Organized by co-curator Anique Jordan, The Public extends the content of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s current exhibition, Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood back into the community. The Public uses performance, video installation and discussion to explore prominent exhibition themes of land and body working across two community sites, Black Creek Community Farm and Y+ contemporary. The Public is a multi-day, multi-site series.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Abedar Kamgari is an artist based in Hamilton and Toronto. You can see more of her work at abedarkamgari.com. She is also part of Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario until December 10, 2017.

Mariam Magsi is a multidisciplinary artist with an MFA from OCAD University in Interdisciplinary Art, Media & Design, born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and currently based in Toronto, Canada. Magsi has a diverse practice that consists of lens-based works, conceptual installations, performance art, sound, text, and immersive and/or interactive installations. Recently, Magsi has been focused on investigating, reimagining and reclaiming veils, such as the burqa, niqab, hijab and chador. Magsi uses the veils symbolically, realistically and conceptually in her work. Magsi’s areas of research include examining cultural and religious practices, ethnography, LGBTQ rights and intersectional feminism.

Paul Ohonsi is a Toronto based multidisciplinary artist, cinematographer, performer (graduate of the Watah School theatre program), photographer and video director for RISE Edutainment for the past 5 years. His purpose as an artist is to explore his own humanity and from this perspective, tell authentic stories about the human experience.

Esmaa Mohamoud (b. 1992) is an African-Canadian sculptor/installation artist working in Toronto. Her sculptures and installations focus on the navigation of Black bodies in contemporary spaces. Engaged in the politics surrounding Black male bodies in particular, her recent body of work investigated the (in)tangibility of Blackness through the exploration of athletics—specifically, the sport of basketball. With the use of industrial materials, Mohamoud aims to re-examine our contemporary understanding of Blackness and challenge the relationship of blackness as a colour and shade, and Blackness as a societal or cultural construction of a group of people. Mohamoud graduated from Western University’s Bachelors of Art program in 2014. In 2016, Mohamoud graduated from the Interdisciplinary Arts, Media, and Design Masters Program at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. One of the Boys is currently on display at Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario until December 10,2017

Qendrim Hoti is a Kosovar Albanian Interdisciplinary artist living in Canada. He uses his hybrid identity to help him negotiate material culture into artwork. Hoti graduated from the Interdisciplinary Arts, Media, and Design Masters Program at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2017. One of the Boys is currently on display at Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario until December 10,2017

Jo SiMalaya Alcampo is an interdisciplinary artist born in Manila the capital of the Philippines, and raised in Malvern in the heart of Scarborough. Jo’s art practice integrates community storytelling, performance, and electroacoustic soundscapes. Jo has developed arts projects with various communities including queer youth, consumer/survivors of the mental health system, and migrant domestic workers. Jo is a member of Kapwa Collective and Kwentong Bayan Collective.