40 Years of Israeli Occupation Exhibit: Opens May 1st
Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that celebrates working class culture. This years Mayworks festival will include an exhibit titled: 40 YEARS OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION opening on Tuesday May 1 - Saturday June 16 @ the Toronto Free Gallery, 660 Queen Street East Opening Reception: Tuesday May 1, 6 pm and tour of exhibit at 7:30 pm, Admission Free! Â
This visual arts show is both a documentation and confrontation of the lives and experiences of Palestinians living under Israeli military Occupation. The quality of life of Palestinians is nothing short of sub-standard, living in enclosed spaces without freedom of movement and up to 75% unemployment is only the beginning. Firmly rooted in a belief that art is an important tool to influence social movements and political action, curators Nahed Mansour and Simone Schmidt aim to expose the injustice of Israeli Occupation and challenge us to check all the media stereotypes at the door, in order to genuinely consider the voices of these artists in relating their experiences.
The work of Palestinian visual artists Nidal El-Khairy and photographer Muthana Al-Qadi will be featured. Other contributing artists include Mirna Abdo, Freda Guttman, Shannon Muegge, Rocky Dobey, Jon Elmer, Jon Bonnar, Stefan Pilipa and Simone Schmidt.
Organized and co-presented by Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and co-sponsored by Toronto Free Gallery.
Also, part of this years Mayworks festival is the:
IMPLICATING ART IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS WORKSHOPÂ
Sunday May 6, 1-4 pm, Free
Toronto Free Gallery, 660 Queen Street East
Registration required: email info@mayworks.ca
What is the role of the artist who sees him/herself as a political force in this world? What power does the artistic community have to effect change? Facilitated by Simone Schmidt, this workshop will address the usefulness of art and artists in social action, as well as to contextualize the artist in today's political climate. Activists and artists will be presented with a multi-media display of trends in campaign-affiliated art and art actions in historical battles against segregation and apartheid, as well as within the anti-globalization movement of our very recent history. Emphasis will be put on doing!
Organized and co-presented by Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and co-sponsored by Toronto Free Gallery.
For more information on the exhibit or workshop please contact endapartheid@riseup.net
For information on the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign visit: www.caiaweb.orgÂ
For a listing of all MayWorks functions please visit: http://www.mayworks.ca/