ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The artists in the exhibition deconstruct the politicized spaces that lie between territory and labor, outlining the imperial and colonial relationship of the North and the South. Four artists listen and interpret migratory flows between borders, they shift the margins and narratives with various artistic proposals and mediums. From photography to video installation to sound art, the artists Anahí González, María Hoyos, Martín Rodríguez, and Victor Vargas offer counter-narratives and a perspective of the migrant worker who is often marginal, silenced, and exploited, within a settler colonial state that profits of their labor force while making their presence invisible.

For more than fifty years, Canada has relied heavily on seasonal workers to fill labor shortages to ensure food self-sufficiency. The artists in Tracing Labor Territories allude to the various impacts that result out of this geopolitical phenomenon. Victor Vargas depicts the alienating experience of temporary agricultural workers separated from their loved ones, while María Hoyos denounces the physical harms caused under poor working conditions. Martín Rodríguez depicts human migration through the immateriality of sound, and Anahí González reminds us of the geopolitical implications and effects of a neoliberal economic model and reveal the impact of globalization. The artists delve into the multiple nuances that permeate territory within nation state building, while exploring cross-border thinking at its core. The profit of land and of people mark a site of complicity, through renewed forms of human exploitation, and through the perpetuation of privilege. The artists assume the responsibility of exposing its reality and truth. 

The artworks in Tracing Labor Territories highlight the social, economic, political and health challenges faced by migrant workers, and point to its underlying inequality. Most importantly, the artists foreground the experiences of underrepresented subjects within a predominantly White and elitist arts industry, and insert the image and voice of migrant workers to the imaginary ofcontemporary Canadian art with an emphatic and ethical approach. 

Curated by Mariza Rosales Argonza and Tamara Toledo

LOCATION

Sur Gallery Exhibition: 39 Queens Quay East, Suite 100

Gallery Hours (during exhibition):

Wednesday - Friday noon-6:00PM

Sat 11 AM-5 PM