Reconvenience art show unearths relevant past
25-year-old time capsules revealed at United Congress reunion show
Kari Pedersen
Arts Editor
Not-for-profit space, The New Gallery, is home to many exhibitions each year. The contemporary space is uniquely nestled in China Town, amidst the busy Center Street traffic. Currently housing Reconvenience by The United Congress, the white walls of the gallery are plastered with old posters that emerged on opening night, unearthed from two 25-year-old time capsules.
Reconvenience is serving as a reunion and a retrospection for the group who emerged in the 90s as unidentified Spanish feministas and activists. The exhibition began with an opening night reception as many do, but at this particular event, two 100lb time capsules were opened and attendees were the first to see what was inside. With an archivist cataloging everything and a stenographer transcribing, the unearthing was a very organized procedure.
A variety of items unearthed from the time capsule were displayed for all to see, showing a glimpse of life 25 years ago.
Photo: Kari Pedersen
Steven Cottingham, programming coordinator for the gallery, of the opening night on Sept. 5, says, “They hired an archivist and a stenographer, a court room transcriber, to come and excavate these time capsules. So they opened them and we carefully took out all the items. The archivist cataloged each piece, but all in Arabic to add to their craziness,”
Amongst the items was a fancy cake that was cut and served to those in attendance, although, with some skepticism over the age of the cake, Cottingham relays.
Other standouts from the crates: a blue coloured Canadian flag, old feminine medicine, a fridge, old magazines produced by the group at ACAD, a record player and plenty more to catch your interest.
Cottingham says he was hoping that they could blur the lines of what was old and what was new in this exhibit. He wanted to illustrate that the things going, on when these capsules were put together in the late 80’s, are still very relevant now.
The exhibit runs through to Oct. 4 at the New Gallery, 208 Centre Street SE.
