Stan Douglas: 2011 ≠ 1848, Canada Pavilion

The National Gallery of Canada presents “Stan Douglas: 2011 ≠ 1848,” on view at the Canadian
Pavilion during the 59th Venice Biennale. The exhibition, curated by Reid Sheir, unfolds across two
venues, a first for Canada’s presence at the Biennale. Four large-scale photographs by Stan Douglas will
be shown in the Pavilion in the Giardini, and a new two-channel video installation will be shown in the
Magazzini del Sale No. 5. The show is inspired by the tenth anniversary of 2011, a year that saw
significant sociopolitical unrest around the globe including the Arab Spring, Occupy, UK austerity
protests, and a riot in the artist’s hometown of Vancouver. Douglas compares these with the continental
revolts of 1848, a year in which European middle and working classes allied in a fight against a lack of
democratic freedoms, press restrictions, and aristocratic dominance. The works explore the events of 2011 as reactions to the economic and political status quo following the 2008 recession, and examine the ways in which not only print media but the viral spread of news through social media fuelled movements for change.