The Candahar

Theo Sims

The Candahar is a detailed recreation of a Belfast public house, named for a South Belfast Street. The installation is complete when staffed in collaboration with two Belfast bartenders Chris and Conor Roddy, who act as unscripted performers. The project fuses the authentic with fantasy, spectacle with stage, and at its heart acts as a catalyst for conversation, debate and dialogue – and a pint here and there. 

Since its first presentation at the Alberta College of Art and Design in September 2006, The Candahar has been exhibited at the 2007 Biennale de Montréal, as well as exhibitions at PlugIn ICA, Winnipeg, and The Rooms, St. Johns. Its last installation was hosted by Presentation House Gallery as part of the Vancouver Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad in 2010. The Candahar has also hosted performances, artworks, and interventions by Rebecca Belmore, the Rodney Graham Band, Stan Douglas, Kevin Schmidt, Jeremy Shaw, and Eli Boronowsky, among others. 

Social interaction is at the heart of Sims’s The Candahar, a sculpture that invites our participation, and how we might consider the familiarity of a neighbourhood pub as a proposition for something more. Theo Sims has been an Artist in Residence at ACAD from early November 2011 rebuilding The Candahar in collaboration with the college’s faculty, students, and the local community.  

During its four month exhibition at ACAD, The Candahar will serve as a site for talks, performances, and events as part of the Creative Common initiated by ACAD faculty and guests. The Creative Common is a forum that brings together dynamic and creative individuals to discuss/debate issues informing perspectives on art & design practices. The Common is designed to extend opportunities for dialogue - to provoke new understandings of the intersections of theory and practice, and to inform the processes of critique - in settings that support personal reflection and engagement.