Bisexual deaf poet, Bea Webster, performs a poem in British Sign Language about her return to Thailand.
Kickass local writers, performers, and mediamakers reflecting on pleasure, access, and place in all of its manifestations. At the intersection of disability and queer, visible and invisible, episodic and chronic: check out these artists and thinkers as they rock nuance and traverse binaries, from a queer lens. Emceed by writer and humourist Taylor Katzel.
FEATURING:
Hana Shafi (aka Frizzkidart) – Instagram Artist and Poet Rasiqra Revulva – Musician and Poet Marusya Bociurkiw – Writer and Filmmaker Sanchari Sur – Writer and Academic Patricia Wilson – Poet and Musician “Long Lost Lover”, a film by Sandra Alland & Bea Webster
#StillNotMyPremier: A Teach-in
Two years into his mandate, Premier Doug Ford has implemented far-reaching neoliberal policies that have harmed marginalized communities. At this event, artists, activists and academics reported on their creative strategies to protest the damage done by the Doug Ford regime.
Featuring:
Cathy Crowe, housing activist Candice Leung, TTC Riders Doug Ford Resign Movement Tenzin Tekan, Parkdale Community Legal Services Zainub Verjee, Ontario Association of Art Galleries Rahul Sapra, Associate Professor Akia Munga, Harm Reduction Worker
And a screening of the short documentary film “We Remember Them” by Axelle Demus and Alexander Granger.
“We Remember Them” is a short experimental film about Toronto’s opioid epidemic and Doug Ford’s decision to cut funding for overdose prevention sites in the province of Ontario. Shot on both on film and digital and divided into three interrelated parts, the film is a powerful and poetic exploration of the crisis.
Emceed by Anu Radha Verma, QTBIPOC grassroots organizer in the GTA, and host of Peel Matters on sauga 960 AM.
Arts-Based Research Practices beyond the Research Ethics Board
When research is pursued for the betterment of the community and by the community, what does that look like from an ethical point of view? This round table discussion brought together researchers, artists and community activists working both within and outside the academic boundaries of research. What are the current challenges and ethical questions for those who incorporate community and arts based practices into their research?
Featuring: Laura Heidenheim (Manager, Saagajiwe, FCAD) Natalie King (Artist and Programing Coordinator, Xpace Cultural Center) Alison S.M. Kobayashi (Say Something Bunny!, UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art) Philip Ocampo (Artist and Programing Coordinator, Xpace Cultural Center) Lauren Cullen (PhD Candidate, Communication and Culture, Ryerson University)
This conversation was facilitated by Dr. Miranda Campbell (School of Creative Industries, Ryerson University).
Social Justice Media Fair
From an interactive map of feminist history in Toronto to a Virtual Reality exploration of media activism, students in RTA893/MP8912 Social Justice Media, taught by Dr. Marusya Bociurkiw, collaborated with faculty and community to develop innovative solutions to social justice issues.
to learn the ins and outs of activist research through a deeply experiential process, and getting valuable resume content along the way.
This event spotlighted student’s work and the community groups they worked with.
Laboratory of Feminist Memory II: Place and Displacement
Building on conversations about the disappearance of queer women’s spaces in Toronto, the LABORATORY OF FEMINIST MEMORY II: PLACE AND DISPLACEMENT aims to remember the vibrant and magical spaces we once had, and to rebuild new intersectional queer feminist spaces.This cabaret features an intergenerational, intersectional roster of films, speakers and performers including:
Leen Amarin is a poet, activist and researcher. Committed to equity and anti-oppression organizing and advocacy, she is the co-Founder of SWANA (Southwest Asian & North African) creative collective, Diaspora Express, and a researcher with Canadian Centre on Statelessness currently working on a project investigating the impacts of colonialism on statelessness within the Indigenous communities of Turtle Island. Leen will be performing her poetry tomorrow night at 7:00 PM at Glad Day Bookshop!
Karleen Pendleton Jimenez is a writer and professor at Trent University. Her two books Are You a Boy or a Girl? and How to Get a Girl Pregnant were both Lambda Literary finalists. The first is a children’s book chronicling the adventures and challenges of being of tomboy. The second is a memoir about trying to get pregnant as a Chicana, butch, dyke. She has published numerous short stories and personal essays about lesbian desire, Latina ethnicity, and transgressive gender experience. Her award-winning film Tomboy, has been screened around the world.
Jennifer Aja Fernandes is an accomplished writer. She is a VONA alum, and an attendee of Pink Door for female poets of colour!
Sly Sarkisova, Toronto-based therapist, who will talk about about initiating liminal and inclusive community spaces through event organizing.
Other performers include: Thirza Cuthand and their film “2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com“ Andrea Fatona and her 1994 video “Hogan’s Alley“ Lavender‘s Sica Sacconeand
Death Café
Death Cafés are loosely-structured, salon-style conversations around death which aim to give space for these conversation in a secular, westernized culture wherein they are often quieted. This Death Café is explicitly political and animated by the question: what do cultural understandings of death teach us about how non-normative bodies (disabled and otherwise) are calibrated as both vital and uninhabitable? This Death Café bridges media activism with academia to think about how movements such as disability justice, the Movement for Black Lives, Walking with Our Sisters, AIDS Action Now, and anti-war movements engage death and how this activist engagement with death can shape our scholarship.
Moderated by: Esther Ignagni, Associate Professor, School of Disability Studies Kim Collins, Research Associate, School of Disability Studies Eliza Chandler, Assistant Professor, School of Disability Studies
Inuit Women’s Voices
The event featured the screening of the documentary “Sol”, which examines youth suicide in the North that was produced by Inuit women’s media production collective, Arnait Productions. The screening was followed by a Skype discussion with filmmakers Marie-Hélène Cousineau(Montreal) and Susan Avingaq(Igloolik), moderated by Toronto-based Arnait member Blandina Makkik.
Marie-Hélène Cousineau is an award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of Arnait.
Susan Avingaq has been a participant in Arnait projects since its inception. A renowned seamstress/artist in the Baffin region, she is also active locally in teaching sewing traditions to younger Inuit women.
Arnait Video Productions has promoted the unique culture and voices of Inuit women since its beginnings in 1991. Often working in difficult conditions, the sheer endurance required on the part of the women in Arnait to produce these award-winning video films testifies to the importance of the project in their lives.
Moderator Blandina Makkik was born and raised in Igloolik on the northwestern coast off Baffin Island, Nunavut. From 1985 to 1991, Blandina was the Senior Producer for Inuit Broadcasting and developed the first children’s television programming available in Inuktitut.
Mapping Safe Crip Spaces
Mapping Safe Crip Spaces is an interactive workshop by disability activist and artist Maayan Ziv, who uses digital software to crowdsource and pinpoint accessible spaces across Toronto. Maayan explores with participants the role that media plays in creating accessible communities and shared her thoughts on how such a cultural shift can happen. Workshop participants were asked to imagine media innovation and inclusivity for diverse communities. The event was moderated by artist, organizer, researcher, and educator Dr. Eliza Chandler.
Maayan Ziv is an activist, a photographer and an entrepreneur based in Toronto, Canada. From a young age, Maayan challenged norms and worked within her community to increase awareness of disability issues and improve accessibility.
Deana Bowen: Race + Media + Archive
From Ferguson to Toronto, Black lives have become targets of violence, racism and misrepresentation.In this lecture/workshop co-presented with Black Lives Matter Toronto, acclaimed Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist Deanna Bowen presents her recent work using archives to discuss representations of Blackness and narrative omissions in Canadian & US history.
Deanna Bowen is a descendant of the Alabama- and Kentucky-born Black Prairie pioneers of Amber Valley and Campsie, Alberta. She is an award winning interdisciplinary artist and recent recipient of the 2014 William H. Johnson Prize. Her work has been exhibited internationally in numerous film festivals and museums.
