Curatorial Statement

MULTIPLE SELVES - STRANGE DESTINATIONS

Amidst the towering brick chimneys and cavernous factories of Liberty Village: a mountain of metal; a barricade of barrels; lights pulsing SOS. Road blocks, camouflage and motorcades, characterize a state of political anxiety, where daily life is hijacked by the imperatives of political protocol; by the relentless and banal liturgies of media propaganda; by the spectacle of death through state-sanctioned violence.

Drawing on black humour, irony and grotesque beauty, artists explore the furtive and fugitive machinations of societies at cross-roads. From the unhomely perspective of the transnational subject, these artists contend with a contemporary dystopia.

— Haema Sivanesan

Biography
Sivanesan recently relocated from Sydney, Australia to Toronto, where she is currently the Executive Director of SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre). Her curatorial work has focused on art from South and Southeast Asia, with an interest in relationships between contemporary and historical art forms. Haema's curatorial work is enriched by her various experiences of living, working and traveling in Asia. Haema was formerly the Assistant Curator of Asian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia, and she was the curator of a critically acclaimed exhibition of contemporary art from South Asia for the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival, Melbourne, 2006. She is currently working on a range of programs and new initiatives for SAVAC.