The Bonavista Biennale as a whole is a site-specific installation conceived and created in response to the surrounding natural and cultural environment. The Bonavista Peninsula is a long, thin strip of land averaging roughly 20 kilometers in width and extending over 85 kilometers out into the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged landscape, vast shoreline, historic fishing communities, and Indigenous First Nations that preceded the uninvited arrival of settlers define its cultural geography and particular sense of place.
Separated from Labrador by the Strait of Belle Isle and from the province of Nova Scotia by the Cabot Strait, Ktaqmkuk—the Mi’kmaw word for the island of Newfoundland—has been and remains geographically isolated. At the same time, this traditional unceded Mi’kmaw territory is located on key migratory and trade routes that have for many centuries connected the Peoples of Ktaqmkuk with those from other parts of Turtle Island (North America) and Europe. Newfoundland can then be described as occupying an interstitial space that is at once “off-centre” and “in-between.” This duality, as contradictory as it may seem, allows for multiple readings of identity, place, and interconnected issues and concerns.
Drawing upon Newfoundland’s unique geographic position, the second installment of the Bonavista Biennale in 2019—entitled FLOE—looked to expand the event’s focus beyond the immediate locale to the broader North Atlantic Seaboard. Exhibitions are intertwined with processes of historiography, acknowledging and uncovering plural dynamic relations beyond the readily evident. While acknowledging the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit of the province—obscured by systems of colonialism—this platform sought to (re)consider the history of exchange and dialogue throughout the region. Twenty-one contemporary artists from Newfoundland and Labrador, across Canada, and the United States were invited to present new and commissioned works that investigated this past and present discourse and its future possibilities: Jordan Bennett, Bob Blumer, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ian Carr-Harris + Yvonne Lammerich, Kym Greeley, Robert Hengeveld, Anna Hepler, Jason Holley, Thaddeus Holownia, Barb Hunt + Jane Walker, Mark Igloliorte, Wanda Koop, Meagan Musseau, Sean Patrick O’Brien, Paulette Phillips, Meghan Price, Jerry Ropson, Camille Turner and D’Arcy Wilson.
As a curatorial framework, the idea of FLOE aimed to connect this conversation to the generative nature of Newfoundland, where it rests geographically and within our collective consciousness. Defined as “floating ice formed in a large sheet on the surface of a body of water,” the word “floe” provided a thematic point of departure to consider the wider notions related to mobility, surface, borders, land and home.
The integration of artwork within the existing historical and cultural contexts of the Bonavista Peninsula is an important and intrinsic component of the Bonavista Biennale. Presented in a variety of historic properties and public spaces in rural communities along a 100-kilometre route, what results is a dynamic discussion embedded in a land of distinct cultures and natural beauty. Unexpected locations such as a fish plant, an old school, a church, a root cellar, and a grassy field overlooking the sea were paired with artist-led inquiries that animated local histories and revealed untold stories. This alignment of site, place and concept prompted experiences that were both personal and collective, inwardly considered yet also decidedly outward-facing.
Another fundamental aspect of the Bonavista Biennale is the collaborative environment that evolves between artists and the communities their works inhabit. To further nurture these relationships, collateral programming—guest speakers, artist talks, and hands-on workshops—with an appeal to a range of audiences (including youth, residents and Biennale visitors) elaborated on the topics explored in the exhibition. These activities strove to enhance and deepen audience engagement, facilitate difficult yet generative discussion, increase public access, and address the growing demand for experiential tourism through creative programming that positions the local as a centre of soft power.
The fluid nature of Newfoundland and its rural communities resonates with the tools for negotiation and innovation that contemporary artists are uniquely positioned to provide. Through site-responsive and participatory art practices, FLOE spawned extra-regional and international contexts in the local, engaging exhibition-goers in meaningful dialogue while complicating histories and tracing effacements towards fertile grounds of speculative possibility.
