diverse people. It’s not going to change anything, because afterwards, everything will come back to the same thing. »