Media Release

For immediate release
October 22, 2004

Banff Centre symposium to explore informal architecture

Artists, curators, critics, architects, and educators from North America, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, and Europe will gather for a three day symposium at The Banff Centre on the theme of Informal Architecture, October 27-31, 2004.

Informal Architectures will explore the interplay between human imagination, and the spaces we construct: buildings, landscapes, gardens, museums, libraries, galleries, monuments, maps, and cyberspace – as well as the artworks and writings inspired by these environments. The symposium is presented by the Centre’s Banff International Curatorial Institute and Walter Phillips Gallery.

A public lecture by acclaimed New York artist Dan Graham will launch the event on October 27 at 8:30 p.m. in the Max Bell Auditorium at The Banff Centre. Like many symposium participants, Graham is an artist with a career-long interest in the language and forms of architecture, which he re-presents in sculptural installations and photo-based work.

A number of other public exhibitions and events have been timed to coincide with the Informal Architecture symposium. On October 28 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., the public is invited to attend Bear Street Construction. Curated by Alexandra McIntosh of Montreal and Trevor Boddy of Vancouver, Bear Street Construction will examine architecture in the process of formation and will encompass two events: "Test Site," an ephemeral exhibition in the alleyway between the Magpie & Stump Restaurant and the Bear Street Parkade, and a one-time only performance by Rita McKeough of Halifax and David Hoffos of Lethbridge at the Bison Courtyard construction site on Bear Street. Both events are made possible with the support of Arctos & Bird Management Ltd. and PCL Maxam.

On October 29 at 9:00 p.m., participants in the Informal Architecture residency will host an open studio event in Glyde Hall at The Banff Centre. On the following day, October 30 at 5:00 p.m, the Walter Phillips Gallery will host a closing reception for the current gallery exhibition Bungalow Blitz. This reception will also welcome the gallery’s recently-appointed senior curator, Sylvie Gilbert.

Informal Architecture is made possible though the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

For complete information on the Informal Architecture symposium, go to www.banffcentre.ca/bici/

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For more information, contact Anthony Kiendl, Director, Visual Arts at The Banff Centre. 762-6114.

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