November 10, 2011 – To close Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s (VANS) Fall 2011 workshop series, VANS invites you to a free, public talk with Max Haiven titled Creative Occupations: Art, Creative Labour, and the Occupy Movement on Tuesday, November 29^th at 7pm at the Culture Federations of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The free talk will deconstruct the word “occupation”, alongside the visual arts, creative professional practices and transnational social movements.

In the visual arts we have seen a recent surge of interest, provincially, in the visual arts through festivals like Nocturne, Lumiere and Antigonight where visual artists work occupies public and alternative spaces. This past year, the visual art community in Nova Scotia has also experienced shifts, including the physical movement of artist-run centres, artist studios and galleries around Halifax, NS. Such a talk on “creative occupations” is not only interesting within the public’s increasing interest in and engagement with public art, but also within both infrastructure transitions in the visual art community and transnational social movement, as seen  through the rippling of Occupy Wall Street to a worldwide movement. Such phenomena creates  fodder for the perception of “creative occupations.”

Max Haiven is a writer, teacher and organizer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He works as adjunct faculty in the Division of Historical and Critical Studies at NSCAD University and is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Art and Public Policy at New York University.  His writing, both academic and editorial, focuses on the fate of creativity and the imagination under global capitalism.

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Situated at the Halifax Seaport and home to 8 provincial cultural federations, the Culture Federations of Nova Scotia is located in the Immigration Annex building at 1113 Marginal Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Working for the advancement and rights of the visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia, Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) is an inclusive, province-wide non-profit organization, reflecting the richness and diversity of the Nova Scotia visual arts sector. Acting as a leader on issues affecting visual artists, advocating support and advancement of the visual arts in the provincial and national arenas, and being a resource for visual artists and the arts in Nova Scotia, the public frequently consults and refers to VANS, regarding the visual arts in Nova Scotia.

For additional information on VANS, please click here; for more information about this talk, please contact  902.423.4694, 1.866.225.8267, vans@visualarts.ns.ca.