to make a careful or detailed search, or to examine a subject in detail…
TEXTBOOK DEFINITION OF ‘DELVE’ – OXFORD DICTIONARY
Welcome to delve!
delve is an arts platform that serves to make room for the voices and perspectives of young creators, especially underrepresented voices from the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities, diving into the reasons they create, as well as the methodologies that they employ.
Founded in 2021 by University of Guelph Art History students Callie Gibson and Christopher Lim, it aims to make (but not hold) space for young artists and academics to engage critically with the issues that inform their diverse practices.
On top of our publishing effort, we aim to foster connections among young creative professionals through various programming and educational initiatives, giving them the opportunities to develop their skills and appreciation for visual culture in an environment that extends beyond the classroom and into the professional world. In this regard, we utilize a number of different platforms in our mandate to make more accessible different perspectives and lifeways in the arts.
delve publishes an anthology of written work twice annually,currently corresponding with the University of Guelph’s Fall and Winter academic semesters. Occasionally we may publish an online Summer digest depending on the submissions we get. Our content is freely available both online, and in print. Donations from any sales of our print anthologies will be redirected to a number of community organizations that benefit BIPOC and gender/sexually diverse individuals. If you are looking to find out more about how you can participate, you can check out our Submission Guidelines, or learn more about how you can become involved in the publication.
Our Editorial Vision
delve Magazine recognizes that it exists in an increasingly crowded cultural space that remains under threat due to chronic underfunding and underappreciation of the arts. Our editorial vision aims to counter this by giving a platform for individuals who have traditionally struggled to get their voices heard in a cultural space that has often sought to exclude them. We have a strong belief in the arts, not as a reified set of aesthetic objects, but as a form that embodies a diverse array of epistemes and ways of being. On this note, our editorial mandate operates on four “I” pillars that guide our curatorial and decision-making processes.
Intersectional
The expression of culture is often one that is deeply rooted in a multiplicity of standpoints that resist the compartmentalization and categorizations of academia. Art often exists where identities, narratives, and histories intersect. Rather than inherently classify these intersections as points of tension, we aim to show them as elements that coexist and inform one another to enrich our shared cultural fabric.
International
We aim to portray culture as a powerful vessel that unifies people. Cultural identity and expression often transcends nation states and boundaries, and many artists are using these increasingly global narratives to inform their work. Anne Ring Petersen spoke to the art world not as monolith, but as a collection of co-existing cultural spheres. The formation of incredibly complex identities and narratives is reflective of just how interconnected we have all become.
Inclusive
Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do at delve. It is our belief that cultural institutions ignore pluralism at their own peril. We aim to publish work that is reflective of the diverse and interdisciplinary practices and ideas being explored by a wide range of artists both locally and internationally. We aim to be a platform that counters the dominant cultural narratives that have often suppressed or erased the perspectives of many young and marginalized artists.
Introspective
By critically engaging with art and culture in ways that question how they have been traditionally conceived, we uphold our desire to be introspective. In learning and exploring culture in an unconventional manner, not only do we learn the perspectives of others, we enrich our own by finding out more about who we are and how we express ourselves and engage with both our histories and futures.