Event: Out From Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember — media tour
Place: UBC Robson Square
800 Robson Street
For a map and information, visit
http://www.robsonsquare.ubc.ca/findus/index.html
Date/Time: Curator and organizer availabilities
10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Tuesday March 9, 2010
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The University of British Columbia and Kickstart, a community organization dedicated to promoting art and artists with disabilities, present the exhibit Out From Under from Ryerson University’s School of Disability Studies. The exhibit will be featured at UBC Robson Square from March 9-21 coinciding with the 2010 Paralympic Games as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Media are invited for a tour on Tuesday March 9 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., to meet Ryerson curators, UBC and Kickstart hosts, and UBC student guides.
The 13-piece art exhibit Out From Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember brings together symbols and everyday items that illuminate the triumphs and struggles in the history of disabled people in Canada.
Items include, for example, a rusty shovel. In the 1950s, institutionalized individuals dug holes in the ground all morning, and then took the afternoon to fill the holes back in. The shovel tells the story of ‘therapeutic’ labour in Canada and, along with the rest of the exhibit, pays tribute to the shame and neglect but also the resilience and survival of disabled Canadians throughout history.
Available during the media tour are:
- Janet Mee, Director, UBC’s Access & Diversity office
- Melanie Panitch, Director, Ryerson School of Disability Studies
- Kathryn Church, Associate Professor, Ryerson School of Disability Studies
- Catherine Frazee, Professor of Distinction, Ryerson School of Disability Studies and Co-director, Ryerson RBC Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education
- Geoff McMurchy, Artistic Director, Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture
- UBC students guides
“This will be a unique educational experience,” says Janet Mee, director of UBC’s Access & Diversity office. “People will have a better understanding of the relationship between our history and the experiences of people with disabilities.”
“It is our hope that the stories evoked by these 13 objects in the exhibit will summon new inquiry and remembrance, and build new reciprocity upon contested ground,” says Melanie Panitch, director of Ryerson University’s School of Disability Studies and one of exhibit co-curators.
For more information about the Ryerson University exhibit please visit the Out from Under website at: http://www.ofu.ryerson.ca/media/index.html
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The University of British Columbia is one of two Paralympic venue sites in Vancouver. The UBC Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre will host the Games sledge hockey events. UBC researchers are also conducting a number of independent Games-related research projects, including a study on how the Paralympic Games change public attitudes toward disabilities. For more information, visit: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2010/03/04/paralympics-a-force-for-change/ . For Paralympics experts and related research stories, visit: www.ubc.ca/2010media
Ryerson University is Canada’s leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers close to 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to 28,000 students, including 2,000 master’s and PhD students, nearly 2,700 tenured and tenure-track faculty and staff, and more than 130,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada’s leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca
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