Fourth Annual Oakville Galleries’ Youth Council Exhibition
Formed in January 2010, Oakville Galleries’ Youth Council (OGYC) is comprised of a group of local teens interested in contemporary art. Driven by a desire to create a youth-oriented art scene in Oakville, the OGYC has organized a broad range of programs and events over the past four years, including this exhibition.
Over a period of several months in winter 2014, members of the OGYC met one-on-one with residents of the Post Village Inn Seniors Residence to create video portraits of local seniors. Each teen was paired with a senior, with whom they conducted in-depth interviews about their life story. These interviews were shot and edited by the teens into short videos, which are presented here.
In capturing the individual life narratives of a community of local seniors, stories of childhood, youth, immigration, work, love, and family emerged readily, as well as unexpected moments of amazement and bewilderment from the teens recording the stories. One teen, for example, interviewed a mother of eighteen children and another was amazed to hear her female subject’s career evolution from chemist to farmer to real estate agent. Stories such as these demonstrate the “age gap” between subjects and interviewers, granting teens a fresh perspective on aging and senior identity.
This project was made possible with support from the New Horizons For Seniors Program through Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC).
