A portion of this interview first appeared in the Info Edmonton Summer Guide 2021.
For 15 years, 5 Artists 1 Love has celebrated Black communities in Edmonton during Black History Month, with particular focus on local art, music, dance, and poetry. Their anniversary year includes a featured exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta, now on display from June to September 2021 (after being rescheduled due to pandemic restrictions). The lineup of 15 local artists includes Raneece Buddan, AJA Louden, Emily Schouten, and Shumba Ash—all alumni artists who have been featured in 5A1L shows over the years. Unique, diverse artworks fill the entire second floor of the AGA, and curator and 5A1L founder Darren W. Jordan is eager for the public to finally get a chance to experience the exhibition.
Aside from the pandemic, how does the experience of this anniversary compare to the first show you had in February 2006?
Darren: I remember the first time that we did this, and this frenetic energy that you just, I don’t know—it’s not anxiety, it’s excitement, and I have a very similar feeling right now. I’m excited because we’re about to do something new. And the other thing is scale: it’s on a much larger scale. The first day that we did this, we were wondering if anybody was gonna walk through the door. You’re wondering if this is gonna click, and it did, and we haven’t looked back.
This time, I want to make sure that as many people can see it as possible. It’s funny because we were poised to have a show that should be a full room, but because of the pandemic we won’t have it like that. So although I’m excited and I’m happy to share this work with people, I am a little disappointed that it can’t be done the way it should be done.
What about now exhibiting in the main gallery at the AGA?
Darren: We have been at the AGA for 10 years, thereabouts. While we were there, we had always been relegated to the community gallery—that’s in the basement. I didn’t even realize there was a basement until somebody pointed that out… My goal has always been to have a show in the main gallery. That’s always been a goal. Prior to that, anything having to do with marketing and getting people through the door, that was our machine because we had a foothold in our community… Now that the scale is much larger and the AGA have got more skin in the game, they’ve been really helpful and really supportive in terms of helping market the event. We’re really appreciative of that, but we come to the table with a built-in audience as well. The idea would be, we have our audience that will show up and have done so for the last 15 years, and now, with the AGA being more of an integral part of the marketing, we’re opening it up to other people who might not normally be aware.
How was your first visit of the exhibit?
Darren: It was almost the feeling of reverence. It’s not church, but it’s just a very powerful, very vibrant, interesting exhibit. It just kind of breaks down that whole homogeneous view of Black people. It’s very diverse, even visually. Every corner has something different. You’ve got a sculpture over here, and then you’ve got photography over here or a mural over there— it’s just a really diverse, interesting space and a good representation of the art in this city from Black people.
Could you tell us a bit more about this year’s theme?
Darren: When we do the art show, the artists are never tethered with a particular theme. The featured artists are encouraged to do what it is that they do. Because we [usually] do it in Black History Month, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to do with anything about Black History Month or it doesn’t have to be afro-centric in theme if they don’t want. So if your jam is that you paint flowers—that is what you love, that’s what you do, that’s where your skill lies, and your passion—then we encourage people to do that… This year, for the first time, we’ve got an overarching theme. It’s called “Black Every Day,” but even with that theme, the artists are still free to do what they want… There’s a huge movement right now for people to acknowledge anti-Black racism and take a stand against that, which is great. It’s shining a light on some areas that some people were unaware of. So it’s illuminated some areas and opened up some opportunities, but we’re living our life. Whether it is fashionable or really popular right now to take that stand and get involved—which is fantastic, it is—we’re still here, we’re still Black, we’re still living our lives and doing what we do regardless of what public opinion is.
How does the 5A1L YouTube channel tie into the exhibit?
Darren: Right now, it’s mainly being used for the performance aspect of the show. But going forward, there’s a lot of potential with the channel.
As the curator, what have you learned over the past 15 years?
Darren: Every year, it renews my faith in the depth of talent in this city. I think we’re at a world-class level with a lot of our artists here. And the work doesn’t end. You have to keep hustling and you’ve got to keep pushing forward, and then you take these opportunities to move forward when you can.
Who else made it possible to bring this exhibit together?
Darren: I have an exceptional team. Natalie Meyer is my artistic director. Monique McFarland is our exhibit consultant—she’s been involved for years and is working out of Calgary now. And Jeff Hendrick is my music director, and he’s been with me since day one. We’re constantly battling over what this thing is supposed to look like, but we’re still friends, we’re still talking, and we’ve got 15 years of really good entertainment to show for it. We work closely with a variety of people that have really helped this move forward. TD Canada Trust has been a wonderful sponsor, Edmonton Arts Council has also helped keep this thing going over the years, and Edmonton Community Foundation has been helping us out.
But the other thing is that, once we got to a certain point, we took on a sponsor as well, and that is Autism Edmonton. There’s actually a video on the website that explains why they’re connected to us, but long story short, I work in mental health and I have done for my whole adult life… and I’ve made a lot of referrals to Autism Edmonton to families if they’re discovered that their children have been diagnosed, and I have an 11-year-old boy, and when he was two, he was diagnosed with autism—like, the irony behind this is palpable. But I remember once I got that diagnosis, the people I went to were Autism Edmonton… and when 5 Artists 1 Love got to the point where we got some really good traction and we had this built-in audience, I immediately brough them along with us, and so any time we do an event, they always have some sort of recognition.
In previous interviews, you’ve often expressed a strong advocacy for creating your own space if there isn’t space already available. How do you think that’s resonated with the artists that you’ve been working with over the years?
Darren: There certainly have been people that have expressed gratitude for being a part of the show because it’s opened up a lot of doors for a lot of people. The other thing that I absolutely love is that it has established collaborations that may not have happened in past. So people have done shows together or they’ve collaborated on projects or now they’re reaching inside this thing to access resources from each other. There’s a community. I’m not gonna say that we created that community—I’m not gonna say that 5 Artists single-handedly did that. What I would say is that, back when we started it, that was not a thing. People were doing their work, but for us to be under one roof in that capacity, it certainly wasn’t happening. Now, any given summer I can go to an art show that is hosted by organizations or people and it’s created by Black people and that space is there for us. And it’s not me, you know, I don’t have a hand in some of these particular events. I love the fact that that’s happening. There’s more of that scenario where people are creating spaces for Black artists to promote and show their work.
