Presenting Gallery 101's first online exhibition and panel.
PAGKAKAISA (pag-ka-ka-eesa) speaks to building solidarity between migrant and Indigenous communities by connecting stories and celebrating empowering possibilities. Grounded primarily in grassroots community organizing, the pieces of this exhibition set out to visualize how trust is earned within and across communities, through ways of communicating and addressing hurts and consent.
With backgrounds in community and sexual health, artists Andi and RJ analyze the tensions manifested by internalized racism, community divide and competition. Their works explore a future of inclusive resistance, where approaches to dismantling oppressions are boundless and kind.
The exhibition will manifest as two Zoom events taking place on Sunday June 21st and Sunday June 28th, from 4-6 PM. They will include an artists' tour of the exhibition, and panel discussions on solidarity and its various intersections within Ottawa's diverse BIPOC communities.
Panel recordings are being added to G101's Pagkakaisa playlist (youtube).
About the Artists
Andi (she/they) is a queer Ilocano Filipinx artist and community health worker based on Algonquin Territory. In their interdisciplinary practice they work with photos and textiles for print and installation. Their work revolves around intersectional diasporic identities, precarious livelihoods and the juxtaposition of movements.
RJ (they/them) aka Roland is Saulteaux–Cree, originally from Saskatchewan and is currently living on Algonquin Territory. They are a Two Spirit, Non-Binary and Queer multimedia artist, storyteller, facilitator and educator in the topics of decolonizing our approach to Gender and Sexuality.
Andi and RJ acknowledge the support from City of Ottawa's Diversity in the Arts 2020 funding program.
About the Panelists
June 21st
Marisa Gallemit is an Ottawa-born visual artist and culture sponge. Informed by womanhood, motherhood and third culture shock, her practice spans sculpture, assemblage, site-specific installation, storytelling and arts advocacy. Through an ongoing exploration of found objects and repurposed materials and a commitment to social practice by means of art programming in non-gallery spaces, Gallemit’s work leans deeply into Buckminster Fuller’s query: “Now how do we make this spaceship work?”
marisagallemit.com/
Kosisochukwu Nnebe is a Nigerian-Canadian visual artist. An economist by training and a policy analyst by profession, her visual arts practice aims to engage viewers on issues both personal and structural in ways that bring awareness to their own complicity. Her work has been exhibited at AXENEO7, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Place des Arts, the Art Gallery of Guelph, the Nia Centre, Studio Sixty Six, Z-Art Space, Station 16, and the Mohr Gallery in Mountain View, California,. She has given presentations on her artistic practice and research at universities across Quebec, including Laval, McGill and Concordia, and has facilitated workshops at the National Gallery of Canada, the Ottawa Art Gallery, and Redwood City High School in California. She is currently based in Ottawa.
colouredconversations.com/
Hannah Reyes Morales is a Filipina photographer and National Geographic Explorer whose work documents tenderness amidst adversity. Her photography, both visceral and intimate, takes a look at how resilience is embodied in daily life. Based in Manila, Reyes Morales’ work explores the universal themes of diaspora, survival, and the bonds that tie us together.
Publications include: The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, The Southeast Asia Globe, Newsweek Japan, CNN Philippines and The Atlantic.
hannah.ph/
June 28th
Artist RJ Jones will be joining panelists Lukayo Estrella and Carrington Christmas
Lukayo Estrella is based on the territories of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Wyandot, and currently resides and travels between the cities of Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. They have organized with OPIRG, No One Is Illegal Ottawa, Migrante, the Bilog ng Bulan Collective, and other groups and organizations. At the 4th International Babaylan Conference, they were part of a panel called "Navigating the Intersections of indigenous and settler colonial identities", presenting their paper "Filipino indigenous forms of healing and settler colonial mentality in Canadian social work: an autoethnography."
Lukayo.com
Carrington Christmas is a Two Spirit Black-Scotian, Mi’kmaw, and German woman living in Dish with One Spoon Territory. She is an aunty, storyteller, traditional singer, public speaker and is passionate about empowering Indigenous youth and Indigenizing education. She began her academic career in Political Science and Indigenous Studies but found strength, community, and knowledge outside of academia. Carrington has over 9 years of experience in developing and delivering projects for grassroots communities and at the provincial, national, and international levels. Grounded in teachings of great love and great kindness, she believes that laughter is medicine, and relationships built on reciprocity and mutual respect will lead to radical change.