November 2nd, 2019

2-4 pm

Michaela Coyoli, Kadrah Mensah, Curtia Wright

Curated by Natalie King

Please join us for a performance evening and panel discussion in association with ‘waabandiwag’ curated by Natalie king

FREE

Featuring: Michaela Coyoli, Kadrah Mensah and Curtia Wright, moderated by Natalie King

This event will begin with a performance of ‘MAÍZ’ by Michaela Coyoli, followed by a panel discussion. This performance and artist panel will focus on themes discussed within the exhibition ‘waabandiwag’ curated by Natalie King.

The panel portion of the event will include discussion on Coyoli, Mensah and Wrights’ arts practice, ancestral healing, community and connection and QTBIPOC female-identifying folks views on art and making.

waabandiwag (they see each other) calls upon tenderness, joy, radical love, pleasure and ancestral knowledge. This exhibition aims to speak to the courage that is essential for the deliberate act of care, and our dedication to self as well as external communities. Focusing on our collective consciousness, intersections and shared lived experiences, waabandiwag seeks to create a partnership of intergenerational healing as well as collecting and reflecting on our projections of the future, as informed by where we find joy and love. waabandiwag celebrates our resiliency, confirms our creativity and place QTBIPOC women and femmes as leaders, who have always been at the forefront of our collective cultural histories.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Curtia Wright is a multi-disciplinary fine artist and mural artist based in Toronto, Ontario. She’s interested in the way societies perceptions of bodies, specifically black bodies, have the ability to shape their narratives without consent. Her current works delve into the spiritual and mental wellness of African peoples and the link to mythology and disseminating what ‘fantasy’ is and who it belongs to. Her work questions our indoctrinated beliefs of what femininity and blackness are and issues surrounding mental illness.

Kadrah Mensah is a mixed-media artist, with origins from Ghana and Trinidad & Tobago, focused on the integration of art, technology, and culture to expand on representations of existence. At the core of her practice, she explores the ways black queer identity is transmuted by cyber-culture, capitalism, and mental health. Her work takes shape through installation, video, performance, and sculpture.

Michaela Coyoli tonalmeztli Basman Monterrubio. “I grew up in so-called mexico in the mexica/chichimeca tradition to a canadian father and a oaxacan mother. i create for the purposes of community, solidarity, and liberation. i hope to embody. honour. thank. cherish. celebrate. grow. fight. resist. exist. for my ancestors past, present, and future.”

Accessibility: Xpace’s entrance is at street level with no steps. The galleries, office and gender neutral washrooms are all located on the 1st floor. Service animals may accompany visitors at any time. Lighting and fragrance vary per exhibition/event; please contact us if you have any questions regarding these items.