symposium: war at distance

War at a Distance Open Symposium
Documentary Practice, Visual Culture and Public Conversations about Military Conflict
Ryerson University, Toronto
Friday October 30, 2009 – Saturday October 31, 2009

War at a Distance Exhibition
Gallery TPW, 56 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Curated by Blake Fitzpatrick, Karyn Sandlos and Roger I. Simon
Saturday October 24, 2009 – Saturday November 21, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday October 30, 2009 7-9pm

The War at a Distance symposium and the associated exhibition will explore the ways in which new representational practices are mediating the terms on which Canadians struggle to make sense of the war in Afghanistan. New technologies and forms of documentary and artistic practice are continuing to alter the range of impressions available to a civic culture. The symposium and exhibition will create a forum for participants to grapple with the questions that emerge when these artistic and cultural forms are brought into relation, often in ways that blur the distinctions between documentary and aesthetics, art and visual culture, war artist and combatant-diarist. This new cultural landscape is setting the terms for public conversations about Canada’s on-going involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

Barbie Zelizer will deliver a Keynote lecture at Ryerson University at 4:00pm on October 30th. Barbie Zelizer is the author of Remember to Forget: Holocaust Memory Through the Camera’s Eye among other numerous publications and holds the Raymond Williams Chair of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania.

The War at a Distance Symposium is free and open to the public. It is supported by The School of Image Arts, Ryerson University and the Centre for Media and Culture in Education, OISE/UT.

More information can be found at http://www.imagearts.ryerson.ca/waratadistance