Exhibit at the K-W Art Gallery explores sexuality

Demonstrating a collection of feminist artwork, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (KWAG) is currently holding an exhibit Pandora’s Box, curated by Amanda Cachia and organized and toured by Dunlop Art Gallery.

Pandora’s Box invokes contemplation about what it means to be female in this day and age within Canada.

The gallery held a curator talk for the opening event on Thursday, where Cachia gave an explanation of the rationale behind the pieces selected.

The exhibit explores the idea of feminism with a concentration on the new context of the third-wave women’s movement.

It reflects on the history of female life but focuses on a new generation of artists.

Cachia explained that the artists themselves questioned what feminism meant to them, arriving at the conclusion that it is about the “reclaiming of sexuality.”

She went on to describe how she had to censor some of the content within the show, since the artists’ particular interpretation of feminism focuses on sexuality and much of the work in itself contains nudity.

“We knew this exhibition was going to be challenging,” Cachia admitted.

The artists themselves are exploring their own sexuality through their work.

However, according to Cachia, “some of the artists said they didn’t know if they wanted to be associated with the term ‘feminism’.”

For many, it was more about questioning such topics as escapism, sexual politics and movement within feminism for the artists.

The exhibit will be on display until March 2010.