Art Metropole

04 - 25 Oct. 2013

Info Bomb: The Subcontinent Newsroom

A Project With Other Asias & Aam Awaam

Co-presented by SAVAC & Art Metropole

Schedule:

Saturday, October 5, 6:51pm–11pm
Nuit Blanche

Tazeen Quayyum performing (9–11pm) from The Subcontinent Newsroom.

Venue: Art Metropole
Drinks courtesy of FUSE Magazine, food catered by Chef Le Tigre

Wednesday, October 9, 7–9pm
Opening Reception and Performance

Eshan Rafi conducting one-to-one performances from The Subcontinent Newsroom.

Venue: Art Metropole

Tuesday, October 15, 7–9pm
Screening and Discussion

Video works by Jon Soske & Rajee Jeji Shergill, BerlinBorderCast and Monika Love. Discussion with Francis Cody, Neelika Jayawardana, Jon Soske & Rajee Jeji Shergill, moderated by Indu Vashist to follow.

Venue: Media Commons, University of Toronto, Robarts Library, 3rd floor, 130 St. George St., Toronto.

Saturday, October 19, 2–4pm
No Reading After The Internet with Fatima and Zahra Hussain.

Cheyanne Turions will be moderating this event with artists Fatima and Zahra Hussain, live form The Subcontinent Newsroom.

Venue: Art Metropole

Fatima and Zahra Hussain, founders of Other Asias transnational art collective and Aam Awaam, an online radio station are Artists-in-Residence with SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) at Art Metropole. Taking theorist Paul Virilio’s concept of the “Information Bomb” from the book of the same name, Fatima and Zahra Hussain will be reporting daily from the “The Subcontinent Newsroom”, where they will compile information and reactions by artists to a fictitious document, which is the kernel of Info-Bomb.

This fictitious document, written by Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Sir Cyril Radcliffe in 1947, has been discovered in 2013. The document states that the borders of the South Asian Subcontinent, will once again be re-drawn, 67 years after independence, to “restore peace and harmony within the region.”

Other Asias has commissioned a group of artists and writers to respond to this document. Throughout the month of October 2013, international and local artists, and art collectives, will create videos, web-based works, articles, photographs and conduct public interventions throughout Toronto. In addition to public screenings and performances, the artists’ work will appear in three editions of newspapers, which will be distributed throughout Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area during October.

The Subcontinent Newsroom

Performing the role of newspaper editors, Fatima and Zahra Hussain, will also be creating podcasts based on the art works produced and giving online lectures from “The Subcontinent Newsroom,” housed at Art Metropole.

Info-Bomb is a participatory and discursive way for artists and curators to speak to the ways in which information is disseminated. Employing South Asian border politics as a way in which to address such issues, all the artists and curators involved engage the public using different media and platforms to speak to the ever-changing, imaginary and arbitrary borders of the South Asian Subcontinent.

Participating Artists:
Abdullah Aslam, BerlinBorderCast, Eshan Rafi, Jon Soske, Rajee Paña Jeji Shergill, Monika Löve, Meenakshi Thirukode, Peter J. Hoffmeister, Ayesha Kamal, Tazeen Quayyum & Zuklekha.

Info Bomb Curators:
Fatima Hussain and Zahra Hussain

This Project is a collaboration between two artists-led initiatives Other Asias and Aam Awaam.

OTHER ASIAS is a transnational artists & writers’ platform that is structured through innovative and fluid exhibition formats from Contemporary visual art practice. The initiative is founded and directed by Hamja Ahsan (based in London, UK) Fatima Hussain (based in Lahore & Islamabad, Pakistan) – artists with backgrounds in curating contemporary art, critical theory and theatrical production.

Aam Awaam is project of a creative nature that executes itself through social communication and designed interactions. Aam Awaam bridges gaps between several groups and professions, connecting skilled workers to establish a nomadic discourse of exchange, awareness and development. Aam Awaam is based in Lahore, Pakistan and is run by Asif Kanji, Fatima Hussain and Zahra Hussain, a collective of creative practitioners.

SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) is an artist-run centre dedicated to the development and presentation of contemporary visual art by South Asian identified artists. Our mission is to produce innovative programs that explore issues and ideas shaping South Asian identities and experiences. We encourage work that is challenging, experimental and engaged in critical discussions of visual forms and processes, offering new perspectives on the contemporary world.

SAVAC on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

For information please contact:
Sharlene Bamboat, Artistic Director, SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre), 401 Richmond St. W., Suite 450, Toronto ON M5V 3A8
416-542-1661
savac.net

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