Revisiting Woven Currents—Confluence of Parallels

The Espresso Bar is set to re-open on Level 1 of the AGO in the Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Sculpture Atrium! Visitors will not only be treated to hand-crafted espresso-based beverages and light snacks but also a picturesque view of the work of one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Learn more about it below. 

Suspended in the Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Sculpture Atrium, Woven Currents—Confluence of Parallels (2020)  is a large-scale installation composed of hanging Venetian blinds and LED tubes. The Sculpture Atrium was designated early on as the site for the commission, in large part due to Yang’s interest in the layered architectural history of the space—living proof of the AGO’s numerous expansions and built forms since 1901. The work is one of two works commissioned by the AGO, coinciding with the first North American survey of the artist’s oeuvre, Haegue Yang: Emergence on view in 2020. 

Haegue Yang, Woven Currents – Confluence of Parallels, 2020. Aluminum venetian blinds, powder-coated aluminum hanging structure, steel wire rope, LED tubes, cable, Dimensions Variable. Purchase, with funds from Eleanor and Francis Shen, the David Yuile and Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund, Women’s Art Initiative, the Janet and Michael Scott Fund, the Contemporary Circle Fund, the Ivey Foundation Contemporary Art Endowment Fund, funds from Sandra and Leo Del Zotto, the Jay Smith and Laura Rapp Fund and the Molly Gilmour Fund, 2020. © Courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali Gallery, New York. 2020/22.

“Woven Currents—Confluence of Parallels exposes the layered architecture of the AGO and makes its intricate history visible,” says Yang. “The genesis for this work was the Two Row Wampum Treaty of 1613, a belt made from wampum shells that I learned about while at the AGO. The belt is an agreement between the Five Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and the Dutch government. I was struck by how powerful this treaty is, unlike legal documents we are accustomed to, and how an object can clearly convey a lasting message about the values, hopes and beliefs of those who created it. These thoughts led me to connect the parallel lines of the wampum belt, which map a trajectory for two very different peoples, to the linear structure of Venetian blinds. Like history itself, these lines are entangled.”

Two Row Wampum Belt. Courtesy of the Woodland Cultural Centre 

In the Two Row Wampum Treaty, two parallel rows of purple beads symbolize two vessels—the Haudenosaunee canoe and the Dutch ship. The belt’s composition suggests the two boats might travel side-by-side through the water in peace and non-interference—though, as history has shown, these treaties are not always respected, and the paths were never so smooth.

Admission to see Woven Currents—Confluence of Parallels is free for AGO Members, Annual Pass holders and visitors aged 25 and under. AGO Members can enjoy a 10% discount at the Espresso Bar.