Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts
Festival & Conference Fall 2021

This year, Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Fall 2021 | Art in the Time of Healing: The Importance of IBPOC Arts in Planetary Renewal will explore the role of IBPOC artists and organizations in the time of healing and renewal as our society emerges and reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We aspire to explore the many ways in which the arts and healing will support cultural impact, civic engagement and deeper understanding of emerging digital frameworks with a focus on planetary renewal. This exhibition will feature work by Quentin VerCetty, Gustavo Artigas and Alysa-Beth Engel.

We are excited to release our new publication Living in the Skin I am In: Experiential Learnings, Approaches and Considerations Towards Anti-Black Racism in the Arts edited and compiled by Kevin A. Ormsby and charles c. smith.

Exhibition Dates: Dec. 7-16
Free to attend | No RSVP required.

Opening Reception and  Book Release: Dec. 8 at 7:15pm
Ticket: $10 | RSVP required | Cash Bar 

Location: Daniels Spectrum Hallway Galleries
Daniels Spectrum (2nd Floor)
585 Dundas Street East
Toronto, Ontario M5A 2B7

Daniels Spectrum is open to the public Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm. Saturdays and Sundays closed. Wheelchair accessible.

Please note: Due to Covid-19 regulation, NO walk-in are allowed for the exhibition opening and you must register and meet Covid requirements for entry: https://tinyurl.com/GDprotocol2021
Proof of double vaccination is required when entering the exhibition opening.
Exhibition opening tickets are $10. Register here for exhibition only OR register at Aki studio’s online box office for exhibition and evening performances (6pm).

CPAMO acknowledges the support provided by Toronto Artscape Inc for this exhibition.

Interested in attending the conference Dec.  8-10?
Visit our website for more details: https://wp.me/p3jYa5-bVuMh
Register for In-person in-person event register at Aki studio’s online box office.
Tickets: $10 for an evening. Covid-19 regulation for entry: https://tinyurl.com/GD-2021-protocol
Register to attend online via Zoom (FREE):
https://the-gathering-divergence-fall-2021.eventbrite.ca

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email info@cpamo.org

Artists Bios: 

Quentin VerCetty

Winner of the 2010 Governor’s General Bronze Medal award and the 2020 Joshua Glover Memorial competition, Quentin VerCetty is a multi-award-winning, multidisciplinary visual griot, artpreneur, educator, artivist, and an ever-growing interstellar tree. As one of the world’s leading Afrofuturist a-r-tographers, an artist-researcher-teacher practitioner, he coined the terms “Sankofanology” and “Rastafuturism” as well as co-editing Canada’s first contemporary art book on Afrofuturism, Cosmic Underground Northside: An Incantation of Black Canadian Speculative Discourse and Innerstandings (2020).

Through his work, he hopes to continue to honour his ancestors, engage minds, inspire hearts, and help to make the world a better place.

Gustavo Artigas 
| Born in Mexico City in 1970 | Lives and works in Toronto and Mexico City |

Over the last 25 years, Artigas has experimented with different media and visual art modalities such as Sound Art, Site-Specific Installations, Performance Art, Relational works, light pieces, and painting. Some of his most recognizable works relate ludic structures to disaster situations. His pieces dialogue with a with a wide variety of issues, from the political to the social identities and became part of the booming group of contemporary Mexican artists that emerged in the 90´s and made an important impact in the international art scene.  He considers his work habit as “a constant intent to tie a good knot using loose ends.”
Artigas’ vision took his work to the Venice Biennale, the Liverpool Biennial the Havana Biennial and other important international art forums.
Alysa-Beth Engel is a visual artist and writer. Her work explores Jewish identity, vulnerability and tikkun olam (healing the planet). Alysa’s art is informed by the rise in antisemitism and a hidden threat to her spinal cord. She draws her brain MRI images and hides messages of peace and healing. Alysa is an artist member of Print London, and Open Studio Contemporary Artist Centre, where she was previously the archivist and sales manager. Alysa was a contributing writer for D.A., published by the Porcupine’s Quill. She worked at Sotheby’s (London, UK), trekked solo in Nepal, and summited Mount Kilimanjaro. Alysa’s art is in corporate, public, and private collections nationally and abroad.