Cathy Busby is Canadian artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has a PhD in Communication (Concordia University, Montreal, 1999) and was a Fulbright Scholar at New York University (1995-96). She has an MA in Media Studies (Concordia University, 1992) and a BFA (1984) from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She has been exhibiting her work internationally over the past 20 years.
“My installations and printed matter address both the physical and discursive space of a project. For example, I work with collections ranging from artworks to advertising slogans (Atrium, Halifax 2010; About Face, New York 2012; Totalled, Ottawa 2004; Inspiring, Halifax 2010). I commemorate little-remembered events (We Are Sorry, Melbourne 2009 / Winnipeg 2010; In Conversation with “They Chose China,” Beijing 2010; Harriet Nahanee, Vancouver 2010). I often use un- or underused spaces (24/7, Aberdeen 2008; Move In Now, Halifax 2010). I begin by re-framing, re-locating, re-organizing and re-purposing what is already there in order to heighten political awareness of taken-for-granted conditions.
One of my best-known works, We Are Sorry (Melbourne 2009 / Winnipeg 2010), commemorated public apologies by Canadian and Australian heads of state to the Indian Residential School survivors in Canada and the Stolen Generations in Australia. While these landmark apologies had been relatively fleeting media moments when they were first delivered, my work prolonged their public presence. In Melbourne, We Are Sorry took place outdoors as part of the Laneway Commissons and the following year it was presented in Eckhardt Hall at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in conjunction with the launch of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2010).”