The program is a collaboration between The Polygon Gallery, Griffin Art Projects, and Cité internationale des arts, with the support of The Embassy of France in Canada and the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris.

The Polygon Gallery and Griffin Art Projects are pleased to announce that independent curator and critic Anne Bourrassé from Paris, France has been selected for the 2023 Paris/Vancouver Curatorial Residency Program.

For several years, Anne Bourrassé’s curatorial work has focused on feminist research in France. whether around the production of artists identified as women, the study of development and career inequalities with her association Contemporaines, or the design of exhibitions around these issues. During a 2023 residency in Dakar, Sengal at Selebe Yoon, Bourrassé studied the struggle for gender equality among Senegalese artists. She intends to continue this curatorial research in Vancouver, and will meet women, non-binary and transgender art professionals, and delve into the archives of Griffin Art Projects and The Polygon Gallery to interrogate the feminist dynamics at work in contemporary Canadian art. Using photography and writing as her tools, she will map feminist issues in Vancouver’s contemporary art scene.

Bourrassé’s residency on the West Coast extends through October and November and will culminate with “Live from the Studio” presentation on 25 November, 2023, 3:30-4:30pm. Bourrassé will also have an Open Studio Meet and Greet at Griffin Art Projects on Sunday, November 26 from 12 – 5PM.

Griffin Art Projects and The Polygon Gallery

Alternating annually for four years between Paris and Vancouver, the aim of the program is to provide opportunities to develop curatorial projects and foster cultural exchange in response to contemporary art contexts in France and Western Canada. The program was established in October 2021, and this is its fourth iteration. Past residents include: Missla Libsekal (2021), Amy Kazymerchyk (2021), and Clelia Coussonnet (2022).

Residents are hosted at Griffin Art Projects during their tenure. The residency provides travel, accommodation, and a stipend for three months, as well as a production budget to launch a public program, during which Bourrassé will have the opportunity to share her findings from her research in Vancouver.

About Anne Bourrassé
Anne Bourrassé (b. 1991, lives and works in Paris) is an independent curator and art critic at the intersection of the visual arts and the humanities. She is currently director of artistic programming at Le Consulat Voltaire cultural centre in Paris and works with numerous cultural institutions in France and abroad. In 2019, she co-founded the association Contemporaines in France to fight against gender inequalities in contemporary art. She is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, Sciences Po Paris and Cornell University, USA. She is the winner of the ADIAF Émergence Grant – Curator / Art Critic in France.

About The Polygon Gallery
Grounded in photography, The Polygon Gallery creates space to challenge how we see the world. The Gallery moved into its Governor General’s Medal-winning building in 2017 after operating as Presentation House Gallery for 40 years. The organization has presented more than 300 exhibitions and earned a reputation as one of the country’s most adventurous public art institutions.  Admission is by donation, courtesy of BMO Financial Group.
www.thepolygon.ca

About Griffin Art Projects
Griffin Art Projects (GRIFFIN) is a non-profit art residency and gallery located in North Vancouver. Established in 2015, GRIFFIN was founded by Brigitte and Henning Freybe who began collecting art in the early 1970s. The organisation is unique in Canada for its combination of non-profit public outreach, which is free for all to participate in, support for Canadian and international artists through residency and studio spaces, and the featuring of work from private, public, and corporate collections and collectors.
www.griffinartprojects.ca

Banner Image: Claire Bourrassé