Diversity Counts: Gender, Race, and Representation in Canadian Art Galleries

by Anne Dymond

Despite the common belief that art galleries will naturally become more gender equitable over time, the fact is that many art institutions in Canada have become even less so over the last decade, with female artists making up less than 25 per cent of the

264 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2019

Reviews

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a bit lopsided in terms of how much detail Dymond goes into, both in terms of which/how many institutions she focuses on as well as how much attention she pays to crunching the numbers vs giving actual background on hiring decisions, shows and scandals, etc., "Diversity Counts" is a really significant book that is, as Dymond says herself at one point, only the tip of the iceberg for what should be done in the field. It was really jarring to see the numbers neatly laid out, regardless of how "old" they are and how supposedly conscious museums say they have become. The diversity situation is bad across the board in Canada, and gender representation is not the worst representational category if compared to how represented Indigenous and POC artists are. I'm really glad this was an assigned reading for a class as I won't be able to walk into a museum or look at their exhibition schedule the same way after reading Dymond's book.