Christine Shaw

Christine Shaw’s curatorial programming direction takes a critical stance on social, political, and ecological urgencies, sets out to develop durable visual-cultural literacies, and invites publics to create new encounters in the common struggle for a future. Her commitment to curatorial experimentation, collective cognition, philosophical inquiry, and social resilience has been applied to long-term collaborative projects including Take Care, a yearlong exhibition series curated with Letters & Handshakes and involving over 150 artists, activists, careworkers, curators, and researchers critically engaging the crisis of care (2017–18); I stood before the source, a group exhibition traversing various scenes of accumulation (2016); The Elements of Influence (and a Ghost), a residency, exhibition and performance program on systems of capture and control with Julien Prévieux (2017); The Cage is a Stage, a five-part performance and exhibition project on interspecies relations with Emily Mast at the Blackwood Gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre (2016); Migrant Choir, an action by Public Studio (Elle Flanders & Tamira Sawatzky) and Adrian Blackwell with recent migrants to Italy and their supporters at the Venice Biennale (2015), rendering the exclusionary nature of national anthems visible, while asserting rights of citizenship; The Work of Wind, an operatic exhibition in 13 parts for Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2015);  and The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea (2018–20), a curatorial and editorial project series designed to open perspectives on climate change, environmental crisis, and resilience through artistic practices, transdisciplinary inquiry, and political mobilization.

Courses Taught

FAH451: Curating Now: Turning Concepts Into Curatorial Projects
FAH310: Curating Matters: Contexts and Issues in Contemporary Curatorial Practice
VST410: Internship in the Arts and Visual Studies
VCC 490: Special Topics: Interact or Die! Visual Culture and the Participatory Imperative
VCC 411: Real Space to Cyberspace
VCC 308: Activism in Visual and Media Culture
VCC 207: Urban Sites and Sounds
CCT 220: Semiotics and Communication Theory
CCT 210: Signs, Referents and Meaning

Recent Curatorial Projects

Take Care, group exhibition for La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France, March–July 2019. Featuring Stephanie Comilang, Steven Eastwood, Jeneen Feei Njootli, Sheena Hoszko, Kwentong Bayan Collective, Hazel Meyer, Cait McKinney, Raju Rage, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory.  Presented in partnership with Blackwood Gallery, Centre culturel canadien, and Cité international des arts.

The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea, a 10-day contemporary art festival with artist commissions by Christina Battle, Dylan A.T. Miner, Museo Aero Solar, Lisa Myers, Eduardo Navarro, Julian Oliver, Pejvak (Rouzbeh Akhbari & Felix Kalmenson), Ed Pien, Gediminas & Nomeda Urbonas, Paul Walde, Tania Willard, Jana Winderen, Xiaojing Yan. Presented by the Blackwood Gallery in partnership with the City of Mississauga and the University of Toronto Mississauga, September 14–23, 2018. www.workofwind.ca

Carolina Caycedo, Those at the Great River Mouth, solo exhibition for Blackwood Gallery, September–December, 2018.

Miruna Dragan, When Either But Not Both Are True, solo exhibition for Blackwood Gallery, September–December, 2018.

Take Care, five-circuit program series, co-curated with Greig De Peuter (Letters & Handshakes), Blackwood Gallery, September 2017–March 2018. Featuring 150 artists, activists, careworkers, curators, and researchers.

The Elements of Influence (and a Ghost), artist residency and exhibition with Julien Prévieux for Blackwood Gallery, January–March, 2017.

What Shall We Do Next? Performance choreographed by Julien Prévieux, performed by Allie Hankins, Syreeta Hector, Bee Pallomina, and Kaitlin Standeven. Presented by Blackwood Gallery in the Innovation Complex, University of Toronto Mississauga, January 2017.

I stood before the source exhibition and performance series for Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Abbas Akhavan, Bureau d'études, Emma Charles, Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen, Carole Condé + Karl Beveridge, Mark Curran, Wally Dion, Keith Hennessy / Circo Zero, Ashley Hunt, Jeremy Hutchison, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Will Kwan, Gerald Nestler, Public Recordings, Public Studio & Darlene Montgomery, and Hank Willis Thomas & Christopher Myers. Curated by Letter & Handshakes, 2016.

Emily Mast: The Cage is a Stage, multi-part exhibition and performance presented at Blackwood Gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre, co-commissioned by Blackwood Gallery and The Power Plant, co-curated with Julia Paoli, 2016.

Carlos Amorales: Black Cloud, artist commission and exhibition for The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, September 2015–May 2016.

Carlos Amorales: Film Trilogy, screening presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, 2015.

The Work of Wind, commissioned exhibition for Nuit Blanche, Toronto. Featuring 13 commissions by Carlos Amorales, Marguerite Humeau, Tim Knowles, Anandam Dancetheatre, Los Carpinteros, Mary Mattingly, Christof Migone, Heather and Ivan Morison, Tomás Saraceno, Jon Sasaki, Charles Stankievech, Kika Thorne, Robert Wysocki, 2015.

The pen moves across the earth; it no longer knows what will happen and the hand that holds it has disappeared, exhibition for Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Ismaïl Bahri, Pascal Grandmaison, Sarah Anne Johnson, Tim Knowles, Brandy Leary / Anandam Dancetheatre, Jennifer Rose Sciarrino, Kara Uzelman, Robert Wysocki, September–December 2015.

Migrant Choir, project for the 2015 Venice Biennale presented by the Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Public Studio, Adrian Blackwell, and members of Cittadini Del Mondo, August 2015.

The Figure in the Carpet, artist residency and exhibition for Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Sameer Farooq, Mirjam Linschooten, and the Department of Anthropology (UTM), May–August 2015.

FALSEWORK, exhibition for Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Allora & Calzadilla, Cyprien Gaillard, Mary Mattingly, Laurel Ptak, Wages for Facebook, September –December 2014.

Furnishing Positions, commissioned project by Adrian Blackwelll for Blackwood Gallery. With Abbas Akhavan, Eric Cazdyn, Greig de Peuter, Kanishka Goonewardena, Karen Houle, Dylan Miner, Mary Lou Lobsinger, Paige Sarlin, Scott Sorli, Charles Stankievech, Kika Thorne, cheyanne turions, September–December 2014.

Recent Editorial Projects

The Work of Wind: Sea, co-edited with Etienne Turpin (Berlin: K. Verlag and Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, forthcoming October 2019).

“BEARING,” Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 03 (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, March 2019). 28-page broadsheet with contributions by Malala Andrialavidrazana, Amy Balkin, The Climate Change Project (City of Mississauga), D.T. Cochrane, Jeff Diamanti, Sara Hughes, Richard Peltier, Jacquelyn Ross, Marina Roy, D.W. Schindler, Alexis Shotwell, John Smol, David Suzuki, Joseph Tisiga, Joy Xiang.

The Work of Wind: Land, co-edited with Etienne Turpin (Berlin: K. Verlag and Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, September 2018). 336-page book with contributions by Rouzbeh Akhbari & Felix Kalmenson, d’bi.young anitafrika, Amy Balkin, Jesse Birch, D.T. Cochrane, Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen, Anna Feigenbaum, Macarena Gómez-Barris, Ilana Halperin, Tom Keefer, Barbara Marcel, Mimi Onuoha, Tomás Saraceno, Juliana Spahr, Adrienne Telford, Etienne Turpin, Allen S. Weiss, Tania Willard, and Eva Wilson.

“COMMUTING,” Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 02 (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, September 2018). 28-page broadsheet with contributions by  Canada’s Waste Flows, The Climate Change Project (City of Mississauga), D.T. Cochrane, Sydney Hart, Matt Hern, Am Johal, Fraser McCallum, Kent Moore, Andrea Muehlebach, Michelle Murphy, Natasha Naveau, Dana Prieto, Stanka Radović, Harvey Shear, Karolina Sobecka.

When Either But Not Both Are True / Those at the Great River-Mouth  (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2018). 32-page brochure with commissioned essays by Natasha Chaykowski and Macarena Gómez-Barris.  

“GRAFTING,” Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 01 (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, June 2018). 28-page broadsheet with contributions by Amanda Boetzkes, Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research, The Climate Change Project (City of Mississauga), D.T. Cochrane, Heather Davis, Endocrine Disruptors Action Group, Lisa Hall, Julie Joosten, Elizabeth LaPensée , The LEAP, Yihan Li, Morris Lum, Shannon Mattern, Fraser McCallum, Andrea Olive, Kika Thorne, Zoe Todd, Kyle Powys Whyte, Tania Willard.

“TAKE CARE,” The Blackwood, Issue 01, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 24-page broadsheet with contributions by Albert Banerjee, Emma Dowling, Steven Eastwood, Lauren Fournier, Kassandra Hangdaan, Marisa Morán Jahn, Labrador Land Protectors, Carolyn Lazard, Anchi Lin, Park McArthur, Onaman Collective, Ai-jen Poo, Orev Reena Katz, Chloé Roubert, Lynx Sainte-Marie, Gemma Savio, Sarah Sharma, Tania Willard, Constantina Zavitsanos.

Collective Welfare, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2018). 28-page brochure with contributions by Fred Moten and Nasrin Himada.

Stewardship, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2018). 28-page brochure with commissioned essays by Tarah Hogue, Maria Hupfield, and Tania Willard.

Infrastructures & Aesthetics of Mutual Aid, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2018). 28-page brochure with commissioned essay by Lauren Fournier.

Care Work, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 28-page brochure with commissioned essay by Amber Berson and Juliana Driever.

Labour of Curation, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 24-page brochure with commissioned essay by Helena Reckitt.

Take Care, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 24-page brochure with essay by Precarias a la Deriva.

The Elements of Influence (and a Ghost) (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 32-page brochure with commissioned essay by Julien Prévieux.

I stood before the source, co-edited with Greig de Peuter (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017). 40-page brochure with commissioned essay by Alberto Toscano.

The Cage is a Stage (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2016). 40-page brochure.

Maryam Jafri: The Day After (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2016) 20-page brochure with contributions by Mélanie Bouteloup and Virginie Bobin.

The pen moves across the earth; it no longer knows what will happen and the hand that holds it has disappeared (Mississauga: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2015). 16-page brochure with contributions by Tómas Saraceno & Etienne Turpin.

Recent Events, Roundtables, Talks, and Workshops Organized

“The Future of Breathing,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge event, presented at CRH Cement Plant & Lakeside Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Beverly Bain, Jamie Magnusson, Joy Xiang, and Shattered Moon Alliance (Christina Battle & Serena Lee). Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 23, 2018.

“Water-witching workshop: a slick, a smear…awash in green,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge workshop, presented at Clarkson Wastewater Treatment Facility, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Alana Bartol. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 23, 2018.

“Ecologies of Waste,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge panel discussion, presented at Petro Canada Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Amanda Boetzkes, Synthetic Collective, Myra J. Hird, Sara Hughes. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 22, 2018.

“Aerocene Explorer Workshop,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge event, presented at Petro Canada Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Aerocene Foundation and Association for Canadian Educational Resources (ACER) Ctizien Science program. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 22, 2018.

“The Work of Wind: Land Book Launch,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge event, presented at Petro Canada /Herridge’s Farms South Field, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring D.T. Cochrane, Tom Keefer, Pejvak, Anna-Sophie Springer, Adrienne Telford, Etienne Turpin, Allen S. Weiss, Tania Willard. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 16, 2018.

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Hub, presented at Lakeside Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON.  Featuring City of Mississauga Climate Change Project,  EcoSource, Peel Environmental Youth Alliance, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Region of Peel Office of Climate Change and Energy Management, and UTM Research Units (Centre for urban Environments, Making Social Knowledge, Sustainability Management, Remote Sensing and Spatial Ecosystem Monitoring Laboratory).  Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 15 & 22, 2018.

“Lukumi: A Dub Opera,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge performance presented on Cobble Beach at Lakeside Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring d’bi.young anitafrika. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 15, 2018.

“miinawaa // also; and; again – A Conversation on Chemical Contamination and Transgenerational Environmental Violence,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge panel discussion presented at Petro Canada Oil & Lubricants Refinery, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Vanessa Gray, Erica Violet Lee, Dylan A. T. Miner, Michelle Murphy. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 15, 2018.

“Economies of Scale,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge lecture presented at Musket Transport Southdown Terminal, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Julian Oliver. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 15, 2018.

“We Who Spin Around You,” a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge speaker series presented at Lakeside Park, Southdown Industrial Area, Mississauga, ON. Featuring Eduardo Navarro, Karyn Recollet, Julie Joosten, Kent Moore, Stephen Morris, Sonja Greckol, Renée Hlozek. Presented in conjunction with The Work of Wind: Air, Land, Sea. September 14-23, 2018.

Running with Concepts: The Empathic Edition, an interdisciplinary symposium presented at University of Toronto Mississauga. Featuring Joshua Clover & Juliana Spahr, Steven Eastwood, Nasrin Himada, Sheena Hoszko, Jakob Jakobsen, Carolyn Lazard, Robyn Maynard, Wanda Nanibush, M. NourbeSe Philip, Jeff Reinhart, Pelin Tan, Alana Bartol, Frog in Hand (Thomas Colford, Samuel Davilmar, Shadan Hyder, Paul Kitz, Cory McKinlay, Colleen Snell, Heather Snell), Declan Gould, Karina Griffith, Tea Hadžiristić, Yasmeen Nematt Alla, Matthew-Robin Nye, Sheharyar Raza, Jamie Ross, Lena Suksi, Susan Wolf, and Fan Wu. March 2018.

Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, Feminist Lunchtime Talk with Robyn Maynard, Sheena Hoszko, and Beverly Bain. Co-presented with Women & Gender Studies (UTM), March 2018.

All Our Relations: The Art of Land and Indigenous Stewardship, panel discussion featuring Beatrice Deer, Lisa Myers, Lindsay Nixon, Eve Tuck, Michelle LaVallee. Co-organized with Tarah Hogue, Maria Hupfield, and Tania Willard (#callresponse), presented at the Jackman Humanities Institute, January 2018.

Indigenizing Institutions, Feminist Lunchtime Talk presented at Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Jill Carter, Tarah Hogue, Denise Booth McLeod, Kris Noakes. Co-organized with Nicole Laliberte and co-presented with Women & Gender Studies (UTM), January 2018.

Mapping Informal Networks of Women Living with HIV, Feminist Lunchtime Talk presented at Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Jessica Lynn Whitbread and Mercy Lillian Gichuki. Co-organized with Lauren Fournier and co-presented with Women & Gender Studies (UTM), November 2017.

Carework as Choreography, Feminist Lunchtime Talk presented at Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Cynthia Cranford, Marisa Morán Jahn, Kwentong Bayan Collective, Pinky Paglingayen (Caregivers in Transition). Co-presented with Women & Gender Studies (UTM), October 2017.

Care, Automated, a workshop presented at the McLuhan Centre. Featuring Amelia Abreu, Marc Böhlen, Ian Roderick, Sarah Sharma. Co-organized with Greig de Peuter, October 2017.

Care Crisis, Care Connective: An Open Forum on Cultural Work presented at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Featuring Helena Reckitt and Curating and Caring workshop participants, Raju Rage, Precarious Workers Brigade, Jacqueline Hoàng Nguyễn and Boo Watson. Co-organized with Greig de Peuter, September 2017.

Curating & Caring, a three-part workshop series co-hosted with Helena Reckitt. University of Toronto, September 2017.

Wages for Housework: The Canadian Context a workshop presented at Art Metropole. Featuring Helena Reckitt and Christina Rousseau. Co-organized with EMILIA-AMALIA Feminist Working Group and presented at Art Metropole, September 2017.

Don’t Forget the Money: Working with Dancers in Contemporary Art Spaces, a professional development forum presented at Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Karl Beveridge, Michael Caldwell, Emelie Chhangur, Greig de Peuter, Catalina Fellay-Dunbar, Francesco Gagliardi, kumari giles, Jenn Goodwin, sandra Henderson, Johanna Householder, Molly Johnson, Brandy Leary, Sally Lee, Jessica Patricia Kichoncho Karuhanga, Bee Pallomina, Kim Simon, Bojana Stancic, Bojana Videkanic. With a report prepared by Fabien Maltais-Bayda. Co-organized with Alison Cooley, March 2017.

Running with Concepts: The Choreographic Edition, an interdisciplinary symposium presented at University of Toronto Mississauga. Featuring Julia Bryan-Wilson, Mel Y. Chen, Emily Mast, Julie Pellegrin, Julien Prévieux, Sarah Sharma, Heyward Bracey, Ame Henderson, Ashley Hunt, Turay Turay & Kim Zumpfe (The School for the Movement of the Technicolor People), Alvin Luong, Olive Mckeon, MORTIFIED (Camilla Singh & Jenn Goodwin), Angela Veronica Wong & Caroline Doherty, Francisco-Fernando Granados & Johanna Householder, Gabriel Levine, Amelia Ehrhardt & Fabien Maltais-Bayda, k.g. Guttman, and Stephanie Anderson, Kirsty Robertson & Shannon Stratton, September 2016.

Why Look at Animals?, an interdisciplinary forum presented at the Jackman Humanities Institute and the Blackwood Gallery. Featuring Abbas Akhavan, Mitchell Akiyama, Stefan Dolgert, Columba Gonzalez, Liz Marshall, Tracy McDonald, MH Tse, Judith Nicholson, Erika Ritter, Kumari Giles, Benjamin Kamino, Andrea Spaziani, Philip Goodman, participants of the Walls to Bridges, and Brett Story. Co-organized with Alison Cooley and Angela Fernandez and co-presented with Animals in Law and the Humanities (JHI Working Group), July 2016.