Last weekend, I had the good fortune to go to Halifax for a one-day symposium on art writing and criticism, co-organized by Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) and C magazine (where I am currently on the board of directors and programming committee). “The Atlantic Symposium: New Directions for Art Writing” was a chance to have several speakers from the Atlantic provinces, and from other parts of Canada, reflect on the state of art criticism in Canada and to encourage discussion about how to foster more art writing from outside of the “centres” of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. (It also included a fantastic keynote lecture by Sylvie Fortin and a rewarding morning of gallery tours, organized by VANS).

Now, Leah Sandals, who participated in the symposium panels, has written a fantastically detailed report for Canadianart.ca on the weekend’s events, thinking back on the more salient parts of the presentations and raising some questions for further discussion. It’s rare that this kind of lengthy reporting happens in relation to discursive events, and I’m hoping her report will help to continue and elaborate on some of the conversation that started in Halifax.