with Andrew Jackson
You are warmly invited to join us for an artist talk with Andrew Jackson at the McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke St. W. Jackson’s exhibition Little Burgundy – Evolving Montreal is a foray into this south-western district of the city. Over a two-year period, the photographer documented important landmarks for the Black community and met people who grew up there, live there or still have ties to the area. The result is an exhibition featuring 61 photographs of the individuals and sites that bear witness to the urban and social transformations that have impacted Little Burgundy. Three hard-hitting yet touching short films capture local residents’ lived experiences.
Andrew Jackson’s talk will take place from 6:00-6:30 pm, leaving time both beforehand and afterwards to immerse yourself into this beautiful exhibit that moved some of us to tears earlier this summer. Please note that the McCord Museum offers free admission to selected exhibitions, including “Little Burgundy,” on Wednesday evenings after 5 pm.
The exhibition also features some twenty objects and images selected by Andrew Jackson from the Museum’s collection. These artefacts, juxtaposed with contemporary objects loaned by residents, create a dialogue between the past and the present.
Through this project, Andrew Jackson exposes the duality involved in designating a place or neighbourhood as a “Black space.” For Black people, it invokes a sense of security, freedom and belonging, while for non-Black persons it conveys a negative image. As Jackson reflects: “When city spaces, such as Little Burgundy, are designated as Black spaces, there are profound implications for Black occupants. This is especially true in North America, where historically, in non-Black minds at least, Black spaces have not existed as places of acceptance or celebration of difference. Rather, they have been linked to notions of failure – notions that become catalysts for urban renewal, gentrification and the ensuing erasure of Black communities.”
Andrew Jackson is a British-Canadian photographer based in Montreal since 2019. His practice is developed at the intersection of photography and text and, most recently, focuses on notions of family, transnational migration, displacement, trauma and collective memory. He recently published the monograph From a Small Island, the first chapter of his ongoing series Across the Sea Is a Shore, a collection of works that explore the intergenerational legacies of migration from the Caribbean to the UK.
Andrew Jackson has a history of developing platforms that provide opportunities for traditionally excluded groups to engage with photography. In 2021 he created a public engagement project in collaboration with the DESTA Black Youth Network, located in Little Burgundy, which resulted in a group exhibition shown at the PHI Foundation. His works are held in public collections that include the United Kingdom’s Government Art Collection, the Permanent Collection of the New Art Gallery Walsall and the Autograph ABP and Light Work collections. His photographs have also appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The New Statesman.
REGISTRATION
Please note that all our events are free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. For any questions please contact cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
LOCATION
In-person, McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke St. West. Please note that the artist talk will take place in the gallery space of “Little Burgundy – Evolving Montreal” in the McCord Museum.
COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.
