AN INVALUABLE collection of fake and forged artifacts, books, and visual art – said to be once owned by the prestigious Prud’homme family – was discovered in a Saskatchewan farmhouse attic. None of the pieces – including an ancient bronze vessel and the Quincunx, a poetry collection by Unni Magnuson, best known as a member of the infamous sex Club 57 – are exactly what they seem.
Okay, this is a made-up story. These fake objects do exist, but there is no Unni Magnuson or Florence Baldisseri, said to have created 2,920 self-portraits between the age of 16 and her death at 24. They are the creative output of a literary collaboration between a group of writers and artists, spearheaded by Vancouver authors and academics Claire Battershill and Heather Jessup.