Clive Robertson Speaking Volumes : Mediation of art practices through documentaries of history, journalism and community

This fascinating exhibition brings together films, videos and television programmes documenting cultural institutions, the art world and artistic practices in Canada over a period of forty years. Divided into four programmes, Speaking Volumes presents recently rediscovered historical material as well as contemporary productions. The documentaries have been produced by a variety of cultural agencies, news services, artists and independent producers and use different documentary formats and genres.

Speaking Volumes focuses on the changes and constants in the perception of the ideological functions of contemporary art. The exhibition shows how artists, the media and the state use documentary to define in their own way how art should reflect or create ideal audiences. The project is also interested in presenting the various ways in which artistic practice engages with discourses about rights and responsibilities.

As well as being entertaining and rich in interviews, the video documents are significant as texts produced by several generations of artists and cultural institutions, shedding light on the way in which cultural histories are written. It should also be noted that this exhibition is being presented at a time when the public functions of art, as defined by the cultural policies that have governed its practice for decades, are being rapidly rewritten or simply abandoned without public debate, or responsibility to the community.