symposia

Mentoring Artists for Women's Art invites you to attend MAWA's spring symposium - Art Building Community, May 9, 10, 11 in Winnipeg. Join us for a weekend of socially engaged art and dialogue. This interdisciplinary, multimedia weekend symposium will consist of critical and participatory discussions, workshops, video screenings, exhibitions and performances taking up the theme of "art building community." The symposium will provide a dynamic and creative space for artists, activists, curators and cultural workers to gather with colleagues from across Canada and internationally, to share new work, and to reflect on, interrogate, and discuss the ways in which art can be, and is being mobilized to build different kinds of communities. What is the range of socially engaged art practices in community? What kinds of "communities" does art build? How does art address some of the most pressing issues of our time such as poverty, the impacts of colonization, gender and racial inequalities, and the need to develop compassionate and caring communities of belonging? How can art be used to engage the public in community issues and civic responsibilities? Sessions throughout the weekend will explore topics such as: negotiating power dynamics in a community based practice, art and the law, interventionist work within art institutions, curating community, issues of process in community engaged work and exploring the "materials" of a social practice, such as relational skills and social analysis.

The Winnipeg Foundation and the Winnipeg Art Council have joined this project by funding new work by nine Winnipeg Artists: Pay Aylesworth, Liz Garlicki, Cheyenne Henry, Kristin Nelson, Suzi Smith, Kathryn MacKenzie, Kerri Lynn Reeves, Nicole Shimonek and Becky Thiessen. These artists will create work addressing a range of community, interventionist, cultural animation and new public genre art practices. The critically acclaimed, dynamic performance duo, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, will be performing at the symposium on Saturday night. Toronto artist, writer and activist Robin Pacific will be addressing the complications and challenges of community art practices in her plenary talk on Sunday. Her work includes community art, cultural animation, and mapping, painting, multimedia, public art and installation. Joining us from Mexico City is the internationally acclaimed artist Minerva Cuevas. In search of an interface to activate social change, Minerva Cuevas's work is based on interventions and political action linked to creative and artistic fields. Minerva Cuevas will be joining us at the symposium as well as creating new work while she is in Winnipeg. Join us at MAWA to launch her new work on Saturday.

This project is curated by Roewan Crowe, Academic Director of The University of Winnipeg's Institute For Women's and Gender Studies. The symposium is being generously sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through a partnership with the University of Winnipeg's Institute for Women's and Gender Studies of the Global College.

Art Building Community Symposium