Final chance to see Transmissions at WAG-Qaumajuq

This exhibition introduces us to a different kind of understanding of the world. Through the diverse mix of artworks on display, the exhibition explores a topic difficult to describe in words – embodied knowledge – a way of knowing that is learned through our physical experiences. Transmissions encourages the viewer to not only think about the knowledge of the body, but also to experience it.

Mariana Muñoz Gomez, Curator in Residence at WAG-Qaumajuq, has been thinking deeply about embodied knowledge. Muñoz Gomez’s approach to curation is informed by community, experience, and research. By structuring the beginning of their residency to include an hour of critical reading a day, Muñoz Gomez delved deep into a variety of works as they began to form the theme of the exhibition. “It was a challenge to think about these exciting themes that are strengthened by community, while feeling isolation throughout the pandemic,” says Muñoz Gomez.

Embodied knowledge deals with the way that the body knows things, as opposed to academic or theoretical knowledge that is stored and generated in the mind. “As I looked at some artwork in the WAG-Qaumajuq collection and thought about artists I wanted to invite, a few more specific themes came up,” says Muñoz Gomez. “There was the recognition of knowledge that we already hold within ourselves; knowledge that emerges through encounters and relation; and the transference of embodied knowledge – in the show it’s coming up more specifically as intergenerational transference and transference within community.”

While embodied knowledge is an instinctive way of knowing for many, the depth of knowledge that is possible through the body may startle those who are first thinking about the concept. When asked how they have experienced embodied knowledge in their own life, Muñoz Gomez points to the process of racialization. While Muñoz Gomez has grown up in Winnipeg, they were born in Mexico, and they remain connected to their family and roots. “In Mexico, I’m just Mexican, nobody really has any opinions or questions about it. Meanwhile, I am racialized in Canada. White supremacy operates in a certain way here and I’m seen as other,” says Muñoz Gomez. “The knowledge that racialization is a process that depends on context and is something that is in flux – that’s something that I’ve learned through my lived experience.” The exhibition reflects this depth of knowledge, highlighting ways of knowing that come from interacting with the world, and how those knowledges are passed on.

These forms of knowledge are often devalued or dismissed in Western societies. While the exhibition doesn’t shy away from these topics, there’s also an acknowledgement of how embodied knowledge is a source of strength for individuals and communities – after all, the body also knows hope, joy, and belonging. Muñoz Gomez has woven these embodied understandings into Transmissions, an exhibition that truly explores the ways we connect to others and ourselves.