Gita Hashemi: Like Flesh and Blood

In partnership with Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts

Part of Gita Hashemi’s larger project, Passages, Like Flesh and Blood finds its starting point in the memoirs of Joseph Emin (1726-1809), an Armenian born in Iran and raised in Bengal, who traveled to Europe to garner support for Armenian liberation. Emin’s journey unfolded during a period when European colonialisms were competing with one another and fast consolidating across Asia, Africa and the Americas, a time when settler states were growing out of merchant colonies. Join us for a walk to hear Emin’s accounts of his days as a migrant labourer, learn about contemporaneous developments on Turtle Island and “re-discover” Toronto, the land of the Mississaugas.

Events

Opening Reception & Artist Talk
8 May 2015
7 – 9pm
Beit Zatoun

Walking Tour w/ Naomi Binder Wall and John Croutch
3 May 2015
2 – 4pm
Meet at the equestrian statue in Queen’s Park North
Facebook event

Naomi Binder Wall is a long-time community activist and organizer, a writer and a teacher. She was the founding president of the first Adult ESL instructors’ bargaining unit in Canada. She teaches Women’s Studies at the University Partnership Centre, Laurentian University at Georgian College.

John Croutch is an Anishinaabe member of Wikwemikong Nation. He is a member of the Council of Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Toronto, and works with First Story as a co-conductor of the Great Indian Bus Tour. John previously worked with Muskrat Magazine. He has spoken at various institutions on First Nations identity and food.

Gita Hashemi’s practice spans thirty years and encompasses visual, media, performance, site-specific and live art strategies. Focusing on historical and contemporary issues, her award-winning work explores social relations and the interconnections of embodied language with cultural imaginary and politics. Born in Shiraz, Iran, she lives in Toronto.