Artropolis 1987 sous-fonds

Sous-fonds consists of records relating to the planning, administrative, fundraising, promotional, documentary, and curatorial activities of the Vancouver Artists League and the Unit 306 Society for the Artropolis 87 exhibition.

Sous-fonds is arranged into the following series:

1. General documents series (6-1.1)
2. Printed matter series (6-1.2)

Artropolis: Exhibition of Contemporary British Columbia Art, was held from October 3rd to 31st, 1987 in a converted warehouse at 788 Beatty Street. Its objectives were to challenge viewers to re-examine their ideas about the state of art; to provoke community awareness of art practice and production; and to encourage local and provincial support for public arts funding. Approximately 18,000 people attended the exhibition, which featured the work of 185 artists and included a music and video section.

Seven curators selected artwork for the seven thematic/media areas which made up the exhibition: "Urban Renewal", addressing the reappearance of the urban as subject; "Artropolis Performance", works which included combined live performance with media, and manipulated media presentations; "Self-image: By the Artist, as the Artist", focusing on the idea of contemporary artist and artwork as subjects; "Vox Populi" presented notions of peoples' power to push the limits of accepted media formats and concepts; "Les Enfants Terribles", works with playful/child-like elements; "Artropolis Video", an exploration and maintenance of the video medium; and "Music Artropolis", comprised of non-traditional works that combined sound and text.

Artropolis organizing personnel consisted of a board of directors, including a chairperson/exhibition coordinator, curators and an advisory board. Other staff included a curatorial coordinator, marketing/promotions and fundraising officers, a site manager, and volunteers.