THIS WOMEN'S WORK
Photo Credit: Hima Batavia
MYSEUM INTERSECTIONS FESTIVAL
This Women’s Work explores the past, present, and futures of women’s work in Toronto - through the lens of women of colour. Informed by family histories and emerging social and technological changes impacting the world of work, this exhibition features performance, visual art, film, and an immersive audio experience that invites audiences to think critically about possible and preferred futures of women’s work.
Through an intimate portrayal of her mother, Farhiah Shah’s film, And With These Hands, captures the challenges modern women face managing work and familial responsibilities. Skylar Cheung’s embroidery defiantly points to the undervaluing of housework, and Hima Batavia’s durational performance brings to life a women working in a fictional future, based on Memory Work.
Together their pieces point to the pressures and barriers women face, which have only intensified with the pandemic.
Project Leads: Alica Hall, Natasha Singh
Exhibiting Artists: Farihah Shah, Hima Batavia, Skylar Cheung
Futures Research and Soundscape Production: Macy Siu, Asia Clarke, Alyssa Alikpala, Nehal El-Hadi, Robert Bolton, Valdis Silins, Udit Vira, Emily Woudenberg, Tala Kamea, Naomi Skwarna, and Dani Ramez
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CREATIVE TEAM
Hima is an innovation and experience designer and performance and installation artist. She uses rigorous design tools and methods to bring new ideas, systems and experiences from vision to reality. Her artistic practice explores themes of labour, late-stage capitalism, spirituality, healing, death and decolonization.
Skylar Cheung
Skylar Cheung is a Toronto-based visual artist who works in the mediums of yarn embroidery and oil painting. She strives to call attention to underrepresented subjects such as immigrant women and wildlife habitats through her art. Her work is inspired by the activism undertaken by her mother in support of the Scarborough RT. Skylar’s work has been shown in juried art shows such as Workman Arts’ Being Scene and at venues like the Ada Slaight Gallery in OCAD.
Farihah Shah
Farihah Shah is a contemporary lens-based artist originally from Edmonton, AB now based in Bradford, ON. Her practice explores issues of racial identity, land and collective memory. She is a member of Gallery 44 and Women Photograph and has exhibited internationally in North America, Asia and Europe.
At The Moment: Alica Hall and Natasha Singh
At The Moment honours the collective strength of women who are breaking boundaries, using their voices and embracing who they are. We connect women to experiences that celebrate who they are. We share traditions and culture. We curate objects that are rooted in our history but redesigned for modern times.
From Later: Macy Siu and Robert Bolton
From Later is a foresight studio based in Toronto. We monitor and make sense of change, developing clear-sighted and judicious futures perspectives. We develop tools and ways of working that augment our faculties for research, problem-solving, and creativity. We explore the capacities of art, science, theory, and strategy to address complex challenges.