Our stories are lifelines, traveling with us, tossed between continents, hidden, preserved, pulled out when needed. They are narratives told at refugee hearings, poems written long past midnight, films emerging from long pandemic days, phrases wrought from the scars of exile, the joys of freedom.
A story my father used to tell. As a child soldier during World War II, he was captured and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp. Leaving out the grisly details, he told us only this: in the camp, he made drawings, and then traded the drawings with the cook to get extra food. This simple story sat with me, and became more complicated over time. The drawings at first seemed of little consequence to the story. They were merely currency; the narrative seemed to be about food, and survival. Over time, I understood what enormous risk this eighteen year-old daredevil was taking: if you were caught drawing, you could be shot. I began to understand that the drawing was itself life, as important for survival as the food. The drawings said,
Remediating the Feminist/Queer Archive: Objects in Domestic Space
Home much? In this two-part pandemic edition, we ask our quarantining artist/scholars to consider the home as a generative space for feminist/queer counter archives of all kinds. Artists, activists and poets will share stories that surround personal objects or ‘artifact’s, engaging with questions of archival erasure and resistance while also challenging notions of what a feminist archive is or is not.
Featuring: Laiwan, Margaret Christakos, Fauzia Rafique, Monica Garriso, Zainub Verjee and Shawna Dempsey.
Unsettling the Feminist/Queer Archive: A Roundtable Discussion
Home much? In this two-part pandemic edition, we ask our quarantining artist/scholars to consider the home as a generative space for feminist/queer counter archives of all kinds.
This roundtable discussion brings together young scholars, filmmakers and artists, and curators using feminist/queer/decolonial approaches to think about their engagement with media archives, not only as a research method, but as a material, embodied site. Together, the guests will consider what lies outside of the realm of the institutional and colonial archive, the role of domestic and community archives, and how their creative and scholarly practices make space for other stories, gestures, and modes of being.
Featuring: Ayanna Dozier, Amanda Ann-Min Wong, Morgan Sears-Williams, Geneviève Wall
Race, Accessibility and Online Learning
BLACK IN MOTION: Annual Black History Month events at FCAD.
This event brought together academics, artists, activists and students for a panel discussion about online learning at the intersection of disability, accessible learning and race. Following the panel discussion, there were opportunities for students to share insights from their own learning experiences in order to contribute to a document of best practices for teaching and learning in the pandemic and beyond.
Featuring guest speakers Syrus Marcus Ware, Tamika Walker, Taylor Lindsay-Noel and Gloria C. Swain.
Taylor Lindsay-Noel is a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario Canada. 12 years ago she was a Canadian national gymnast but in 2008 under the coercion of her coach she had a devastating accident that instantly paralyzed her from the neck down for life. Since then Taylor has persevered through adversity and has received a BA in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University. She is currently balancing being a motivational speaker, podcast host, disability advocate, and owner of Cup of Té Luxury Loose Leaf Teas which was just featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things List 2020!
With a loud, charismatic personality and a big heart, TamikaWalker has always wanted to be seen as a resource for those living with disabilities in the Afro-Caribbean communities . Starting her journey in Behavioural Science and Technology at George Brown College, Tamika dedicated 5+ years to working directly with children and youth diagnosed with Autism on skill development across various settings such as group homes, schools as well as IBI. Now as an alumni of the Disability Studies program at Ryerson, Tamika committed herself to changing the ableism that exists within her community. She has attended various events within the Greater Toronto Area surrounding disability and race as well as contributed to a Transnational Disability Studies Course starting in this coming year. Most recently ,Tamika served as a committee member of the Anti- Black Racism Committee for Ryerson University.
Gloria C. Swain is a multidisciplinary Black MAD artist, activist and mental health advocate. Swain works within the mediums of installation, painting, performance, and photography. Her work challenges and connects intergenerational traumas to ongoing colonial violence and mental health. She has shown in Toronto, Manitoba, and Montreal. Swain holds a Community Arts certificate and master’s degree in environmental studies.
We Got This: Care, Boundaries and Community Organizing
Featuring a dynamic panel of media activists, artists and spiritual practitioners alike, this online event explored the ways that the members of our creative and social justice communities protect our collective well-being during a critical period dominated by digital landscapes. From analyzing social media as a revolutionary tool, to mindful lessons in esotericism, this event will provide an educational, healing experience for all who may be seeking it at this time.
Filmon Yohannes, Black Artists Union Chelsea Martin, Toronto’s Manifesto Chloe Kirlew, Spiritual Educator Holly Clausius, Musician/Educator
Activism Across Social Distance
Day four of MAYDAYS! Radical Thoughts on a Pandemic, a virtual event featuring:
Paterson Hodgson, Keep Your Rent TO Irene Lusztig & Shelby Johnson, Radical Quarantine Mita Hans (Caremongering TO) Shelby Johnson, multidisciplinary artist
Hosted by Studio for Media Activism and Critical Thought Co-Directors Marusya Bociurkiw and Meera Govindasamy.
Between May 25 and May 28, 2020, The Studio for Media Activism & Critical Thought hosted a four-night virtual speaker series dedicated to the discussion of radical activism, art and media in the age of COVID-19.
Policing, Surveillance and Control
Day 3 of MAYDAYS! Radical Thoughts on a Pandemic virtual event featuring:
Hosted by Nataleah Hunter-Young, Film Programmer, Writer & PhD Candidate at Ryerson and York Universities.
Between May 25 and May 28, 2020, The Studio for Media Activism & Critical Thought hosted a four-night virtual speaker series dedicated to the discussion of radical activism, art and media in the age of COVID-19.
Pandemic Aesthetics & Poetics
Day two of MAYDAYS! Radical Thoughts on a Pandemic virtual event featuring:
Hosted by Studio for Media Activism and Critical Thought Co-Directors Marusya Bociurkiw and Meera Govindasamy.
Between May 25 and May 28, 2020, The Studio for Media Activism & Critical Thought hosted a four-night virtual speaker series dedicated to the discussion of radical activism, art and media in the age of COVID-19: MAYDAYS! Radical Thoughts on a Pandemic
Radical Health Advocacy
Day one of MAYDAYS! RadicalThoughts on a Pandemic virtual event featuring:
Courtney Skye, Policy Analyst & Freelance Writer. Yellowhead Institute. Claire Bodkin, Resident Physician & Community Organizer. Hamsmart. Sharmeen Khan, Anti-Racist, Feminist Activist.
Hosted by Sima Atri, Social Justice Lawyer & Organizer.
Between May 25 and May 28, 2020, The Studio for Media Activism & Critical Thought hosted a four-night virtual speaker series dedicated to the discussion of radical activism, art and media in the age of COVID-19.
The Laboratory of Feminist Memory: Laugher, Joy, and Pleasure
This virtual LFM featured Sennah Yee, Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, Flarington King, Axelle Demus and an excerpt from Marusya Bociurkiw’s film.
Experiments – Axelle Demus
Axelle Dumas is a Research Assistant at The Studio for Media Activism and Critical Thought. Axelle revisits “Experiments”, a piece written at 15yrs old telling their life story from 0-15yrs.
Bodies in Trouble excerpt – Marusya Bociurkiw
Bodies in Trouble exposes the lesbian body as a battlefield in the context of a right-wing blacklash. Juxtaposing sexual passion with sexual fear, the lesbian eroticism presented by Bociurkiw is inscribed with danger and courage. Using the 1990’s summer raid at the Sex Garage in Montreal as a backdrop, Bociurkiw positions her film as a vibrant and pointed critic of the political and social abuse against the homosexual communities. Marusya Bociurkiw is the director of The Studio for Media Activism and Critical Thought.
Karleen Pendleton Jiménez
Karleen Pendleton Jiménez is the author of How to Get a Girl Pregnant and Are You a Boy or a Girl?, both finalists for Lambda Literary Awards. She is associate professor of education and gender and women’s studies at Trent University. Her film Tomboy has been screened around the world, and look soon for her new book The Street Belongs to Us
History of the Toronto Drag Kings – Flarington King
Flare, aka Flarington King, is an international drag king producer, performer, and documentarian. Having been on the scene for over 20 years, some of Flare’s accomplishments include: Producer of the Fabulous Toronto Drag Kings (1999-2004); Co-Producer of Toronto’s first International drag king show “United Kingdom”; Producer of “World Class Kings” for World Pride, Toronto 2014; International Drag King Community Extravaganza (IDKE) steering committee member for eight years; and Co-Producer/Director of “A Drag King Extravaganza” a documentary about drag kings distributed by Frameline Studios. Also contributes to the website www.dragkinghistory.com. Headliner at the Austin International Drag Festival 2019, 2018 & 2016; Saturday night headliner at Fierce! Queer Burlesque Festival in Pittsburgh 2015; and, headliner of The Great Big International Drag King Show in Washington DC 2008. Flare is known for twisting gender norms by mixing drag and burlesque in provocative performances. One of the first kings in the world to twirl a tassel. From Toronto, Canada.
This event also included the following speakers whose performances were not recorded.
Sennah Yeeis from Toronto, where she writes poetry, prose, and film criticism. She is the author of the poetry/non-fiction collection How Do I Look? (Metatron Press, 2017) and the children’s book My Day with Gong Gong (Annick Press, 2020). Her MA in Cinema & Media Studies focused on gendered robot design in pop culture and technology. Though named after a racecar driver, she has yet to get behind the wheel.
