If there’s anything truly symptomatic of my stubborn Hamiltonianism, it’s my refusal to believe that Canadian art begins and ends at the borders of Toronto. Much of my critical writing has been bent towards proving that point by championing art activity not just in Hamilton, but in other regional centres that fall outside the predominant cultural centre of not just this province, but the nation as a whole.

There’s no denying that this determination is a touch Sisyphean to the point of masochism. So I was glad to see this geographic imbalance being given the attention it deserves at Leah Sandals’ blog today remarking on the media fanfare doted upon Jayce Salloum and Khadim Ali’s Bamiyan at the ROM in Toronto compared to its largely unremarked 2008 installation at Kelowna’s Alternator Gallery:

“And Bamiyan isn’t the only work this has happened with–when I was talking to Jason McLean last week, he pointed out his surprise at how much media coverage the show “Pulp Fiction” got when it showed at the MOCCA in Toronto following a previous (and largely unnoted) run at Museum London.”

“through glide, absence/the profound vacuity, protection process - rescuing/reinforcing poles, erosion/earthquakes/people, spring thaw brings fresh hopes, Taliban destroyed (3/01) ‘Female’ Buddha cave, Bamiyan, Hazarajat, Afghanistan, 4/14/08 [DSC01594]”, digital print, Jayce Salloum & Khadim Ali, 2008.
and “of what remains, discarded/revisioned/revised, leaving Bamiyan, Hazarajat, Afghanistan, 4/22/08 [DSCF4035]”, digital print, Jayce Salloum & Khadim Ali, 2008. (Source: www.savac.net)

Given that Leah Sandals is embedded within the heart of Toronto’s art critical scene, her astutely self-aware acknowledgement of this disparity is especially heartening, though I would argue that this state of affairs needn’t be “kind of par for the course in a sprawling nation like ours” when one considers that the U.S. boasts a similar sprawl, an even more lavish focal point for art in New York City, and the ability to have critical conversations about L.A., Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and any other cities where art happens - at least in the sense that my cursory reading about American art takes me to these places with no particular effort on my part.

Canada can do better than being the sum of Toronto’s parts. The heaps of positive coverage lavished upon these re-mounted exhibits when they arrive upon Toronto’s scene proves that there was an always-already validity inherent in these shows; it just took a larger critical mass of writers and press to bring their merits to light. Thankfully, Sandals nor any other sensible thinking person is daring to suggest that the works in these shows only became “good” by stint of spatial proximity to the CN Tower.

And if it’s a question of building awareness of what already exists, Sandals’ calling-out simply reinforces the need for more art writers who observe and work outside of Toronto, as well as national publication venues in both print and web that are willing and even eager to take on this wider view.

Of course, I say this in light of the fact that come tomorrow, I’ll still be gallery-crawling in Toronto and reporting their visual wares to the good folks in Scotland. The wonders of globalization and the internet aside, change is as slow as it ever was.

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