Provocatively called EXTRACTION, the project will feature an installation, film and book addressing the ecologies and territories of resource extraction.The project explores the architectures, histories and economies of Canada’s culture of resource extraction, to profile the rise of a “global resource empire” where, in the words of revered political economist Harold Innis, “Canada has emerged as a political entity not in spite of geography, but because of it.” Through the lens of the territorial infrastructures and political ecologies of resource urbanism, EXTRACTION engages contemporary and historic media across a range of cultural, spatial and industrial views. It brings together perspectives from business, history, art, activism and elsewhere, to radically rethink Canada’s global position, as home to 75% of our planet’s prospecting and mining companies.
The team is led by landscape urbanist Pierre Bélanger and includes: OPSYS, a design and media organization managed by Christopher Alton and Zannah Matson, in collaboration with: Geoffrey Thün, Kathy Velikov and Colin Ripley of the architectural firm RVTR, Nina-Marie Lister with Ryerson University’s Ecological Design Lab, and Kelsey Blackwell of Studio Blackwell. The production of a multimedia exhibition project features contributions from prominent Canadians including Michael Awad, Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky, Nick de Pencier, Eriel Deranger, Max Haiven, Thomas King, Alessandra Ponte, John Van Nostrand, Mel Watkins and Suzanne Zeller to name a few.Learn more >
About the Canada Council for the Arts and EXTRACTION PROJECT press release: > canadacouncil.ca/council/news-room/news/2015/venice-biennale About the project and team, and to follow their progress: > www.extraction.ca.EXTRACTION premieres in Venice: May 27 to November 27, 2016. The Venice Architecture Biennale is the world’s most prestigious showcase for new design projects by emerging talent, attracting over 350,000 visitors every two years. The 2016 Edition is curated by Chilean architect and founder of ELEMENTAL, Alejandro Aravena.