HMAb: The Fundraiser is taking place Sunday, February 5th at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto from 7pm-midnight! Advance tickets are sold out. The venue’s capacity is 250 people and we’ve sold 225 tickets online. So there will be a limited amount of tickets available at the door. Naomi Harris, Daniel Ehrenworth and Brett Gundlock will be speaking about their latest projects. And 40 photographers have donated work to a silent print auction. All money raised from the sale of their prints will go directly to Heather. If you’re curious to know why we’re raising funds for Heather, please refer to “Some Good News and Some Bad News“.
Event Breakdown:
7pm – Doors open and silent auction begins
8-9pm – Artist talks
10pm – Silent auction ends
More info regarding the silent auction:
- all images start at $100
- minimum $20 bid increments
- you must be in the room at 10pm to claim your artwork
- pay with cash, debit or Visa
- take your print home at the end of the night
Johan Hallberg-Campbell ©Jamie Rosenthal
Toronto-based photographer Johan Hallberg-Campbell has donated an image the fundraiser! See below for his words and images from three different stories: Attawapiskat, The Old Firm and Coastal. To learn more about Johan checkout his website and follow him on Twitter. And note that his story “Coastal” will be a large-scale exhibition at the Harbourfront Centre during this year’s CONTACT Photography Festival.
Attawapiskat
The First Nation Canadian community Attawapiskat (population 2000) declared a state of emergency on October 28, 2011. Attawapiskat is a Cree community located along the Attawapiskat River in Northern Ontario. Attawapiskat is run by a Chief and Band Council that are part of the larger Mushkegowuk Council. Canadian First Nation communities are funded by the Canadian Federal Government.
Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation stated at the time of the declaration that “it really is a crisis we are facing … we are in a third world situation.” The state of emergency came as winter began, risking the lives of residents living in shacks without proper heat and running water.
Canadians should not be calling a shed home; they should not be forced to use a bucket as a toilet. They should have heating, running water and live in homes without mold on the walls. They should not have to pay $11 for a box of cereal and $24 for a few bananas. Life in Attawapiskat and many other Canadian First Nation Communities is just that.
In December 2011, the Assembly of First Nations approached the United Nations to request a UN delegate to ensure treaties between the Canadian Government and First Nations were being honored. James Anaya, United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, responded with harsh words over the housing crisis in Attawapiskat calling conditions in the community a “dire social and economic condition” and noted that the problem is widespread.
Canada’s credibility is on the line. The country has long ignored its First Nation people. Numerous aboriginal communities are living in Third World conditions and worse off than Attawapiskat. By raising their voices, Attawapiskat has brought to the forefront deeply rooted issues that have plagued First Nations communities for generations. The situation there has reminded Canada that it must do better for its own. Attawapiskat is now receiving assistance for the current state of emergency.
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
The Old Firm
“The Old Firm” is a long-term project documenting the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The sectarianism in Glasgow revolves around the two rival football teams, Rangers (Protestant) who fly the Union Jack and Celtic (Catholic) who fly the Irish Tricolour. The teams are historically tied up in Religion and complex disputes which can fuel street altercations.
It is common to see violence on the streets of Glasgow day and night. Glasgow’s blade attacks took up more than 2000 hospital bed days in 2009 and the murder rate is the fasted rising in Western Europe according to the United Nations. This booze and blade culture is not going away. NEDS (Non Educated Delinquents) roam the streets in gangs, dressed in the uniform, shell suits, Capa or Burberry baseball cap, socks tucked into their trainers with the trademark Sovereign ring. Often showing the telltale facial knife wounds, a sign of previous blade battles. Gang initiation can involve stabbing a stranger.
The work below is a sketch. I will continue to explore football culture in Glasgow, fighting my own fear to delve deeper into the rivalry between the two teams and street culture as a whole.
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
Coastal
We all share the same dreams of security and stability. For people living on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, life is no different. When you arrive you can’t help but be attracted to the idyllic backdrop, the unspoiled wilderness and the remoteness. Many communities are accessible only by boat.
Today fishing is in decline. In the early 1990s, the collapse of cod fishing (due to centuries of overfishing and poor government management) began the destruction of a way of life in Newfoundland that had been the main livelihood for 500 years. The government closure and ban of the fishery in 1992 still stands today, except for controlled periods when cod fishing is permitted.
Centralized populations, technological advancements and increased access to education are just some of the factors shaping our changing world. The 93 residents of La Poile are now also facing these changes, after witnessing two neighbouring towns disappear. First “Petites” was resettled in 2003 and then “Grand Bruit” in 2010. The populations of these communities diminished year after year as young people left home to find work. The aging populations could no longer survive the harsh winters and lack of healthcare.
Canadian coastal fishing communities have lived off the sea for centuries. Now the future seems absent and the past lingers in the frozen hands of the fishermen. For the people of Petites and Grand Bruit the chain was broken. Trades and skills were no longer passed down to new generations, they are being swallowed up by the modern world. The shops shutdown and the schools closed. The remaining people made the hard choice to leave, and were given $80,000 per household by the Government to aid the cost of resettlement. They said goodbye to their ancestors buried in the graveyard.
Is this the last generation? The end of the old ways? La Poile residents worry about the future. La Poile has 7 students currently enrolled in the school. If the last store closes, as it did in Petites and Grand Bruit, then eventually, so will the town.
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
©Johan Hallberg-Campbell
If you have any questions regarding HMAb: The Fundraiser, please leave a comment or e-mail jamie @ jamierosenthal.ca. Thanks!