Between States

Darren Ell

Opening on Tuesday, October 12 at 5pm
The exhibition runs from October 12 to November 11, 2006
The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5pm

Opening and discussion on immigration
and national security policies in Canada
on Thursday October 12, 2006 at 6pm.

Guest Speakers include :
Tatiana Gomez
Member of Solidarity Across Borders
Sophie Harkat
Wife of Mohamed Harkat
Youssef El Loubani
Palestinian refugee and member of Solidarity Across Borders
Amparo Torres
Colombian activist and refugee facing deportation

No one should be imprisoned indefinitely without due process or having been accused of a crime. This, however, is what happens when the Canadian government resorts to Security Certificates to maintain in detention non-citizens residing in Canada who are suspected of terrorist activities. Nor should anyone have to live without legal status or access to fundamental human rights, in fear or even terror of being deported to his or her country of origin, whose persecution they fled. Darren Ell’s work does not judge, nor does it try to absolve. The only verdict it offers is that of the right to justice, to a trial, to be given clear legal status.

Darren Ell is a photographer and activist. His involvement, informed by close collaboration with social justice organizations such as Solidarity across Borders, Justice for Mohamed Harkat and Homes not Bombs, goes well beyond a mere connection to a subject. His close familiarity with his subjects, moreover, is surely at the root of the incredible power of his work. In these large-format portraits—it’s as if he were revealing, larger than life, the hidden face of a society which believes itself to be inclusive, fair and tolerant—there are no victims or heroes. Rather, Ell’s images place us face to face with ourselves. They question our own value system and perhaps our too-passive resistance. Accompanied by a sound track in which the individuals photographed describe their situation, Darren Ell’s work brings the documentary genre up to date.

Darren Ell was raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. He initially studied Political Science and World Religions at the University of Alberta, Edmonton and then continued at the University of Regina in Education and French Literature. He currently lives in Montreal where he is pursuing an MFA in photography at Concordia University. His photographs and interviews have been published by La Presse, the Toronto Star, the National Post, Alternatives, Citizenshift (National Film Board of Canada), Canadian Dimension, and broadcast on CBC-Radio-Canada, ZNET, Electronic Intifada and HaitiAction.net. Between States is Darren Ell’s first major solo exhibition.

Dazibao thanks the artist for his generous collaboration and its members for their support. Dazibao receives financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Dazibao is a member of the Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec.