London Ontario Live Arts 2011
Independent Project
Co-ordinated by Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner
Rebecca Belmore Billboard
I AM WORTH MORE THAN ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO MY PEOPLE

Location: Ridout Street at York Street, London, ON, CANADA

November 28 – December 28, 2011

Artist, Rebecca Belmore will be in London, ON and meet with the public at the billboard site, Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 PM

Rebecca Belmore’s gifting of a work of art to the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2010 as part of a performance Worth (Statement of Defense) responding to a 2006 lawsuit waged against Belmore by her former art dealer set off an important debate in the North American arts community.
Belmore’s performance and an ensuing national campaign and fundraising effort raises important questions around ownership, monetization, and the valuation of art given the multiple statuses of art along the continuum from idea genesis to finished object or performance.

LOLA, since its inception in 2006 as an accomplished producer and supporter of Canadian art, has often internally wrestled with the
questions raised by the Belmore controversy around ownership, contractual dynamics and the pragmatics of financing and showing
art and doing so in a manner fully aligned with artist interests.

LOLA is proud to support London artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner in their coordination of The Rebecca Belmore Billboard and wish Belmore a swift resolution.

The billboard is installed in downtown London to give visibility to the issue in London, a city long recognized for it’s cultural activism
and the formation of CARFAC (Canadian Artists Representation) in 1968. LOLA hopes additional debate will continue addressing
the questions raised in this unfortunate episode.

The reception on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 PM will be followed by Rebecca Belmore, Jamelie Hassan, and Ron Benner joining
a concurrent LOLA event scheduled for later in the evening at Museum London.

Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan conceived The Rebecca Belmore Billboard to give moral support to the cultural work and activism of Rebecca Belmore.
I AM WORTH MORE THAN ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO MY PEOPLE billboard references the national campaigns in support of Rebecca Belmore. The text - the first time it is being presented as a billboard - is based on the performance by Belmore, titled, Worth (Statement of Defense) which she performed in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery in Sept. 2010.

"Giving that message to the public restores my belief in the power of art."
-Rebecca Belmore, Nov. 24, 2011

Rebecca Belmore, an Anishinabe First Nation artist based in Vancouver, is internationally recognized for her
ground-breaking video, installation and performance works. Belmore was Canada’s official representative in the 2005 Venice Biennale, curated by Scott Watson and Jann Bailey and since the 1980’s has presented her work in numerous public galleries in Canada and internationally, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

For more information on the artist and this case visit the website: rebeccabelmorelegalfund.com

Rebecca Belmore Billboard I AM WORTH MORE THAN ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO MY PEOPLE
is presented with the support of Paul Walde, Judith Rodger, Randall Gray, Anthea Black, Janice Gurney, Andy Patton and
other supporters from across Canada.

For more information contact:
Andrew Francis, LOLA Founder
andrewpfrancis@gmail.com
1-647-994-0404