Althea Thauberger

Born in 1970 in Saskatoon (Canada)
Lives and works in Vancouver (Canada)

Althea Thauberger took degrees in photography and studio arts at Concordia University (2000) and the University of Victoria (2002), and studied media philosophy at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee Switzerland (2009/10). She has taught art and theory in many post secondary institutions including Simon Fraser University, Vancouver; Concordia University, Montreal; and the Art Academy of Prague. She is currently a guest lecturer in the Liberal Arts Program at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi. Working in photography, film/video and performance, her practice is concerned with collaborative possibilities of the social documentary form. Her recent film projects have involved research and engagement with particular sites and their communities to generate a performance-based narrative. The resulting films reflect on social, political and institutional power relations and present situations in which these dynamics may be challenged or break down. Her screenings and exhibitions include the Audain Gallery, Vancouver; the 2012 Liverpool Biennale; the 17th Biennale of Sydney; La musée d'art contemporain de Montréal; The National Gallery of Canada; The Berkeley Art Museum; Manifesta 7; Overgaden Institute of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen; BAK, basis voor aktuele kunst, Utrecht; The Power Plant, Toronto; and the 3rd Guangzhou Triennale among many others. She is represented by Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto. 

Althea Thauberger has two works on view at KB17: a photograph entitled “Who is that cane tell me who I am?” and a digital film paired with a painted movie billboard. The film features the built environment of Capri Cinema's modernist architecture and its security modifications, along with a cast of approximately 200 extras. The Capri is one of only two remaining single screen projection houses remaining in Saddar, Karachi's city centre, and it remains a fully functioning cinema despite many difficulties and attacks, including a mob fire attack in 2012. The cast of the film will be drawn from the cinema's existing patrons as well as from the diverse community of residents directly surrounding the site. The scenes are generated through a workshopping process and will relate to the remarkable history of the site.