VICTORIA.- The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s major summer exhibition turns an artistic lens on trans-Pacific trade, examining how trade shapes social relations across the Pacific. Since the 16th Century, European and American trade has shaped the history of the Pacific.

Anticipating the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the largest freetrade agreement in the world, Trans-Pacific Transmissions: Video Art Across the Pacific brings together video works from around the Pacific Rim to examine how artists have engaged with issues of trans-Pacific trade.

“We typically think of trade in terms of the economy but trade and economic change have social impacts and therefore a cultural dimension. Trade is also a means of transmitting ideas and broadening cultural paradigms,” says the exhibition’s curator Haema Sivanesan, who notes the medium of video is meaningful for a number of reasons. “Video as an art medium emerged at the same time as the trans-Pacific growth in trade— interestingly, the first consumer video camera was released in the US in 1967 by Sony. Video is able to collapse geographic space and time, and it’s able to suggest instantaneous communication and collectivity across diverse nations.”

“When we think of trade, we often think of its impact on our commodities and economy.” says AGGV director, Jon Tupper. “Trans-Pacific Transmissions takes a wide-angle view, if you will, and challenges us to deeply consider the ways trade impacts our communities and environment. I look forward to seeing the public’s reactions to this incredible exhibition.”

Artists include David Rimmer, Ho Tam and Clive Robertson of Canada, Francis Alÿs of Mexico, Lucy Aukafolau of New Zealand, Peter Callas of Australia, Juan Downey of the USA and Chile, Ho Rui An of Singapore, Yoko Inoue of the USA and Japan, Harlif Hj Mohamad of Brunei, Jo Muñoz of Chile, Azharr Rudin of Malaysia, Fiona Tan of The Netherlands, Bill Viola of the USA and Superflex with The Propeller Group of Denmark and Vietnam.