News Releases - 2002
Michael Awad, David Rokeby and Eve Egoyan to represent Canada at Venice Biennale in Architecture
Ottawa, 25 June 2002 - A project which brings together the work of architect and curator Michael Awad, multimedia artist David Rokeby and pianist and sound artist Eve Egoyan will represent Canada at the 2002 Venice Biennale in Architecture. The Biennale, which is the world's most prestigious architectural exhibition, will take place in Venice, Italy from September 8 to November 3.
The project, entitled Next Memory City, will reflect contemporary urban life through the use of large-scale photography, video images and a newly-commissioned sound work. It will be made up of three components: Michael Awad's Chinatown, a long horizontal photograph depicting life in Toronto's Chinatown, which will be mounted on wall panels and wrap the interior perimeter of the Canadian Pavilion; David Rokeby's Watch, a video-based installation in which images of pedestrians in Venice are projected onto large video screens in the centre of the pavilion; and a sound work by Eve Egoyan, which is being created in collaboration with David Rokeby.
Next Memory City will be presented in a collaboration between leading Toronto media arts centre InterAccess and Alphabet City, a media collective which is internationally recognized for its art books and conferences. The show is being co-curated by Michael Awad and Alphabet City Editor John Knechtel. The Commissioner for Next Memory City is InterAccess Program Director Kathleen Pirrie-Adams.
The Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) are working in partnership in the administration and support of Canada's architectural representation in Venice. The National Gallery of Canada maintains the permanent Canadian pavilion in Venice in which the Canadian exhibition is mounted, and, as the major repository of institutional expertise in the field, the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal plays a consulting role. All four of these organizations provide logistical support to the artists and organizers representing Canada in this context. Financial support is provided by the Canada Council and DFAIT.
"Canada is becoming known throughout the world as a leader in the area of multimedia arts," said Canada Council Director Shirley L. Thomson, recalling Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's prize-winning multimedia installation at last year's Venice Biennale in Visual Arts. "We are delighted that such outstanding artists as Michael Awad, David Rokeby and Eve Egoyan are pooling their talents to create a dynamic and innovative work which will represent Canada at the Venice Biennale in Architecture.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is pleased to join the Canada Council for the Arts in celebrating Canada's presence at the most important international event in architecture today," added Curtis Barlow, Director of the Arts and Cultural Industries Promotion Division. "The Bienniale in Architecture is an opportunity for Canada to display its excellence at the international level and for its artists to obtain the recognition they so richly deserve."
Next Memory City was selected for the Biennale in consultation with an independent assessment committee composed of professionals in the field of architecture.
"The strong interest shown by institutions hoping to participate in this year's Architecture Biennale reflects the growing level of architectural discourse and debate in Canada," said Nicholas Olsberg, Director of the Canadian Centre for Architecture. "The selection of Next Memory City shows how widely the discussion crosses discipline. The team's focus on the nature of the city and the memories it can construct is especially timely."
Also see "Jana Sterbak will represent Canada at the 2003 Venice Biennale Exhibition of Art" 29 July 2002.
Biographical notes
Michael Awad holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Toronto, a Masters of Urban Design from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Architecture from Syracuse University. He is an Assistant Professor Adjunct at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. He has professional architectural experience in the offices of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and Shim/Sutcliffe Architects, and was curator of the 10 Schools of Architecture Exhibition in 1995, commissioned by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canadian Collegiate University School of Architecture. The exhibition traveled across Canada, the United States and Great Britain. He later served for several years on the editorial board of the RAIC. In 1997, Mr. Awad was architectural advisor and Creative Director of Immersion Studio's first digital panoramic film My Canada. As a professional architectural photographer, his client list includes many of the nation's leading architectural firms, institutions and publishers. His first self-directed architectural project, an experimental house, has been published in both the popular and acadmie press. The first showing of his experimental urban photography was at Toronto's Power Plant Gallery in 2001. The 2002 Venice Biennale will be only the second time this work is exhibited.
David Rokeby is a Toronto-based sound and video installation artist and a winner of the 2002 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. His work has focused on interactive pieces that directly engage the human body, that involve in artificial perception systems or that examine the issues surrounding surveillance. His works have been widely exhibited internationally. Mr. Rokeby's Very Nervous System is used by composers, video artists and medical facilities in many parts of the world and is currently being used to enable a paralyzed woman to speak and write. He will be receiving the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Interactive Art, the most prestigious international award for interactive art, for his recent installation 'n-cha(n)t on September 9, 2002.
As a concert pianist, Eve Egoyan specializes in the performance of newly-commissioned music. She is known for her ability to listen and then communicate the unfamiliar directly with her audience. She has appeared as a soloist in works by many Canadian and international composers in numerous festivals across Canada and around the world; many of her performances have been recorded and broadcast by the CBC. Her first solo CD, thethingsinbetween, was included in the Globe and Mail's 1999 "Top Ten" list and her second CD will be released by CBC Records in 2002. She has created the sound world for Hedda's House by video installation artist Gunilla Josephson and has collaborated with Michael Snow, Malcolm Goldstein and Martin Arnold. Eve Egoyan has also been a member of the multi-disciplinary ensemble Urge and is presently touring The Satie Project nationally and internationally with Dancemakers. Next Memory City represents the first time Eve Egoyan and David Rokeby have collaborated on the creation of a sound work.
General information
In addition to its work in determining and assisting the official Canadian representation at the Venice Biennale in Architecture, the Canada Council for the Arts supports architects and architectural design through grants and special awards, including the Prix de Rome, the Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The Canada Council also works in collaboration with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in the administration of the Governor General's Medals in Architecture.
The Canada Council has recently strengthened its architecture programs and increased their budgets with a view toward making knowledge of this art form more accessible and to enhancing public resources for the enjoyment of architecture. For further information on these prorgrams contact Brigitte Desrochers, Visual Arts Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts, (613) 566-4414 or 1-800-263-5588, extension 4093.
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Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Patrick Riel
(613) 995-1874
patrick.riel@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Next Memory City
Jennifer Harris
(416) 766-5275
jharris@yorku.ca