Mountains and Rivers Without End (MRWE) began in the fall of 2014 as a joint project between Patrick Mahon, a Canadian artist and Professor in Western University’s Visual Arts Department, and Ulises Unda, an Ecuadorean artist and PhD candidate in the same department. An initial residency in Ecuador brought together Canadian and Ecuadorean artists and scholars; the result of this collaboration was an exhibition in Cuenca, Ecuador in February 2016. A second exhibition is confirmed for June 2016 in Quito, Ecuador. A third exhibition and an interdisciplinary conference will take place in London, Ontario in November 2016, and will be hosted by the Visual Arts Department at Western, the institution where MRWE was conceived and organized. The exhibition will have two main goals: firstly, to give artists, scholars, and the general public the opportunity to experience artwork by six contemporary artists from Canada and Ecuador based on research on the historical, social, and environmental effects of mining in a region of Ecuador. Secondly, the exhibition will act as a catalyst for the conference, to stimulate discussions about the role that socially engaged art can play.
