woocommerce-shipping-per-product domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/staging.esse.ca/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131complianz-gdpr domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/staging.esse.ca/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131The Canadian motto of A Mari usque ad Mare <\/em>comes from the Christian bible, which in its full form notes that \u201cHe shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth\u201d (Psalm 72:8). Perhaps to no one\u2019s surprise, Canada has been defined and continues to define itself in relationship to Christianity and (white) man\u2019s ownership of the land. While today we recognize the ongoing negative legacy of colonialism, the national application of this recognition is hollow. We admit the presence of Indigenous people, but we claim them as Canada\u2019s cultural property (the Indigenous peoples of Canada). We regularly ask people to acknowledge the traditional stewards of the land, without granting any agency to these same groups.<\/pre>\n\n\n\nThis duality is what Amy Fung scrutinizes in Before I Was a Critic I Was a Human Being<\/em>, a memoir that reads like a cross-country road trip through the Canadian art world. Conceived as a long-form land acknowledgment, Fung\u2019s short book covers more ground than anything I\u2019ve encountered written by a non-Indigenous person (herself a settler and person of colour) in terms of recognizing the ongoing legacy of colonialism and the settler\u2019s shared responsibilities for redress. Whereas most land acknowledgments are essentially empty gestures\u200a\u2014\u200ain line with Canada\u2019s current policies regarding Indigenous rights\u200a\u2014\u200aFung circumnavigates the form\u2019s shortcomings in recognizing \u201cthe violence of whiteness that is both around me, and inside of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fung\u2019s humanity didn\u2019t end when she became a \u00adcritic. Throughout this memoir she is still very much a living breath\u00ading human being. Nowhere is this more palpable than in 375<\/em>, the chapter about Montreal (a city that celebrated its 375th anniversary the same year Canada celebrated its 150th). Here, Fung switches gears from talking critically about her personal missteps and those of the Canadian cultural \u00adsector and starts to reflect on a breakup. Given the substance of the book and tone used elsewhere, this chapter feels raw and angry, and not about the specifics of racism in Quebec, which merit a larger discussion than given here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I Was a Critic I Was a Human Being<\/em> was made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts; specifically, a New Chapter grant. The irony of funding meant to support projects that celebrate the country\u2019s bicentenary going to Fung\u2019s settler account of Canadian racism is not lost on this reader. And though it\u2019s slow to arrive, and about as linear as Fung\u2019s own map of Canada, change is coming. This book is an example of how things are shifting. Everyone should read it. Even though it is written by an art critic, it is not a book of art criticism, barely referencing artists, art institutions, or other art critics. Rather, she demonstrates how the Canadian art world upholds the same race and class dynamics that it regularly criticizes, and she demands we do better.<\/p>\n\n\n