What Is Welcome? includes works from the Belkin's collection and long-term residency that question the art institution's language, boundaries and potential for change. From performance to works-in-process that effect institutional practices, the artists included operate with, and at the same time counter, the institution to address the what, how and the why of gallery operations.

This reading room offers resources relating to and exceeding the themes present in the exhibition What Is Welcome?, which includes works from the Belkin’s collection and long-term residency that question the art institution’s language, boundaries and potential for change. From performance to works-in-process that effect institutional practices, the artists included operate with, and at the same time counter, the institution to address the what, how and the why of gallery operations. Artists include Allyson Clay, Claudia Cuesta, Andrea Fraser, ReMatriate Collective, Holly Schmidt, as well as recent acquisitions of work by Skeena Reece, Kika Thorne and Tania Willard.

Fireweed Fields transforms a UBC lawn site into a fireweed meadow, encouraging increased biodiversity through gradual succession as a metaphor for the resurgence of life after a crisis. This installation acknowledges the global climate emergency: by tearing through the fabric of maintained lawns and colonial ideals, it plants the initial seeds for change and catalyzes dialogue, creative experimentation, and new biodiversity research and learning opportunities.

In this artist talk, Tania Willard speaks about her work Affirmations for Wildflowers: an Ethnobotany of Desire (2020), a recent acquisition by the Belkin and part of the What is Welcome? exhibition.