Most writers would probably admit they want their work to end up on the printed page. But two local projects are giving those who enjoy putting words together an opportunity to be represented in a different way.
Jessica Vellenga, gallery intern at the Yukon Arts Centre, is looking for people to complete the sentence “I am afraid of …”.
She wants people to write down their fears on a piece of paper and put it in one of the boxes she has placed in Whitehorse cafés and other locations.
The submissions will be transcribed onto the walls of a Room of Fears at Yukon Arts Centre Gallery, a work by Nova Scotia artist Michael Fernandes that forms part of a group exhibition called Reading the Image: Poetics of Black Diaspora.
“The artists in this exhibition explore blackness represented in art and what personal and collective personhood can mean,” says Vellenga.
Submissions, however, are not restricted to this theme and contributors are invited to be as honest about their fears as they are comfortable. “The more honest the better,” Vellenga says.
Anonymity will be guaranteed and contributors don’t even have to submit their names.
The exhibition has already been on show in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec and so Vellenga anticipates that the fears she collects will be written by hand on the gallery wall.
“In past exhibits they have painted chalkboard paint on the wall and transcribed the text by hand with white chalk,” she says.
Contributors will then be able to find, if not conquer, their fears when the exhibition opens on Nov. 6. Submissions can also be sent by e-mail to gallery@yac.ca.
The Yukon Historical and Museums Association is also looking for contributions, but spoken rather than written.
The association’s executive director, Erin Wall, is keen to hear from anyone with a story to tell about downtown Whitehorse.
Stories will be recorded and will have every chance of becoming part of an anecdotal walking tour that visitors can download and listen to as they explore the Yukon’s capital.
“It’s funny,” says Wall, “because we’re getting two reactions. We’re either getting people who are just great story tellers and willing to talk off the cuff, and then we’re getting people that want to prepare something. So, we either get the ums and ahs of someone telling a story or we get something that’s delivered in the reading voice.”
Both styles of stories are equally welcome and can either be about a particular building or site or about a larger area such as Main Street.
Wall also has all sorts of other plans for using technology to involve the community in bringing Yukon history to life, including YouTube videos, podcasts, blogging and a joint project with Yukon Archives using VoiceThread, a collaborative, online slide show that enables people to leave comments in a variety of ways.
