Commissioned by the TORONTO 2015 arts and culture festival PANAMANIA, presented by CIBC and is also a proud IGNITE community partner. NS was produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.
NS is an online photographic exchange project between Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto, Canada), PH15 Foundation (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and OCAD University (Toronto, Canada).
In this international project, artists in Canada and Argentina worked collaboratively online for six months to create photo-based projects exploring connections between and within different places that are oceans apart. This project links photographers at various stages of their careers on a cultural exchange that blurs geographic and cultural borders. The images created through this collaboration are exhibited on nsphotoproject.com as well as at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Canada) and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Buenos Aires (Argentina).
Works in the exhibition examine themes that are socially relevant in our current contemporary landscape. Cecilia Estalles collaborated with the curators to create a documentary using personal testimony from family and friends, narrating Gina's story, a trans woman who was killed by the police in 1987. She also incorporates photographs from the Trans Archives in Buenos Aires. Zinnia Naqvi and her partner Melania Liendo create parallels between the history of Aboriginal people and the effects of colonization in Canada and Argentina.
During the PanAm Games, Gallery 44 will exhibit the artwork created during this exciting collaboration, featuring images produced in Toronto and Buenos Aires. The photographs will also be on view in ten bus shelters throughout the City of Toronto.
Opening reception: Friday July 17, 6-8 pm @ Gallery 44, 401 Richmond Street West, #120
Walkthrough with the artists: Saturday July 18, 2-3 pm @ Gallery 44, 401 Richmond Street West, #120
In partnership with OCAD University, we are hosting a roundtable discussion on collaborative art practices with NS curators and artists as well as key members in the Toronto community. Members of the public are invited to participate in this open dialogue. This event will be held at OCAD University, 113 McCaul Street, 5th floor, Room 525 on Wednesday July 22, 6pm.
In addition to the exhibition at Gallery 44, this exhibition will be on display at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Buenos Aires (MACBA) from August 29 to September 7, 2015.
ARTISTS:
Toronto: Mark Kasumovic, Giselle Mira Diaz, Zinnia Naqvi, Candace Nyaomi, Maju Tavera
Buenos Aires: Lujan Agusti, Nahuel Alfonso, Cecilia Estalles, Santiago Hafford, Melania Liendo, Sofia Manrique
Curated by Jasmine Bakalarz & soJin Chun
