Call for BIPOC Studio Assistants in Durham region in Ontario Canada
Artist Julia Rose Sutherland and the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington( @visualartscentre ) Bowmanville, seek 6 BIPOC artist/ studio assistants from the Durham Region in Ontario to participate in a paid opportunity to co-create an installation called Npuinu (ên·pu· I ·nu) “Corpse,” which will be shown as part of the exhibition Bodies in Conflict at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington curated by Matthew Kyba.
The project will require three weeks or 120 hours of paid work; each assistant will be given hands-on training from the artist Julia Rose Sutherland.
The project will also provide studio assistants with pedagogical opportunities to learn new sculptural skillsets and Indigenous historical knowledge, creating a space to discuss shared experiences related to the project’s themes. To continue dismantling oppressive colonial narratives, the project’s community-engaged aspect will allow for one-on-one discussions with models during the work’s creation.
The work’s research and the conceptual content will allow for artist-assistant-model discussions on the socio-political oppression facing BIPOC populations in North America, colonialist commodification of the human body, and land causing the current state of lateral violence and systemic racism within specific communities. While the first iteration of the work implicated self-dehumanization and the cannibalization of my own body—and, by extension, Indigenous bodies—this project’s implication of BIPOC bodies encourages new dialogues to operate as a peer support network between myself and participants impacted by colonial oppression.
This paid opportunity will run from August 16th, 2021, till roughly September 15th, 2021.
Please fill out the google form if interested in the opportunity (link in bio) or contact exhibiting artist Julia Rose Sutherland to inquire further about this opportunity; no formal artistic training is required. Each participant will be taught the project’s skill and given all tools and materials needed on site.