In the summer of 2019, Ilene Sova—artist, educator, and founder of Feminist Art Collective (FAC)—approached me to be on the jury for Feminist Art Fest 2020. We had met in 2017 when I participated in the FAC Residency, and we kept in touch over the years through our mutual interests and bourgeoning friendship. FAC exemplifies everything I've come to understand about how feminist organizing should work to end systemic oppression (in contrast to how it often does) and, as a result, I was ecstatic to work with Ilene again.
I joined a jury of artists, curators, and educators to review this year’s submissions. Shortly after the final artist selection, which included more than 60 artists from across the globe, Ilene asked me to lead the curation of the exhibition. I enthusiastically obliged, and was joined by fellow artists and curators Adrienne Matheuszik and Michelle Peraza.
None of us had ever undertaken such a massive project before, but we approached it by continuously reflecting on how we would want our own artistic practices to be represented. It was imperative to us that the artists benefitted from the exhibition of their works. Without artists, there would be no work to curate, no work to criticize, and no work to program. Artists are the foundation for every other type of career in the arts. And yet, being an artist is the most precarious position and the most susceptible to exploitation.
Furthermore, I know how vulnerable it is to make this type of work—work that speaks to oppression, exposes trauma, and personalizes the political. Putting deeply sensitive stories into the world is courageous and deserves to be honoured, if not with financial compensation then at the very least with critical and thoughtful engagement. My fellow curators and I were also conscious of museum fatigue, and made great efforts to curate a show that did not feel cluttered or overwhelming for attendees. We wanted attendees to be able to experience as much of the exhibition as possible and actually remember the names of the artists whose works resonated with them.
As you may imagine, the curatorial process was both challenging and enriching.
Some things exhausted our capacities and resources, while other things played to our skills and strengths. The end result was an exhibition in the Great Hall, Anniversary Gallery, and front lobby of OCAD University from March 2 to March 14, 2020. We received a lot of heartwarming feedback from participating artists, fellow FAC volunteers, and the general public—including that this was the strongest exhibition in FAC’s eight-year history.
Below, I highlight some of my favourite exhibition photos accompanied by memorable stories of the artworks pictured. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Learn more about all the exhibiting and performing artists at factoronto.org/2020-artists and read the curatorial statement I wrote here.
Shelby Lisk’s listen to your ancestors’ dreams (2019) hangs behind me as I explain the drawing to the left. During the installation weekend, her partner’s kids were kept busy with some arts and crafts. They taped it to the wall before leaving and we decided to leave it up for the exhibition. I consider it an intergenerational collaboration and a response to the call to action in Shelby’s work.
Pictured above is The Brown Paper Bag Test (2016-2018) by Ashley A. Jones, which speaks to the painful legacy of colourism among African-Americans. The “paper bag test” was used as a marker of privilege and beauty—if you were lighter than the paper bag, you passed the test. The text across the bags reads: “YOUR BEAUTY IS NOT DEFINED BY THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN.” Ashley was my studio mate when we completed the FAC Residency together in 2017.
Jannah #1 (2019), a 14ft x 9.5ft multimedia tapestry by Hangama Amiri, wraps up this level of the exhibition. This is among some of the smaller works in her colourful and lively oeuvre, which speaks to themes of cross-cultural dialogue and Afghan feminism.