2024 Acquisitions: Purchases

Focused on the work of historical and contemporary artists who have contributed to the artistic life of the Ottawa-Gatineau region, our Permanent Collection is an essential part of the OAG’s activities. We are excited to look back and share a roundup of our 2024 purchases, and the ways in which these works help to enrich our Collection.

We’re thrilled to share that we made an exciting purchase in 2024!

OAG purchased For Those Who Chose the Sea a powerful piece by multidisciplinary artist Stany Wany, that confronts the enduring legacy of slavery. Composed of three elements – a large-scale 15-minute video projection of the Atlantic Ocean; a wooden sculptural representation of the confined spaces that were found below decks on slave ships; and a two-dimensional work titled De Perpetua Memoria – Wany’s installation powerfully illuminates the intergenerational trauma rooted in this history as well as provides a poignant affirmation of resistance.

Previously featured in OAG’s 2022 exhibition of the same name, the installation For those who Chose the Sea traces connections between conditions aboard slave ships and the existing societal stratification imposed on the living relatives of the African peoples who were taken.

The video projection , filmed at Fort Monroe, Virginia – the historic site of the first arrival of enslaved Africans in English North America – creates an immersive seascape. The life-size sculptural component made of wood mimics the confining spaces in which human beings were stored below decks on slave ships and is based on extensive research replicating the exact dimensions of the confined conditions endured by enslaved Africans on the Portuguese slaving ship Veloz. As visitors navigate the cramped compartments, the sounds of crashing waves are heard from the projection, and glimpses of the ocean are seen through the wooden planks, evoking the harrowing reality of life in the ship’s hold.

Displayed alongside this, as the final component of the installation, De Perpetua Memoria is a collage work composed of ink, cotton, and paper on oak panel. The materials used are deeply symbolic – oak was a primary material used in slave shipbuilding, while cotton production was a cornerstone of the slave economy – and the text throughout the work is from the 1455 papal decree which legitimized the enslavement of African peoples and the conquest of their territories and resources. The text is overlaid with a drawing of Erzulie Dantòr, a powerful symbol of Haitian spirituality and resistance, offering Haitians a poignant affirmation of their ancestors’ triumph over the oppressive institution of slavery and a celebration of their enduring culture and humanity.

The installation is also a solemn tribute to the spirits of those enslaved individuals who tragically took their own lives by drowning rather than endure a lifetime of slavery.

This is the first work by Wany to enter the OAG’s collection.