Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2025
ISBN 978-0-7748-6892-1
"Trading on Art brings culture to the fore by examining how artwrks and exhibitions from the 1980s to 2010 mediated North American free trade, from government-supported cultural diplomacy initiatives to activist art that confronted impending US hegemony.
Sarah E. K. Smith reveals how Canadian artists engaged with, contested, and reflected on free trade, examining how art was used to forge ties between Canada and Mexico and to promote North American identity." (From book's blurb.)
Contains the chapter "Changing Narratives of Free Trade in Video Art" (page 153), which discusses the work of various Canadian video artists.
ITEM 2025.002 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
Trade Winds (Canada) Ltd – Clive Robertson
Rat Life and Diet in North America – Joyce Wieland
White Dawn – Lisa Steele
White Dawn – Kim Tomczak
The Winning of the North – Eva Manly
Packin' – John Greyson
Like a Nice Rubber Gas Mask – Malcolm Rogge
The Original Summit: Journey to the Sacred Uprising – Rebeka Tabobondung
The Original Summit: Journey to the Sacred Uprising – Adrian Kahgee
Tacet (Anthems of the Member Nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement: Canada, United States of America, Mexican United States) – Antonia Hirsch