Image: Sameer Farooq, BOOP Museum, installed in the main galleries of the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, 2019. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
BOOP Museum on CBC Arts - Leah Collins, June 6, 2019

BOOP Museum
Sameer Farooq
Curated by Sandy Saad
May 5 - July 5, 2019
​Opening reception: May 5, 2019, 2-4pm

The Visual Arts Centre of Clarington is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Sameer Farooq.
​
The interdisciplinary practice of Sameer Farooq questions dominant institutional narratives in collections and museums. For over 15 years, Farooq has created community-based models of participation and knowledge production in order to re-imagine a material record of the present. Using museum display strategies as a medium, Farooq points to persistent absences in historical narratives, making buried histories more visible and offering counter-archives and new additions museum collections. Originally trained as a cultural anthropologist, he enlists the tools of installation, sculpture, photography, documentary filmmaking, writing and various anthropological methods to explore forms of collecting, interpreting, and display.

Farooq continues his exploration of institutional collecting strategies in BOOP Museum. The exhibition comprises of de-accessioned objects from the Clarington Museum and Archives, who actively support and follow Ministry Guidelines and ethical museum practices with respect to collecting and de-accessioning objects. Working with a small portion of dolls, Farooq repurposes the de-accessioned objects to become part of a large-scale installation. The objects are displayed on museum furniture designed for people between 3 feet and 4 feet tall, creating a speculative museum made for children. On the last day of the exhibition, the children of the Clarington community are invited to the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington to “loot” the museum space created by Farooq. In keeping with his social practice, Farooq releases the objects back to the children, creating a community-based museum space while exploring the potential lives objects could have once they leave the historical archive.

Special Event: BOOP Museum Looting

​Children between the ages of 4 - 10 are invited to loot BOOP Museum. BOOP Museum is a fictional museum filled with dolls of various shapes, sizes and colours purpose-built to be accessible to children. Artist Sameer Farooq created the museum as a participatory space that provokes us to think about how our relationships with objects change as they transition out of the museum space. In order to do this, we need the help of our local children.

On the last day of the exhibition, children are invited to the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington to loot the museum space created by Farooq. The act of looting has a long history intertwined with traditional museums that acquired objects that were looted from various imperialized regions around the world. In releasing the objects back into the community, Sameer Farooq offers new life to the dolls as a gift and restores the significance of the objects to the children who acquire them.

​Looting Rules
In order to qualify as a looter, you must be a child between the ages of 4 - 10 years old, who is willing to plunder our museum. The looting will start at 4:00 pm sharp. Sign up your child to loot!

​Please note:
This event will be recorded by the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. We will have both a videographer and photographer on site. Upon arrival, please inform a member of staff if you wish not to be photographed/videoed. Media release forms will be available from our office on the day.

BOOP Museum Looting: Gallery

Credit: Sameer Farooq, BOOP Museum Looting, 2019, video  by Jamie McMillan,.

BOOP Museum: Life after Looting - Where are they now?

We have been curious about the life of the dolls after BOOP Museum and the Dolls… so we are asking “Where are they now”?
Below, you’ll find some questions that will help you to help us know how the BOOP Museum looting gave a new lease of life to this collection of 200+ dolls.
  1. Did you change your doll’s name?
  2. Did you give your doll a new look or style?
  3. Have you passed your doll onto a friend or family member?
  4. Does your doll have a special place in your home?
  5. How often do you play with your doll?
  6. Have you imagined the history of your doll’s life?
  7. Have you created a new story about your doll’s life?
Feel free to email us any images or stories of your doll. Our aim is to show thanks to you, our looters, for helping us give life back to the dolls of BOOP Museum. With your permission, we’ll be using our social media channels to showcase the dolls of the BOOP Museum and their new lease on life for our community to enjoy.
Click on the image to read the BOOP Museum catalogue

Biography

Sameer Farooq is a Canadian artist of Pakistani and Ugandan Indian descent. With exhibitions at institutions around the world including the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), The British Library (London), the Institute of Islamic Culture (Paris), The Lilley Museum (Reno), Vicki Myhren Gallery (Denver), the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), Maquis Projects, (Izmir), Trankat (Tétouan, Morocco), Sol Koffler Gallery (Providence), Artellewa (Cairo), and Sanat Limani (Istanbul), Farooq received several awards from The Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Europe Media Fund, as well the President’s Scholarship at the Rhode Island School of Design. Reviews and essays dedicated to his work have been included in Canadian Art, Hyperallergic, C Magazine, The Washington Post, BBC Culture, Artnet, The Huffington Post, Border Crossings, and others. He also appeared on the 2018 Sobey Art Award long list, Canada’s preeminent art award.