Please join us for a symposium planned in conjunction with the exhibition, Town + Country: Narratives or Property and Capital. Town + Country challenges us to reconsider the well-worn opposition between these terms, as well as our assumptions about what these concepts refer to. What gets left out when we take this dichotomy for granted? How might we re-introduce texture to this debate, especially as it ramifies right here in British Columbia (the first iteration of the exhibition opened in Kamloops last summer) and in Vancouver (at the Belkin now)?

The symposium comprises two panels dedicated to two related keywords: labour and land. Together we will consider how the town and country narrative persists vis-à-vis notions and histories of labour, and through conceptions of land. At the same time we understand and remain aware that the accumulation of land and the exploitation of people are inherently tied.  Because this symposium is in response to an exhibition querying the role of art and literature in shaping the narrative, panels will focus on questions raised by artists in the exhibition, and will expand from there.

Event Location
Musqueam Cultural Centre, 4000 Musqueam Avenue, Vancouver
Please note, there is parking available at the Musqueam Cultural Centre. If you are taking transit, the closest bus stop is at West 41^st Avenue and Crown Street, an approximate 15-minute walk to the Musqueam Cultural Centre.

Image (above): Tiziana La Melia, Country Mouse City Mouse Hamster (still), 2023. Courtesy of the artist