Ryan Ferko
The Grass Must Have Been Mown
Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, September 9 – October 15, 2016
The project takes a close look at the unstable logic of borders as a tool for establishing sovereignty and presents a refracted view of the mechanisms of control. The Grass Must Have Been Mown, blends archival material, oral histories and official state documents, complicating and investigating how histories and power operate through a landscape. Part of an ongoing series of work that delves into the specific social and political context of the area surrounding Cornwall, Ontario, the work focuses on the site of the former customs house on Cornwall Island, a small island in the St. Lawrence River and the westernmost part of Akwesasne, the cross-border territory of the Mohawk Nation. The project traces the history of the building and conflict surrounding it.
–Leila Timmins, Gallery 44 curator