By EXTRACTION
OPSYS
A Counter-Exhibition & Counter-Monument for the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale Exploring the Scales, Spaces, Systems & States of Canada as Global Resource Empire & Largest Extraction Nation on the Planet.
Ground Penetration - Full Core Sample (2016) by OPSYSEXTRACTION
By uncovering layers and layers of entangled, complex histories of Canada, the exhibition reveals how contemporary processes of extraction are deeply rooted in ideologies of colonization.
On the Surface of the State: a bird's eye view of the Giardini reveals a sculpted map of the Earth where visitors kneel down and look through the ground to explore 800 years of extraction history.
Between Empires, in the heart of the Giardini: at the junction of French, UK, and German Pavilions, the Canadian Exhibition is first project installed 'outside' in the Biennale's history since 1975.
1851, Counterposed: views of the exterior display of material resource wealth of the British Empire (including Canada, India, West Indies) during the Great Exhibition & World Fair in London, England.
Canada as Colonial Hinterland: large slabs of stone, giant ore bodies, and lush animal pelts of adorn the Canadian Exhibition as imperial representation of colonial treasures.
"We Hold A Vaster Empire Than Has Been," England communicates its vast imperial geography of colonial hinterlands on a 1898 XMAS stamp, placing Canada at the center of its global resource wealth...
...an empire so large, so emergent, it is barely even recognizable today.
1: 1
Inside the Exhibition: by miniaturizing the spatial geopolitics and territorial complexities of extraction, a powerful intervention magnifies realities of land, law, and life—one person at a time, through the process of kneeling down and facing colonizing nations in the "Park of Empires," that is, the Giardini of the Venice Biennale.
Material Textures of Exhibition, Side View (2016) by OPSYSEXTRACTION
Listen to the Curator explain why EXTRACTION was conceived and how the idea for the counter-monument emerged.
27.05.16
Inaugural Ceremony & Exhibition Opening: profiling the inaugural events and unveiling of the exhibition in the presence of the Canadian Ambassador, the Exhibition Commissioner, the Project Curator, the Granting Agency, Sponsors, Supporters, Press and Biennale Visitors.
Ground preparations underway as Sound Team ENDAR makes final checks.
Opening Minutes: the Curator signals to sound manager to 'up' volume as Commissioner Catherine Crowston from the Art Gallery of Alberta introduces Canadian Ambassador to Italy Peter McGovern.
Canonical image from ArchDaily Photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu at moment of inauguration prior to the unveiling of the EXTRACTION Exhibition.
Powerful Spoken Word by Eriel Tchekwie Deranger at the Opening Ceremony (2016-05-27) by OPSYSOriginal Source: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156841829300650&id=527550649&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F641bCC8USh&_rdr
The zenith of the Opening Ceremony with the powerful Spoken Word, "140 Years of the Indian Act," by Eriel Tchekwie Deranger from Treaty 8 Lands, Northern Alberta.
Unveiling of the Canadian Exhibition, as Beaver Pelt Cover is lifted by the EXTRACTION Team (2016) by OPSYS and Laurian GhinitoiuEXTRACTION
Uncovering #EXTRACTION as the Team lifts the fur pelts for the Opening Ceremony.
Inaugural Speech: Visual Arts Director Sylvie Gilbert from the Canada Council for the Arts , Commissioner Catherine Crowston from the Art Gallery of Alberta, with Canadian Ambassador Peter McGovern.
Kissing the Ground? Canadian Ambassador to Italy Peter McGovern honors and inaugurates the exhibition as its first onlooker peering through the gold stake to view film located below ground.