so that we don’t perish by the truth, Emily Neufeld

 

$20.00

so that we don’t perish by the truth
by Emily Neufeld

There is a particular smell in abandoned houses, especially on dry, sunny days. The dust that hangs in the air, capturing the light, is part soil, part plaster dust, part dry pigeon shit, part microbes, part human cells, part stardust. It makes it easy to remember that human habitats are interwoven with the lives of so many other creatures. 

‘so that we don’t perish by the truth’ is a collection of four zines and loose prints, compiling together Emily Neufeld’s research and exploration of homes throughout Canada that are in their last days of functionality: Homes slated for demolition in the lower mainland, abandoned farmhouses on the prairies, empty homes in small fishing villages in Newfoundland and Cape Breton, and in mining ghost towns in British Columbia. Her work is a sort of funerary right, and acknowledgement of Canada’s colonial history. This risograph printed publication combines photographs, ephemera and collaborative writing in a non-sequential reading experience. Featuring Laura Cuthbert Gaaysiigad, Jane Walker, David Ng and Nura Ali, who have each responded to the accumulated material from a location they have an intimate relationship with.

Edition of 130
Risograph printed and Published by Moniker Press
Vancouver, BC – 2022

Category:

—

THANK YOUs

“I am grateful to the folks at VALU Co-op for inspiring hope in dark times. Ever thankful to the contributing artists for their words and thoughts. Many thanks to Erica Wilk for the knowledge, openness and labour and Joni Low for introducing us. I am thankful for the storytelling and assistance of: Dennis Doherty, Linda Duvall, Janet Out, Kara Uzelman, Stuart and Kayla Sommerville, Barbara Houston, Ann and Herb Squires, Rita Penton, Morgaine Parnham, Dianne Lefort, Angela Lanctot, Sally and Shawn Wolchyn-Raab, Frank Schlichting and Sharon Colonna, Luanne Armstrong and especially Drew Pardy, Lesley Wiebe, Laura Cuthbert, Hal Wright and Jim and Marnie Temple. Thanks to the BC Arts Council for the funding, and always, deep gratitude to my family: Steve and Behailu.“

ARTIST BIO

Emily Neufeld lives and works on the unceded territories of the Squamish, TsleilWaututh and Musqueam peoples in what is currently named North Vancouver. Her practice investigates place and the layers of memory and psychic history that accumulate in our material world. She is committed to examining her own Mennonite and Scottish settler colonial histories in understanding her relationship to this place as Indigenous land. Recent solo exhibitions include Prairie Invasions: A Hymn (2022, Southern Alberta Art Gallery), Prairie Invasions: A Lullaby (2020, Richmond Art Gallery, BC), Before Demolition: Tides (2019, Eyelevel Gallery, NS), Motherlands (The Pole, Den Haag, ND) and Before Demolition (2017: Burrard Arts Foundation, BC). She received her BFA from ECUAD in 2013. Neufeld has created and participates in community sharing gardens, and sees land as fundamental to her research process.

Related products