The Penumbral Age. Art in the Time of Planetary Change
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
In 2020, Qavavau Manumie, was the only Canadian artist to participate in the exhibition Penumbral Age. Art in the Time of Planetary Change at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The exhibition presented artwork and documentation of artistic practices from the last five decades , and highlights the strengthening of environmental reflections in the art of the late 1960s and early 1970s as well as the second decade of the 21st century. The first period is linked with intensification of pacifist, feminist and anti-racist movements and the formation of the contemporary ecological movement. At the same time new artistic phenomena arose, such as conceptualism, anti-form, land art and earth art. While introducing "geological" thinking about art, artists used impermanent organic materials or sought to entirely dematerialize the work of art.
The other participating artists were Jonathas de Andrade, Isabelle Andriessen, Rasheed Araeen, Robert Barry, Kasper Bosmans, Boyle Family, Agnieszka Brzezańska, Dora Budor, Vija Celmins, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Alice Creischer, Czekalska + Golec, Betsy Damon, Tacita Dean, Thierry De Cordier, Agnes Denes, Ines Doujak, Jimmie Durham, Jerzy Fedorowicz, Hamish Fulton, Futurefarmers, Cyprien Gaillard, Simryn Gill, Wanda Gołkowska, Guerrilla Girls, Małgorzata Gurowska, Anna & Lawrence Halprin, Mitsutoshi Hanaga, Suzanne Husky, Ice Stupa Project, INTERPRT, Anja Kanngieser, Karrabing Film Collective, Beom Kim, Frans Krajcberg, Susanne Kriemann, Stefan Krygier, Katalin Ladik, Nicolás Lamas, John Latham, Richard Long, Antje Majewski, Nicholas Mangan, Krzysztof Maniak, Robert Morris, Shana Moulton & Nick Hallett, Teresa Murak, Peter Nadin & Natsuko Uchino & Aimée Toledano, Bruce Nauman, Nishiko, Isamu Noguchi, OHO, Dennis Oppenheim, Prabhakar Pachpute & Rupali Patil, Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Agnieszka Polska, Ludmiła Popiel, Joanna Rajkowska, Jerzy Rosołowicz, Oscar Santillán, Gerry Schum, Bonnie Ora Sherk, Anna Siekierska, Rudolf Sikora, Magdalena Starska, Irv Teibel, Akira Tsuboi, Maria Waśko, Ryszard Waśko, Lawrence Weiner, Magdalena Więcek and Andrea Zittel.
Photo: Naomie Parr
About the Artist
Qavavau Manumie is an accomplished printmaker who also works in the drawing medium. His stylistic abilities range from the very literal to the more expressive and idiosyncratic with work that is often amusing in its depictions of Inuit legends and mythology, Arctic wildlife and contemporary aspects of Inuit life. Manumie was born in Brandon, Manitoba and he currently lives and works in Kinngait, Nunavut.
Exhibition Documentation
