Art and Architectural History Lecture

Please join us for our Art and Architectural History Annual Lecture on November 6 at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Church. All are welcome!

Title: Vulindlela! Opening up new perspectives on African art in Canada

Biography of Lecturer: Dr Qanita Lilla is Associate Curator, Arts of Africa at Agnes Etherington Art Center, Queen’s University situated on Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. At Agnes, Qanita cares for the Lang Collection of African Art, one of the largest collections of its kind in Canada. She also works with contemporary art practice from the African diaspora to engage the African collection in the present. She is interested in the life and after-life of objects in collections, the representation of racialised minorities, and alternative practices of collections care. She has published in various peer-reviewed publications, has contributed book chapters to anthologies and is the host of the podcast With Opened Mouths. Qanita is also Assistant Professor in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies in the Film and Media Department at Queen’s University.

Description: The Lang collection of traditional African art at Agnes Etherington Art Center is a collection of more than 600 pieces. It is significant for various reasons, it contains a rich and varied collection of West African masks as well as figures, staffs and other objects of everyday life. But it is more than a group of beautiful things. These objects are the remnants of lives lived in Africa. Although this collection has resided in Canada for almost hundred years, it is a living collection. This talk will look at the change underway with the African collection at Agnes and share processes that help to facilitate new meaning making with the traditional art of Africa.