By Sinha Danse & Constantinople at Fleck Dance Theatre in Toronto on November 19, 2015 

Four dancers, three musicians and a visual artist experiment here, guided in turn by the Indo-Armenian dancer and choreographer Roger Sinha and Iranian-born gatherer of musical pearls Kiya Tabassian, immersed in dialogue. From the universal quest for identity to the collective epic, a creative gesture like the dreamlike echo of a world reconciled.

Constantinople’s exquisite music stirred Roger Sinha deeply on first listening. Kiya Tabassian and Roger Sinha are from different Eastern cultures and are both influenced by the North American and Quebec cultures they live in. All of these histories shape their work together. Equally, the artists they work with – the dancers, musicians, designers and artistic collaborators- all come together to create what you see on stage. This is what migration is about; not only when a group of people move from one place to another, but when diverse groups of people meet, commingle and find a common language.

For more information:

Videos: Excerpt http://vimeo.com/sinhadanse/sunyaexcerpt

Full Length http://vimeo.com/sinhadanse/sunya

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/1696344137254959/

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE: Monday, October 5, 2015  | 12:30pm – 5:30pm

Location: COBA | 585 Dundas St E, Suite 130 |Toronto, ON M5A 2B7

KasheDance and COBA have been in dialogue about collaborative initiatives since COBA acquired its space at the Daniel’s Spectrum and KasheDance has been using the space for its rehearsals.  To participate in and provide information on these explorations in strategic partnerships, both companies have much to offer to Indigenous and ethno-racial arts organizations.  COBA is an older organization, KasheDance an emerging one, and the potential of their exploration of mutual collaborative support goes beyond the urgency of the need and originates in the continuity and sustainability of ethno-racial arts organizations in Canada by documenting sectoral developments already working and having conversations on possible collaborative models.

For COBA this means further solidifying the organization’s sustainability; for KasheDance, it means providing aide in its growth. Further, KasheDance’s Artistic Director is passionate about creating toolkits for use by others and this process offers the potential for collaborative exploration that would be beneficialto a
ll CPAMO’s members and other Indigenous, ethno-racial and marginalized arts organizations.

There will be one full day workshop offered by the Artistic Director of KasheDance and the co-Artistic Director of COBA.

These will focus on:

• the explorations both organizations are navigating regarding shared use of spacewhere COBA would provide space to KasheDance which in exchange would help by volunteering at COBA events or sharing the artistic expertise of the dancers over the year;
• KasheDance’s offer of an Artistic Associate as a teacher in COBA’s dance training program in exchange for office space/studio space. Hours worked would/could be used in COBA’s facility in the form of Studio space or Office Hot desk since KasheDance has no physical space for its small operations and this would be a resource that could benefit it’s organizational development.

The workshop will illustrate the importance of the ways in which negotiating between peers to arrive to at mutually benefiting results. Both presenters will be exploring though various methods and practices how to arrive at assessing the need and methods to fruitful collaborations.

Takeaways:

• Building a Case for your collaboration
• Learning how to assess your needs in collaboration
• Learning about creating mutual agreements / contracts for collaborations
• Acquiring knowledge of collaborative practices
• Applying a Story based model of collaboration for marketing / grants

Fee: $20 Regular | $15 Underemployed | $10 Student
Registration: http://2015-16-cpamo-workshops.eventbrite.ca

 Image credit: Maria Hupfield’s Artist Guided Tour, performed at the McCord Museum Montréal, Iakwé:iahre Colloquium October 2014’. Photo taken by Scott Benesiinaabandan

Free Event – The Aboriginal Curatorial Collective (ACC) is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! Please join us for this special gathering at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) on Sunday September 20^th.

Please RSVP online.

We will honour our founders and the many people who have greatly contributed to the ACC and the Indigenous curatorial community. Without their initial vision and drive to make the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective a reality, the course of Aboriginal arts in this country would have been very different. The ACC has enabled Indigenous artists, curators and critics to claim a space within the discourse of contemporary art and voice their knowledges and understandings so that these may be valued and respected. Two of the original founders will be in attendance, Ryan Rice and Ron Noganosh, while others will attend by Skype. Members are welcome to say a few words if they wish.

We will also hold a talking circle to discuss Aboriginal artistic and curatorial practices: how have these evolved through the years and what needs to be accomplished as a collective to make a difference in the future?

Following the circle, Lisa Myers, current AGO artist-in-residence, and the ACC invite you to share a traditional feast. Lisa and the AGO’s chef Renee Bellefeuille have created the menu together. At the end of the meal, the spoons stained by berries will be collected to become part of her stop-motion animation project entitled Each Portion.

After the feast, we will hold our Annual General Meeting. We will review the many accomplishments of the last year and discuss our future projects.

For our final event of the day, Wanda Nanibush, Anishinabe-kwe artist and guest curator at the AGO will guide us through the Canadian Galleries. The commented tour will focus on the work of Aboriginal artists in the collection, notably Robert Houle, Greg Staats, Christi Belcourt, Jaime Koebel. Bonnie Devine, Toronto-based artist and member of the Serpent River First Nation will also be present to speak about her installation, Battle for the Woodlands.

The ACC-CCA would like to thank Lisa Myers, Wanda Nanibush, Bonnie Devine, and a special acknowledgement to the Art Gallery of Ontario for their collaboration in this event.

Schedule:

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM            Opening prayer by Pauline Shirt / Welcome

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM              Honouring ACC founders and Talking circle led by ACC

01:00 PM – 2:00 PM              Participatory project and feast with Lisa Myers

02:00 PM – 4:00 PM                 2015 Annual General Meeting

04:00 PM – 5:00 PM              Canadian Galleries tour with Wanda Nanibush and presentation by Bonnie Devine

Note** The by-laws were sent out by electronic transmission on August 22nd to all current members of the ACC. If you did not receive these, then we do not have your current membership information. If you would like to renew your membership or become a member (it’s free!) please consult the link below: http://www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org/about/membership/membership-application/