The Performance and Burden of Objects: Unpack and Display

The Performance and Burden of Objects: Unpack and Display

Artist: Raphaëlle de Groot

For the first time since its acquisition by the National Gallery of Canada in 2017, Raphaëlle de Groot will present The Burden of Objects – The Proceedings (2009–2016), a work that brings together 1,500 objects collected by the artist, and presents each step of their storage process to the public.

This exhibition presents The Burden of Objects – The Proceedings (2009–16), de Groot’s most ambitious project to date. This work features a collection of 1,500 burdensome objects that were given to de Groot by individuals who, for various reasons, had been reluctant to part with them. Offered in response to open calls across Canada and in other countries over the course of seven years, the objects where eventually packed away in a shipping crate, where they remained until the work’s acquisition by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in 2017. Now, for the first time since then, this ambitious project is being presented at Galerie UQO. This is an opportunity for the gallery to not only exhibit the objects, but also to consider how they are documented and to develop a protocol for exhibiting them. From Nov. 4 to 25, the objects will be gradually unpacked, examined, documented, and installed in the gallery during opening hours. This process will be led by the artist, staff from the NGC and Galerie UQO’s team, as well as the next generation of art museum professionals. At the mid-way point, the work will be activated by a performance, with contributions from the public, after which the objects will be repacked and crated between Nov. 25 and Dec. 12. In this way, the exhibition transforms gestures of care, documentation, and exhibition into a durational, six-week performance.

Keywords

performance objets art