In June 2021, Third Space announced the release of HOST, an interactive virtual contemporary art project curated by Amy Ash. Part art exhibition, part video game, this project existed entirely online. It was available from June 17 until September 17, 2021 at hostproject.net and on Instagram @host_project_
With animated walls, interactive navigation, and hyperlinked portals, HOST brought together works by eleven contemporary artists from across Canada: rudi aker, Anna Binta Diallo, Séamus Gallagher, Maggie Higgins, Emily Kennedy, Caroline Monnet, respectfulchild, Lou Sheppard, Rachel M Thornton, Winnie Truong, and KC Wilcox.
“I began the work of conceptualizing HOST before the pandemic, when bodies around the world became carriers of a fast spreading virus that forced us to adjust the ways in which we gather,” says curator Amy Ash. “My initial concerns for the project were rooted in exploring the power of hospitality to subvert hostility, divisiveness, and destruction. I hoped to magnify instances of care, reciprocity, and kinship as an act of resistance against xenophobia, tightening borders, and the escalating climate crises.”
HOST offers hope, understanding, and appreciation amid the tangle of contemporary issues.
