Corinn Gerber，Yan Wu，Biljana Ciric，Hu Yun
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Language：English，Chinese
Art Metropole, founded in 1974 by the artists’collective General Idea, intended to be a “collection agency devoted to the documentation, archiving, and distribution of all the images.”（As stated in an early Art Metropole application for a Canada Council Grant.）It largely grew out of the activities around FILE Megazine, which was operated out of several Canadian cities simultaneously. Around the same time, many initiatives and collectives evolved throughout Canada: Banal Beauty Inc., Image Bank, Intermedia Society, N.E. Thing Co., New York Corres Sponge Dance School of Vancouver, Véhicule Art, to name only a few. Through ongoing collaborations, mail exchanges and directories (whereby redefining and inventing forms and means of “publishing” and “distribution”), they created pullulating and dynamic networks across the country and internationally, which culminated in such events as Art’s Birthday and Great Wall of 1984 in 1973-74.
It is out of this context that the practice of producing and distributing artists’ publications, editions and multiples evolved, the work of Art Metropole in a changing context ̶ undertaken at its current downtown Toronto address 1490 Dundas Street West, through its website artmetropole.com, and by regularly participating in events and fairs internationally.
Starting from some material samples from back then until today, Yan Wu and Corinn Gerber wish to unfold the spatial and temporal transformations, as well as the cultural, social and political contexts that surround this practice. This will further raise questions around processes of institutionalization – for Art Metropole specifically, but also a topic to engage with the local materials shared by the community. This will be subject to the following discussion between Biljana Ciric, Corinn Gerber, Yan Wu, and Hun Yu, to which we would like to invite you.
Art Metropole(Toronto, Canada) fosters and facilitates dynamic structures of artist-initiated publishing, especially those formats predisposed to sharing and circulation.
artmetropole.com
Corinn Gerber is a trained bookseller, an editor and publisher. Co-founder and member of Passenger Books (passengerbooks.com), operating between Berlin, Istanbul, Montréal and Zurich (within others), she is currently the director of Art Metropole.
Yan Wuis a curator who lives and works in Toronto. Her work focuses on inventing alternative strategies to facilitate cross-cultural exchange and transdisciplinary knowledge production through contemporary practices in various forms. She is currently the archive/collection manager and curator at Art Metropole.
Corinn Gerber，吴彦,Biljana Ciric，胡昀
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语言：英文，中文
Art Metropole是由加拿大艺术家团体General Idea成立于1974年，意在成为一家“致力于记录，归档，以及发行所有图片的收藏机构。”（该说法取自Art Metropole早期递交给加拿大艺术委员会的一份基金申请）机构的建立成形很大程度上与当时同时活动在多个加拿大城市的FILE杂志紧密相关。同一时期，类似的倡议以及组合逐一出现在加拿大的各个角落，其中包括Banal Beauty Inc.（平庸美容公司）, Image Bank（图片库）, Intermedia Society（跨媒体协会）, N.E. Thing Co.（东北行动有限公司）, New York Corres Sponge Dance School of Vancouver（驻温哥华纽约Corres海绵舞蹈学校）, Véhicule Art（载具艺术）等。通过机构间长期的合作、邮件往来以及各类目录的建立（即重新界定和发明“出版”与“发行”的形式与手段），多张覆盖全国乃至延伸到国际范围的网络由此形成，并于1973年至1974年间在艺术生日和1984年的长城两大事件中冲至高潮。
正是这样的一个历史背景推动形成了Art Metropole延续至今的实践领域- 制作，出版，和发行艺术家出版物和限量品，其推广渠道包括坐落在多伦多市中心的店面，网络销售，以及参与各种国际性的活动和博览会。
在今次讲座中，Corinn Gerber和吴彦会通过对具体材料的展示，介绍此类实践的文化、社会和政治背景以及其自身相应的转型，随后将讨论机构制度化进程的问题–不单从Art Metropole的角度，更希望引入对本地材料的讨论，并由此发现各地实践中的相互联系以及它们的一致性和差异。之后比利安娜和胡昀将加入到讨论，希望也能有您的参与。
Art Metropole（多伦多，加拿大）
培育和促进艺术家自发出版的动态结构，尤其各种着重共享和流通的模式。
artmetropole.com
Corinn Gerber是一位训练有素的书商，编辑和出版商。合作创立了Passenger Books（passengerbooks.com），一家运营在柏林，伊斯坦布尔，蒙特利尔和苏黎世（内部人）之间的出版机构。她目前为Art Metropole的总监。
吴彦是一位生活和工作在多伦多的策展人。她的研究重心在于通过当代实践的各种形式，探索跨文化交流和跨学科知识生产的替代策略。她目前管理和策划Art Metropole的档案与收藏。