September 21 – December 1, 2019
Two undulating fabric curtains suggest the meeting of tectonic plates. According to Kiwanga’s research, the African plate is slowly moving toward and above the Eurasian one, which is subducting at a rate of approximately two centimetres per year. A rock cradled in fabric hung on the wall further probes these thematic currents. Using this tectonic shift as a starting point, Soft Measures suggests speculative fictions that stretch through deep geological time. Kiwanga conceived of the installation as a narrative in three acts, with the artworks becoming protagonists who, similar to the tectonic plates, either push closer or pull away.
Commissioned by Glasgow International (2018).
Bio
Kapwani Kiwanga (born in 1978, Hamilton, Canada; lives in Paris, France) is a French and Canadian artist. Her work is shaped by her academic background in anthropology and comparative religion and often involves multiple formats and media to make a diversity of experiences for the viewer possible. Kapwani received the 2018 Sobey Award and was the winner of the 2020 Prix Marcel Duchamp.
Exhibition Site
Small Arms Inspection Building (2019)
Small Arms Inspection Building was originally part of a large munitions plant built in 1940 before it was acquired and renovated as an art centre by the City of Mississauga in 2018. With its female dominated workforce, Small Arms Limited manufactured thousands of rifles daily for the Canadian and Allied forces in WWII. In 1990, the TRCA conducted an environmental audit of the site, revealing the presence of polychlorinated biphenyl, volatile organic compounds, and combustible gases across nineteen acres. More than 70,000 tons of contaminated radioactive soil was removed to eventually transform the Arsenal Lands into a park.
1352 Lakeshore Road East
Mississauga ON
L5E 1E9