Dominique Fontaine – författare

Making History is an unprecedented and boundary-breaking exploration of Black history and art in Canada. It brings together poems, artist statements, and art portfolios to showcase a careful and thoughtful understanding of Black aesthetics, while discussing the presence of Black contemporary art in Canadian institutions and offering perspectives on contemporary and historical art practices. The many voices and points of view within this publication explore alternate ways of approaching the relationship between institutions, artists, and audiences, emphasizing the significance of collaboration, resisting hierarchical and hegemonic curatorial practices, and making room for multiple perspectives to bring about transformative change.

Precarious Joys accompanies the 2024 edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art — a city-wide exhibition that this year focuses on artists’ responses to the impact of colonialism on everyday life. Featuring over 120 full-colour images of artwork — including works by Ahmed Umar, Charles Campbell, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Maria Hupfield, Sonia Boyce, Tessa Mars, and Winsom Winsom — as well as a series of conversations between artists, curators, activists, educators, and cultural organizers, Precarious Joys highlights the connections and common practices that appear across the art featured in the Biennial. The works and conversations included in this celebration of the 2024 Toronto Biennial of Art address the wide-ranging effects of colonialism, tackling issues as diverse as environmental degradation, self-representation and belonging, queer futurity, and migrant diasporas. The result is a volume that emphasizes the importance of entering a collective dialogue at the intersection of art practices, social knowledge, and public action and serves as a meeting place of multiple vocabularies, geographies, and political communities.