Saturday, July 8, marks the opening of 83 ’til infinity, a brand-new exhibition on at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) celebrating hip-hop in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. The exhibition was curated by Kevin Bourne of SHIFTER Magazine, Regatu Asefa of Carleton University, and Rachelle Dickenson, a curator at OAG. We spoke with Kevin and Rachelle to grasp the five pillars of hip-hop—breaking, emceeing, DJ-ing, graffiti, and knowledge—and understand how they are represented in the greater Ottawa area.
The exhibition is unlike a typical fine art showing; instead, it is a community curatorial experience, with different materials lent to the show by community members. Celebrating the creativity, innovation, knowledge, and traditions that make up hip-hop, this method of curation highlights the genre’s values: culture, community, activism, and justice.
Drawing its name from the iconic hip-hop institution Canadian Floor Masters (CFM), the exhibition begins with the nation’s OG breakdancing group, first formed in 1983.
Canadian Floor Masters, 1985. Photo: Steve “Buddha” Leafloor.
“Originally, I pitched this exhibition to OAG in late 2020–early 2021,” says Bourne, recalling how he naively thought the show could be put on right away in the next year. Once OAG responded that 2023 was the earliest they could make it happen, the puzzle pieces fell into place, Bourne and Dickenson realizing the show could centre on the 40 years of celebration.
“We recruited a working group,” says Dickenson about the process of putting the exhibition together. “It featured different sectors of cultural organizations in the city, and that’s where we started to gain traction. I have the privilege of working with graduate students from uOttawa and Carleton, and that’s how Asefa came to work with us and was instrumental in helping us get organized.”
It was in the very first big meeting of the working group that Bourne and Dickenson pitched the community-curated project—a specific, intentional strategy through which lenders of materials for the show came to OAG organically, through word-of-mouth, wanting to share their cool hip-hop items.
“This process-based work resulted in a really rich curatorial experience and it’s ongoing! The show will never be truly finished, as more people want to continue to lend items,” adds Dickenson.
David D. Pistol, Long Hair Don’t Care, 2020, Digital Photography
Usually, curators have a frame of reference to art history or contemporary art when putting together an exhibition. With hip-hop, the sheer breadth and depth of the local community was unveiled and required a different approach.
“We thought it’d work best to ask for work that was meaningful to the community members and then organize it around the five pillars of hip-hop,” says Dickenson. Facilitating the stories people shared about the different artworks and items representing hip-hop to them, OAG didn’t control what was given to them, instead letting the community lead the way.
“When I first pitched the show, I thought of it not just being traditional art. There are music videos and album covers that are very artistic, but not necessarily considered as an original element of hip-hop. I wanted to elevate these items, like show posters, and put them in a gallery, where the artists never thought they’d be. It IS art,” says Bourne.
With Dickenson’s curatorial background in Indigenous and settler relationships, she understands that what constitutes art is really expansive and at the end of the day, it’s about expression. It’s this idea of community expression that bridged the gap between a more traditional art space at OAG and the rich and diverse hip-hop culture of Ottawa and Gatineau.
“What hip-hop is has changed,” says Bourne. “It went from a culture and a community to an industry. New people may not connect as much to graffiti and DJing, but this speaks to the continuous evolution of hip-hop. It’s hard to define what it is, and it’ll continue evolving, that’s why we wanted to leave it open and let people experience things.”
Hip-hop in Ottawa has always been underground, whereas in Toronto it’s a more obvious part of the city and the culture. 83 ’til infinity elevates hip-hop in our local community, letting people feel seen.
“My hope is that people who didn’t know this history will embrace it,” says Bourne. “Make it into the mainstream identity of who Ottawa is. It’s never been captured this way, I hope there’s a sense of pride. I hope the hip-hop community will see themselves in a way they haven’t been seen before. It’s today’s 20-year-olds but in this room, our younger artists will look at people with gray hair and realize they were the 20-year-olds in the ’70s and ’80s!”
The artist hopes the exhibition will create a sense of unity and solidarity between different expression of hip-hop in our region, from Black and Francophone artists to Anglophone and Indigenous hip-hop artists and international artists.
The July 8 opening event will be followed by a ticketed CRANIUM dance party celebrating 40 years of the Canadian Floor Masters, 10 years of SHIFTER magazine, and five years of the Ottawa Art Gallery in their new building. There will be a rap battle, two headlining performers, and many other activities and musical events.
From OAG.
A documentary, a comic book about the history of hip-hop in the region, a House of PainT knowledge conference hosted by OAG in August, and a mural program in September are also in the works for the future.
The opening night reception for 83 ’til infinity takes place at the Ottawa Art Gallery (10 Daly Ave) on Saturday, July 8, from 7–8pm in the Alma Duncan Salon and is free to attend. It will be followed by a ticketed party hosted by Cranium Arts Project from 8:30pm–1am. The exhibition runs until February 18, 2024.
The OAG is fully accessible, with multi-user washrooms, and admission is always free. The accessible entrance is at 10 Daly Ave. Free childcare is available during exhibition opening receptions.
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