Stan Douglas was born in 1960 in Vancouver where he continues to live and work. His interest in the social implementation of western ideas of progress, particularly utopian philosophies, is located in their often-divisive political and economic effects. His interrogation of the structural possibilities of film and video, in concert with intricately developed narratives, has resulted in a number of groundbreaking contemporary artworks. In 2013, a major survey of his recent work, Stan Douglas: Photographs 2008–2013, was presented at Carré d’Art — Musée d’art contemporain in Nîmes, France. Douglas is a recipient of numerous notable awards, including the  Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography (2016), the third annual Scotiabank Photography Award (2013) and the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, New York (2012). Over the past decade, Douglas’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent institutions worldwide, including the The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2014); Centre culturel canadien, Paris (2013); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota (2012); The Power Plant, Toronto (2011); Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart (2007); The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2005); kestnergesellschaft, Hanover (2004); and the Serpentine Gallery, London (2002). His exhibition Inconsolable Memories at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery was held January 20 to March 19, 2006.

Shelly Rosenblum is Curator of Academic Programs at the Belkin. Inaugurating this position at the Belkin, Rosenblum’s role is to develop programs that increase myriad forms of civic and academic engagement at UBC, the wider Vancouver community and beyond. Rosenblum received her PhD at Brown University and has taught at Brown, Wesleyan and UBC. Her awards include fellowships from the Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan University and a multi-year Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of English, UBC. She was selected for the Summer Leadership Institute of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (2014). Her research interests include issues in contemporary art and museum theory, discourses of the Black Atlantic, critical theory, narrative and performativity. Her teaching covers the 17th to the 21st centuries. She remains active in professional associations related to academic museums and cultural studies, attending international conferences and workshops, and recently completing two terms (six years) on the Board of Directors at the Western Front, Vancouver, including serving as Board President. At UBC, Rosenblum is an Affiliate of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.