Image: D’Arcy Wilson, Lagopus albus, Skin 45195
The American Museum of Natural History. Date collected: unknown, Date visited: May 26th, 2016. Archival inkjet print, 20″ x 30″, 2016
This Victorian specimen was procured and prepared by Andrew Downs, from the grounds of his 19th century zoological gardens in Halifax, NS. The memorial bouquet was presented to the bird on May 26th, 2016. It is gouache, collage, and gold leaf on paper.
Join us on Friday, March 2nd, 2018, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm, at the Odell Park Lodge to experience the work of artist D’Arcy Wilson. All are welcome to attend this public lecture and performance.
The first public zoological gardens in North America opened in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the edge of the city, in 1847. At their peak, they stretched across one hundred acres of sprawling wooded enclosures. Their proprietor, Andrew Downs, tended to the animals himself, and he referred to the grounds as his Humble Memorial. Downs’ Zoological Gardens marked, perhaps, the first instance that the wild animal was placed in a “living museum” within a wilderness setting; hence, in spite of their proprietor’s sincere intentions, these gardens signaled a broken bridge between the colonial settler and the natural world.
The public lecture and performance “The Memorialist: Keynote Address” illustrates this narrative while lamenting an impossible disconnect from nature, inherent in Western culture’s attempts to grasp it.
About the Artist
D’Arcy Wilson (MFA University of Calgary ’08, BFA Mount Allison University ’05) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work probes ecological angst and anxiety through the lens of Settler culture, often considering Western Culture’s fraught relationship with wildlife. D’Arcy has collaborated with wildlife rehabilitation centers, natural history museums, school choirs, and more. She has participated in numerous artist residencies and exhibitions across Canada. In 2016 she initiated and curated Saltbox Contemporary Arts Festival; a festival of performance art in Corner Brook, NL. D’Arcy is based in Corner Brook, where she is Assistant Professor in the Visual Arts Program at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus.
Twitter: @thememorialist
Facebook: D’Arcy Wilson
https://www.darcywilson.org/
Accessibility Notes
The Odell Park lodge is wheelchair accessible from the front entrance. We recommend accessing the park from the Rookwood entrance. Within the lodge, there is an accessible, all-genders washroom on site. Please call (506) 478 4484 or email info@connexionarc.org if you require assistance or have any questions.
The Memorialist: Keynote Address is presented with the support of the province of New Brunswick and the Canada Council for the Arts.