Tag: AGYU

Nuit Blanche comes to York University’s Keele Campus

Mu Cephei, 2021. Image Credit: June Parsons, Allan I Carswell Observatory

On Saturday, Oct. 1, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., a collective of York University organizations and faculty present this multi-experiential program, including a public conversation with Dele Adeyemo and Nehal El-Hadi; live music performances by Exmiranda, Sydanie, and Keysha Freshh; immersive video projections by Jennifer Dysart, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Chris Chong Chan Fui, Gayil Nalls; AR and VR interventions by Dolleen Tisawii’ashii Manning, Mary Bunch, Jenn E. Norton, and Michael Palumbo; and sculptural, sonic and video installations by Holly Ward, Lou Sheppard, Michaela Pňačeková, Deirdre Logue, and Jawa El Khash; and more.

The title Streams~ identifies shared commonalities between this concatenation of projects that translate and show us how elements in nature are contained and controlled; planted and extracted; forged and processed; displaced and discarded. Many of the works included in the evenings program examine how we occupy and interact with environmental ecologies from streams to stars as both subject and medium while others revamp and redirect streams of thought by scrutinizing how histories are conveyed, disseminated, and preserved; all share a social position that uses art to both disrupt and restore how we share the continuous flow of our experiences and knowledge. Streams~ are land, people, and consciousness. They can also be endless.

The AGYU shares the work of an esteemed group of artists and curators in alignment with the artistic vision for Nuit Blanche 2022 by University of Winnipeg Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Julie Nagam, (Métis/German/Syrian), who is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts, Collaboration and Digital Media and the director of Aabijijiwan New Media Lab at the University of Winnipeg, which follows her “The Space Between Us,” an extensive research project addressing the complex social dynamics of diasporic communities commingling as a whole “to build new spaces and families, shifting their relationships and connections to each other and to place.”

Participating artists and curators
Dele Adeyemo • Mariel Belanger • Roberta Buiani • Mary Bunch • Dave Colangelo • Nina Czegledy • Patricio Davila • Lorella Di Cintio • Jennifer Dysart • Nehal El-Hadi • Jawa El Khash • Exmiranda • Kavi • Keysha Freshh • Chris Chong Chan Fui • John Greyson • Karina Iskandarsjah • Lou Sheppard • Lydia Johnson • Dolleen Tisawii’ashii Manning • Jean-Pierre Marchant • Janine Marchessault • Immony Menn • Agnes Meyer-Brandis • Lisa Myers • Gayil Nalls • Hodari Newtown • Jenn E. Norton • Joel Ong • Michael Palumbo • Patricia Pasten • Michaela Pnacekova • Sydanie • Holly Ward • Jay Young • Deirdre Logue • Grace Grothaus  • Brian Harris • Hrysovalanti Maheras • Raewyn Turner  

Program schedule
7 p.m. to 7 a.m. – All installations and exhibitions are open. The majority of programs are located around the central core of York’s Keele Campus surrounding the Harry Arthur Commons and the York University Subway Station.

7:30 to 8:30 p.m. – Trans-epistemic Mapping with Dele Adeyemo and Nehal El-Hadi. Location: The Nick Mirkopoulos Screening Room, Accolade East Building (ACE 004). Doors open at 7 p.m.

7 p.m. to midnight – Night sky viewing at the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory. Location: Petrie Science and Engineering Building, third floor.

11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. – Vanguard Voices in Hip Hop featuring Exmiranda, Sydanie & Keysha Freshh. Location: The Harry Arthurs Commons (across from Vari Hall).

A booklet and map will be produced by AGYU and distributed throughout the evening. The majority of sites are wheelchair accessible. For special accommodation, contact Huaihong Li, administrative assistant, AGYU, by email at hhli@yorku.ca.

Collaborating organizations at York University
Art Gallery of York University
Allan I. Carswell Observatory
Archive/Counter-Archive
Archives of Ontario
Peripheral Visions Lab
Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology
School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD)

Travel to the Keele Campus
The best route is to arrive by TTC using Subway Line 1 to York University Station, which will be running all night. It is wheelchair accessible and close to many of the Nuit Blanche projects. Event parking is available in the York Lanes and Vanier parking lots, payment can be made through the HONK Mobile app.

Acknowledgements
Streams~ Nuit Blanche 2022 at York University is coordinated by the Art Gallery of York University led by Clara Halpern, assistant curator, and Jenifer Papararo, director/ curator with support from Mallory Silver, events and communications coordinator and Shawna Teper, assistant director, government and community relations at York University.

Archive/Counter-Archive projects curated by Janine Marchessault and produced by Asad Raza. Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology program is curated by Joel Ong.

AMPD celebrates a ‘Year of the Arts’

Year of the Arts featured image for YFile

From September 2022 to May 2023, the York University School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) will host a Year of the Arts to celebrate the power of imagination in creating positive local and global change.

More than 60 scholars, artists, and designers will run 20+ events, including curated installations, exhibits, performances, and presentations, engaging in meaningful dialogue with diverse communities on York University Campuses, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), across Canada, and around the world.

Sarah Bay-Cheng

“With the return of in-person activities and the resurgence of the arts and design in all forms, now is the time to celebrate the Year of the Arts,” says Sarah Bay-Cheng, dean, AMPD. “AMPD is uniquely positioned to lead this exciting endeavor as one of the most comprehensive schools of arts, design and culture in Canada. AMPD is home to leading faculty members, researchers, and creatives; state-of-the-art facilities; and a thriving landscape for experimentation, exploration, and learning.”

Over 15 community partners will help produce the Year of the Arts alongside AMPD, including the Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology led by its Director and AMPD Computational Arts Assistant Professor, Joel Ong. The partnerships range from municipal partners like the City of Toronto and the City of Markham to international institutions like the LAZNIA Centre for Contemporary Arts in Poland.

“Arts-based research is foundational in developing industries, advancing innovation, and creating and sustaining equity across all sectors – not just the entertainment arts & culture industry,” says Ong “With the Year of the Arts, we are bridging the gap between the university and wider society by demonstrating that art, activism, and knowledge are central to creating positive change in communities and society at-large.”

Kicking off a Year of the Arts

AMPD’s Year of the Arts will kick off in time for Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night celebration of contemporary art with a multi-site exhibition, symposium, book launch, and more.  

Sensoria: The Art and Science of Our Senses 

On September 26 with Sensorium’s multi-site exhibition and symposium, Sensoria: The Art and Science of Our Senses, will launch in partnership with LAZNIA Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) in Gdansk, Poland. The project will be held simultaneously in both locations and will include in-depth conversation about the knowledge-creation potential of artists and scientists collaborating in innovative ways. 

Nuit Blanche + RUTAS Symposium: A Home for Our Migrations 

On September 27, Laura Levin, AMPD Associate Dean-Research and six community partners will host “Nuit Blanche + RUTAS Symposium: A Home for Our Migrations,” a series of workshops, installations and talks with leading arts equity scholars and creators concerning the integration between emerging artistic practices and growing migration and environmental crises. Running until October 3, the symposium was developed in collaboration with the City of Toronto, RUTAS Festival and Aluna Theatre and Hemispheric Encounters.  

Book launch for Holding Ground: Nuit Blanche and Other Ruptures 

Also on September 27, AMPD’s Year of the Arts celebrates the book launch of Holding Ground: Nuit Blanche and Other Ruptures, which commemorates the 15-year history of Nuit Blanche through an edited collection of essays and full-colour images by artists, scholars, curators and contributors. Co-edited by AMPD Professor in Cinema & Media Arts, Janine Marchessault, the book brings together historical, contemporary and future-oriented understandings of this large-scale public art event. 

As part of Streams ~ Nuit Blanche 2022 organized by AGYU, AMPD’s Year of the Arts will showcase works examining how art can both disrupt and restore how society shares experiences and knowledge at various sites across the city.  

Included in the installations are All Vows by Design Assistant Professor, Gabi Schaffzin; On, Around and With Water by Visual Arts alumna, Nicole Clouston; Variations on Broken Lines by Nava Messas-Waxman Visual Arts PhD student; Fluid States by Holly Ward, assistant professor in Visual Art & Art History; and Emerging from the Water: Asigi’idiwag (Gather) by Mary Bunch, assistant professor in Cinema & Media Arts. Two curated exhibitions are also included as Year of the Arts contributions – Biophilia : Artist and Archive, and the previously mentioned Sensoria: The Art and Science of Our Senses. 

Held in collaboration with the Archives of Ontario and the AGYU, Biophilia: Artist and Archive is curated by Marchessault, who is also the principal investigator of the Archive/Counter-Archive project. It features six media art works installed across the York University Keele campus.  The event will also see the launch of CineMobilia, a new mobile infrastructure dedicated to digitizing archival moving image material. 

For more information on AMPD’s Year of the Arts and a full list of events, visit ampd.yorku.ca/year-of-the-arts.