Date: Thursday August 26
Time: 7:00 PM
Pre-registration is required for this free online panel discussion. Please register by clicking HERE.
The Workers Art and Heritage Centre’s Youth Council and the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s Youth Arts Collective co-present: Is Art Labour? In this zoom panel discussion, Hamilton-based artists Nim Agalawatte, Adrienne Crossman, Hexe Noire and Sahra Soudi discuss the process of art making and answer the fundamental question: is art work? In the context of COVID-19 where many have turned to books, television, movies and online exhibitions for comfort, has art been highlighted as essential? Panelists share the processes of their own art making in the context of paid employment highlighting the need for art to be respected as work. The AGH’s Youth Arts Collective member Vania and WAHC’s youth council member Sophia Gambale will co-moderate this panel.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Nim Agalawatte (They/Them) is a musician and audio engineer based in Hamilton, Ontario. They moved to Hamilton to study music at Mohawk College and decided to stay after forming great contacts and community within the city. Since graduating Nim has toured Canada, the USA, Germany and the UK with their band Basement Revolver. More recently they have been exploring electronic music through their solo project Sound of Separation
Adrienne Crossman is a queer and non-binary white settler artist, educator and curator currently residing on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples in Hamilton, Ontario. Crossman holds an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Windsor (2018), and a BFA in Integrated Media from OCAD University (2012). They have exhibited across Canada and internationally and are an Assistant Professor in the School of the Arts at McMaster University. Crossman is a co-founder and co-runs the online arts publication off centre and currently serves on the Hamilton Artists Inc’s Programming Committee.Artist
Artist Hexe Noire is created as Hamilton’s first premiere AFAB drag queen as well as founder and Mother of Hamilton’s creative drag coven Haus of Noire. Recipient of The Specs 2020 platinum Readers Choice award for Best Local Artist, Hexe is known for her makeup skills, over the top fashions as well as her ability to bring new and interesting concepts to the stage.
Sahra Soudi is a multimedia artist, curator, educator, and community organizer based in Hamilton, Ontario. They combine their social justice activism and artistic practice to envision more just futures for all. They have advocated for the inclusion and participation of Black and racialized communities, from artist-run centres to national galleries, and DIY venues.
Soudi is passionate about disability justice and centers this framework when thinking about collaborations that enhance opportunities for artists with invisible and visible disabilities. They are an emerging curator interested in disrupting ableism and colonialism that exist within the confines of institutional art spaces. It is through practices that center community frameworks such as mutual aid and transformative justice, that Soudi is able to empower Black and disabled artists
This program is made possible through the support of the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Hamilton, the Province of Ontario, CUPE, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
For more information, please contact Sonali Menezes, Programming and Exhibitions Specialist, at (905) 522-3003 ex. 29 or sonali@wahc-museum.ca