REVIEWS

Exhibition Review
— Justin Loucks

Lessons by Listening: a review of UNCEDED Voices of the Land

“The medium is the message,” Canadian media philosopher, Marshall McLuhan, once wrote. For McLuhan the medium or technology used to provide information transforms both how that information is received and the culture that consumes it.[1] For example, the invention of the Guttenberg Press in the 15th century allowed the cheap reproduction of writing across Europe with print as a new medium enabling individual thoughts to be shared across great distances and to massive readership. The social psyche diminished as a more individualistic and introspective perspective emerged, one facilitated by the shift from the oral presentation of information within a large gathering to the private consumption of a book.[2] Applying this understanding of media within an architectural perspective provides a fresh approach to reviewing exhibitions.

A book is a flat, physical object that is easily moved from place to place. Ideas and images are presented in a two-dimensional format that is “uniform, continuous, and connected.”[3]   One reads from one side of the page to the other along a line of words. An exhibition is an entirely different medium. Three-dimensional space informs one's experience of the content. Objects within the space, the size of the space, how one enters and leaves the space, and one's sharing in the experience of the space and its contents with others are characteristics that differentiate an exhibition from a book. Interestingly a lot of exhibitions don’t fully realize these characteristics and, as a result, their full potential. One might call these “book exhibitions,” as the exhibition fails to take full advantage of the space itself, consisting mainly of the pasting of pages from a book onto the surfaces of that space. The 2018 Canadian Biennale exhibition, UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, presented by Douglas Cardinal and curated by David Fortin and Gerald McMaster, runs the risk of being compared to a book exhibition if viewed superficially. A closer investigation will prove an altogether unique interpretation of the media.

Unceded: Voices of the Land is Canada’s first Venice Biennale exhibition led by a team of First Nations architects and designers. The exhibition leverages its international platform to tell the story of First Nations history and identity in Canada. It utilizes form and a multimedia experience to share the design values of eighteen architects and designers from across North America in an effort to teach of a design process that embodies Indigenous design; that is, when “a person with an Indigenous worldview works with an Indigenous community in a process that best seeks to express that community.”[4]  To gather an understanding of the medium, the experience can be divided into two materials: projections and the surface being projected onto.

A curtain veils the entrance, separating the hot intense Italian sun from the cool and dimly lit interior of the retired naval warehouse sheltering the exhibition. There is a single path to follow upon entry that guides one into the exhibition and through the space. The procession through the space reflects the movement of a river, its ebb and flow. Water slows at wide open segments and quickens at the straight and narrow. Like a river, the form of the exhibition's curves are designed to control the movement of people in the same way a river controls the movement of water. The pavilion form is sinuous and smooth, with no straight lines or sharp corners. Each sequential space is connected to the next, hidden behind the undulating walls in front of the visitor.

As a didactic tool, the form embodies the idea of what Indigenous architecture can be. Its shape is a metaphor for natural processes, in this instance a river. To further reinforce the distinction, the form is in sharp contrast to the existing warehouse geometry of ninety-degree angles and straight lines. In a natural setting, like a forest, the undulating form of the exhibition would not impose a foreign geometry. Its inspiration originates from the land with which it harmonizes. In contrast, the houses and cities of industrialized nations are rigid and orthogonal. As explained in the exhibition, Indigenous architecture rejects the imposition of foreign geometries onto the land, instead aspiring to harmonize and reflect the shapes and forms of the natural environment. This is a rebellious act in and of itself. It is anti-colonial in that it doesn’t impress a foreign geometry onto the land. It will be interesting to see how future Indigenous architecture engages with and juxtaposes orthogonal urban contexts and finds its own formal language within cities. 

Once inside the cool dim interior guests are greeted by a powerful video introducing the guiding principles and truths that construct UNCEDED's intentions. This is the first unique experience of the medium, as the video's speaker is foregrounded at centre screen, speaking directly to the visitor. Beyond the entry there is minimal text on display. Instead text is replaced, or perhaps more accurately superseded, by a multitude of projections capturing dynamic landscapes, aerial and interior perspectives of Indigenous architecture, and the architects and designers recounting their perspectives. Framing these projections are intense, luminescent, and geometric patterns. The immersive effect is otherworldly.

As mentioned earlier, exhibitions possess inherent three-dimensional characteristics that separate them from books as a medium to deliver information. UNCEDED challenges the framework of “book pavilions” through its treatment of the exhibition space, which is physically devoid of models or artifacts. Although information is provided on the exhibition walls, which is why it could be misconstrued as a “book exhibition,” it is not. The exhibition's projections present Elders and Indigenous architects and designers speaking directly to the guest, thereby blending virtual with physical space to create a shared moment of conversation. The empty space quickly solicits the perception of an intimate and human space.

UNCEDED’s method of sharing information differs dramatically from that of any of the other Venice Biennale pavilions this year or other years for that matter. The digital projections provide a facsimile of an intimate conversation between one of the architect/designers and the visitor. Captured at eye level and projected so as to match the actual size of each speaker, the overall effect is that of multiple conversations ongoing at once. It is a digitally assisted space of oral storytelling, straddling a line between video installation and community forum. The feeling evoked is that of walking into a space and listening to a community speak. Hopefully upon the return of the exhibition to Canada, the featured architects and designers will have the opportunity to engage in real dialogue with guests about their design world view and experiences.

The content of UNCEDED: Voices of the Land definitely cannot be absorbed quickly. One cannot rush through a conversation. UNCEDED integrates an Indigenous legacy of oral communication/storytelling into the medium of the pavilion. It rebels against current cultural desires of quick consumption. It is not fast, nor is it easily digestible. It requires time as you would with a friend or colleague in conversation. Because of the slow method of engagement involved, the exhibition brings a great deal of emotional gravity to visitors’ experiences. UNCEDED’s message will strengthen as an independent exhibition when reopening in Canada. Removing the distraction and buzz of the larger Venice Biennale will produce an environment respective of the emotional weight and teaching equal to or greater than at the Venice Biennale.

From the severance of cultural continuity perpetuated through Canada’s residential school system and the years of disrespect and unmet promises by multiple governments, UNCEDED exists as an affirmation of the resilience of Indigenous culture moreso than as an international showcase of Canadian design. It carves out and projects a multitude of voices representing and embodying Indigenous designers and their work. UNCEDED: Voices of the Land is part of a larger process of reconnecting with and emboldening the self-determinacy of Indigenous languages and cultural practices.  While patrons to the exhibition in Venice were shocked to learn of Canada’s past relationship with Indigenous communities and the hard truths within that relationship, the exhibition is inherently optimistic and hopeful, projecting towards a stronger, more diverse, and more plural Canadian society and the architectural legacy that follows. 

References:

[1] McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. pg 1-2.

[2] Mcluhan, Marshall and Quentin Fiore. The Medium is the Masssage: An Inventory of Effects. Produced by Jerome Agel. Berkeley: Ginko Press, 1996. Pg. 50.

[3] Ibid. pg 44.

[4] John Lewis, interview with David Fortin, 360° City, podcast audio, March 18th 2019, 19:25 http://360degree.city/2019/03/18/indigenous-design/. 

The 2018 Venice Biennale exhibition UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, presented by Douglas Cardinal and curated by David Fortin and Gerald McMaster, will be available to experience in Canada between May, 2nd 2019 and  March 22nd 2020 at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa.

Justin Loucks is an Architect currently based in Toronto, Canada. He is interested in understanding what it means to live and build in a Canadian context, and how globalization, market economies, and digital technology are transforming territories.