Lecture: EAHR Speaker Series: Dr. Charmaine Nelson

Please join us for the next EAHR Speaker Series event for a special presentation by Dr. Charmaine Nelson (Associate Professor, Dept. Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University), featuring a fascinating discussion on 19th century Quebec society, Africans and slavery in Quebec, and visual culture and the representation of Africans through George Heriot's print 'Minuets of the Canadians' (1807).

Published as one of 28 prints in George Heriot's illustrated book Travels through the Canadas... (1807), the foldout print Minuets of the Canadians is an intriguing image of Quebec social interaction. The image depicts a scene of merriment; a dance at which a large group of mainly white men and women have gathered to dance the minuet. However, the presence of three black male musicians amongst the large group of merry-makers calls attention not only to the little known practice of Canadian slavery, but to the central role of black males as musicians for their white owners' pleasure/entertainment in various locations across the Americas. Furthermore, the black musicians are joined by two white males indicating a level of musical hybridization and cooperation, likely necessitated by the smaller numbers of enslaved Africans in Quebec when compared to other tropical sites of slavery. This talk will explore the visual representation of the black trio as an indication of the resilience of African musical traditions, which surviving the Middle Passage, prolifically shaped the new hybrid forms of expressive culture in the Americas (including Quebec and Canada). It will also explore the prevalence and implications of an insidious white imperial gaze within the context of African expressive cultural continuity.

Charmaine Nelson is an Associate Professor of Art History, in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University, Montreal. Producing ground-breaking contributions to the fields of the Visual Culture of Slavery, Race and Representation and Black Canadian Studies, Nelson's research, teaching interests include postcolonial and black feminist scholarship, critical (race) theory, Trans Atlantic Slavery Studies and Black Diaspora Studies. Her work examines Canadian, American, European and Caribbean art and culture.

" '...the Canadian inhabitants are remarkably fond of dancing': Reading the African Musicians in George Heriot's Print 'Minuets of the Canadians' (1807)" has been organized by Ethnocultural Art Histories Research (EAHR), a 100% student-driven work group that engages with issues of ethnic and cultural representation in the visual arts in Canada.

Additional information

Where
Room EV-1.615 (Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec)

When
Thursday January 31st 2012, from 6:30pm - 8:00 pm

RSVP/INFO
ethnoculturalarts@gmail.com
EAHR (Ethnocultural Art Histories Research)
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., EV.3.777
Montreal, Quebec Canada H3G 1M8
1-514-848-2424,ext. 5376

EAHR's activities are made possible with the support of The Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art and the Department of Art History at Concordia University.