CHRISTINA BATTLE | UNCHARTED HISTORIES: PIRATES
SATURDAY 08 MARCH 2008 – SATURDAY 19 APRIL 2008
OPENING RECEPTION | FRIDAY 07 MARCH 2008, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
Through film, video, and collage, Uncharted Histories: Pirates investigates the changing political status of pirates by considering the roles they played in the power struggle between monarchs of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Generally defined by their attacks and thievery indiscriminate of nationality, many pirates contributed greatly to the development, growth and success of struggling nations. As countries battled to gain power, a number of pirates facilitated the expansion and colonialization of new lands through the exploration and mapping of uncharted territories. Also positioning the pirate as explorer, the work imagines encounters faced on the shores of undiscovered islands. Pirates noted in the historical record are placed within dark and curious scenarios as they fight off surprise attacks from the unfamiliar surroundings.
CHRISTINA BATTLE holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology from the University of Alberta and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Battle’s works have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), the National Film Board of Canada, The Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, and have screened internationally in festivals and galleries including: VideoEx Experimental Film & Video Festival (Zurich, Switzerland), The Antimatter Underground Film Festival (Victoria), The London Film Festival (London, England), The Images Festival (Toronto), The Toronto International Film Festival, The International Film Festival Rotterdam (The Netherlands), White Box (New York), Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax), The Foreman Art Gallery at Bishops University (Sherbrooke), The city of Toronto’s Nuit Blanche 2006 and in the 2006 Whitney Biennial Day for Night (New York). Battle lives and works in Toronto.
Christina Battle acknowledges the generous support of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.
Presented in conjunction with the 21st annual Images Festival, April 3-12, 2008.
Featured in YYZINE: Volume 8, Issue 2