Art exhibit explores rich history of Atlantic Canadian hip hop

Michael McGuire, who has cultivated an extensive catalogue of Atlantic Canadian hip hop records, is spearheading a new Halifax art exhibit on the art form.

McGuire partnered with the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery to present the “East of East Atlantic Hip Hop Archive,” which spotlights the artists and albums that have made an impact on the region’s music scene.

“I think right now there’s about 2,300 albums in there,” McGuire told CTV News Atlantic’s Katie Kelly. “There are 500-plus posters and then all kinds of just random ephemera that I’ve gathered over the years.

“We’ve got a collection of tapes from over the years going back to the 80s.”

McGuire, who based his master’s thesis on the history of Halifax hip hop, preserves records and other items through his online “East of East” archive.

“The archive was really intended to collect recordings, first and foremost,” he said. There’s so much of it that’s come out of this part of the world and a lot of it is independent.

“I teach music classes. I get to kind of tie in with all of this stuff and get my students involved in learning a little bit about Atlantic Canadian hip hop.”

The new art exhibit lets people explore decades of hip-hop history.

“We’ve got on the back wall here a timeline of artists who have passed through the Halifax hip-hop community,” McGuire said. “We’ve also got a collection of posters on the wall just showing some of the venues and names and artists from over the years, and a long-scrolling video that takes you through all of the recordings in the archive.

“It’s been incredible to see because everybody comes through, they find their names, they find the names of their friends, they find their recordings mentioned or up on a wall. It’s about celebrating all this work and making sure that those names do live on and that work does get celebrated.”

The exhibit runs until Nov. 23.

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