2nd International Combined Caucus Juried Exhibition:
Women's, Multicultural, and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Caucuses
© Alan Charlesworth
Curatorial Statement
Diversity of thought and practice is well documented in the 2014 SPE Caucus exhibition. The range of approaches and interest represented here speak to the richness of thought and execution.
The annual Combined Caucus Exhibition has served as an important showcase for the strong work emerging from all three of SPE’s caucuses. This VASA/SPE collaborative exhibition and e-catalog is an extension of the original exhibition, March of 2014.This exhibition brings together photographers from different backgrounds and perspectives with the common goal of increasing the visibility of artists from traditionally marginalized groups.
The role of the two curators was not to select the work for the on-site exhibition (it was a juried exhibition) but to enrich the experience of the viewer in ways that an online presentation could. By adding video from the opening event, video statements by Catherine Lord and Liz Allan, expanded portfolios (this was optional for the participating artist), and a poetic essay by Catherine Lord on the origins and context of the Women's Caucus, the viewer is presented with a broader perspective, of the exhibition, the photographers, and the historical struggles of marginalized SPE members to gain a voice in the early years of SPE. Of particular note, the enlightening manuscript by Catherine Lord provides an historical perspective on the emergence of the SPE Woman’s Caucus. The reader is invited to contextualize this historical account within the contemporary work presented in exhibition.
Current members of SPE have benefited from the struggles of women and men starting in the 1980s to bring a broader representation to the governance of SPE and to build an increasingly inclusive organization. These struggles and debates are best understood in the framework of broader inclusive social movements of the 1960s and 70s. As a result the Multicultural, Woman's, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Caucus have today, a firm foundation on which to build their futures and vision.
Coriana Close, SPE. Chairperson Multicultural Caucus
Roberto Muffoletto, VASA