Trading on Art

The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement reinvented the concept of North America as a cohesive whole, united by free trade. But within the bold concept of continental unity lay a paradox. While art was mobilized to frame the new narrative, culture itself was explicitly excluded from the agreements that implemented this vision.Trading on Art brings culture to the fore by examining how artworks, exhibitions, and museum programs from the 1980s to 2010 mediated North American free trade, from government-supported cultural diplomacy initiatives to activist art that confronted impending US hegemony.Sarah E.K. Smith reveals how Canadian artists engaged with, contested, and reflected on free trade, paying particular attention to the ways in which art was used to forge ties between Canada and Mexico and to circulate ideas about North American identity. Her nuanced analysis convincingly makes the case for the centrality of art in conceptualizing continental unity.

Sarah E.K. Smith is an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture, and Global Relations, and leads the Practitioner Media Lab. She is the author of General Idea: Life & Work and co-editor, with Sascha Priewe, of Museum Diplomacy: How Cultural Institutions Shape Global Engagement. She is a co-founder of the multidisciplinary research network the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, a member of the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance, and an editorial board member of the Canadian Journal of Communication. She also has an active curatorial practice.