The McCleave Gallery is…well, it’s a run-of-the-mill suitcase, which has infiltrated and enriched the lives of people across Canada since it was opened as a gallery in 2002. This spring, the McCleave Gallery is sure to become Canada’s hottest alternative cultural exports, since the gallery is branching out to other corners of the globe during The McCleave Gallery of Fine Art Lineage Tour 2006, exhibiting artist books based upon the theme of Lineage.
Michael McCormack, McCleave Gallery founder/director/gallery attendant/custodian, took the time amongst the chaos of tour organization and travel preparations to answer a few questions about the McCleave Gallery and The Lineage Tour 2006:
Is there an interesting story of how the suitcase came into your life? What prompted you to turn it into a gallery?
The suitcase used to belong to a woman named Blanche McCleave, who lived on Vernon Street in Halifax, NS for many years. Well into her 80’s, Blanche eventually decided to move into an apartment building around the corner where she still lives today. Shortly before her move in the summer of 1998, Mrs. McCleave decided to have a giant yard sale to get rid of some old junk of hers. The suitcase was one of the few unfortunate items in the yard sale that didn’t find a home so it was discarded onto the side of the road for garbage pick-up.
Like many maritimers (or perhaps just a couple of young whipper-snappers looking for trouble), my older brother Scott and his friend Danni were very resourceful people who came across this suitcase and took it home to eventually find a use for it.
It was not until four years later, when I returned to Halifax from University in Guelph, Ontario to take a few summer courses at NSCAD, that I stumbled across Mrs. McCleave’s old suitcase in my parent’s attic. This was the summer of 2002, which was shortly after the Nova Scotia Arts Council collapsed due to a lack of funding support by the conservative government leaving Nova Scotia as the only province or territory without an arts council and the province with the least amount of funding per capita in Canada. The economy in Nova Scotia has also transformed after the decline of the mining and fishing industries and the recent rise of the tourism industry which has left us dependent on clinging onto our past in any way we can, ‘maintaining’ or stagnating our culture into a continuous loop leading us virtually nowhere in terms of artistic progression.
These factors, leaving myself as well as many others very concerned about the future of the arts in Nova Scotia, encouraged me to start an exhibition venue that could exist in my suitcase. The suitcase acting as both as a metaphor for travel and tourism, and well as the urgent situation that artists in Nova Scotia were in. The mandate was and still is to provide a venue primarily for emerging artists that was run on a ‘by chance or appointment’ basis in a manner that was personal, accessible, informal, and adjustable in atmosphere.
The McCleave Gallery of Fine Art has been in existence since 2002. How did its early days differ from today?
Because of its site specification to Halifax’s seasonal tourist based industry, the McCleave Gallery has almost always worked as seasonal exhibition space. Also, being an institution that is closely tied to my personal life, the nature of each exhibition season will adjust accordingly. When I was a student during the 2002 and 2003 exhibition seasons, the McCleave Gallery was run locally, on an extremely low budget.
Later on when I had time to work full time and wasn’t tied down to a particular location, I was able to conduct more elaborate exhibition seasons that could involve a more nomadic lifestyle. The 2005 season for example included a 4-month Cross-Canada tour including 16 suitcases by 14 artists or art groups from Halifax, NS to Dawson City, YT. This year’s exhibition season includes a tour in Halifax, Rotterdam, the UK and Ireland with a single suitcase filled with 17 artists books based on the theme of Lineage.
As opposed to the scheduled 2005 tour, this one takes place more spontaneously, as I will be researching the history of the McCleave family and the genealogy of the original McCleave suitcase. I have also constructed three ‘repro’ or spawn suitcases of the original, each containing one black and white photocopied version of each of the 17 original books. These repro-suitcases are made out of a cookie cutter style pattern made out of corrugated plastic that can be easily folded into a box. The repro-suitcase #1 of 3 is being shown in various venues in Australia, while repro-suitcas #2 and repro-suitcase #3 are both being shown in various small gallery spaces and group shows within Canada.
I’ve always been curious about the ‘by chance’ encounters with the McCleave Gallery: Do you solicit random people to have a look at the exhibitions or do you wait until you are approached? How do people usually respond to the exhibits? Does anyone ever think you’re trying to sell them something?
Mostly I wait until someone approaches me, I will often approach established spaces by surprise such as artist-run centers, festivals or public events with the suitcase. The sign on the outside of the suitcase that reads ‘The McCleave Gallery of Fine Art’ usually catches the attention of passer-bys successfully enough, and peaks their curiosity as to what is inside the suitcase. I find these situations the most rewarding as the elements of surprise and spontaneity are integral to the concept of the McCleave Gallery. It is these situations that exercise the venue’s truly public characteristics, when someone is interrupted from their daily routine to experience the work.
Most people respond quite well and are delighted to see the works, particularly in places where they are comfortable, such as a park bench or a café, which has already been established as a space that is commonly social. It is in places of intense transience that are the most challenging, where the McCleave Gallery may be seen as an obstacle or a nuisance. However, it is these spaces that I feel are the most interesting to occupy from time to time as the contrast is stronger in these spaces, emphasizing the space as something that we share and can enrich with culture if we make an effort to do so.
There have been a few occasions where I have been kicked out of places for soliciting, most of the time when I explain to them that nothing is for sale, they are okay with it though.
Be sure to tune in next issue to read Part Two of silenttalkie’s interview with Michael McCormack. Until then, you’ll more information about the McCleave Gallery of Fine Art, The McCleave Gallery 2005 Cross-Canada Tour & The McCleave Gallery Lineage Tour 2006 at: www.mccleavegallery.ca!
