Phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria is an online exhibition that was initiated as part of a project to commemorate the Richmond Art Gallery’s 25th anniversary (1980-2005). It advances a practice of engaging the community with contemporary art through the Gallery’s Permanent Collection. The Richmond Art Gallery has hosted a series of other projects that brought members of the community into the Gallery to curate exhibitions from the Collection. These groups include ESL students, City of Richmond managers and Works Yard employees, and high school students. This project carries on that tradition with a new twist, by taking the Permanent Collection outside of the Gallery and onto the Internet as an online exhibition.

One of the main objectives with this project was to encourage teens to express their views about issues that are important to them while providing an opportunity to learn about contemporary art and public art gallery procedures. The project created an environment where the group could interact with their peers through the development of an online exhibition geared to other teens. The teens involved in the project had behind-the-scenes experience learning about curatorial practice, working with permanent collections and understanding why galleries collect. The group viewed a selection of artwork from the Richmond Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection and each student chose a piece for the exhibition. The works were not chosen for media or theme but were selected by each student based on a personal connection to the work. Each student has responded to the work that they have chosen through a creative written passage. The students were creatively involved with this project on many levels from writing their texts to photographing each other for the site and providing input on the design of the exhibition.

This project would not have been possible without funding from Canadian Heritage, Museum Assistance Program and the support of the student’s dedicated art teacher Sandra Kwok-Swan, Cambie Secondary School.

Carie Helm
Curatorial Assistant

French adaptation and translation: Annie Bourret