Indo-Caribbean Women Past and Present
Wed Jun 14, 2023 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM EDT
Gardiner Museum, M5S 2C7
Description
Part of the International Ceramic Art Fair, this free panel will address the broad scope of Indo-Caribbean women’s lived experiences in the social, political, and cultural realms from the time of indentureship, through times of resistance in the 1960s, to present day. Each panelist will respond to the exhibition Reclaimed: Indo-Caribbean HerStories by Toronto-based artist Heidi McKenzie, on display at the Gardiner Museum now until August 27.
Ramabai Espinet will reflect on the jahaji legacies of “Coolie Belles” in Caribbean nation states and their expanding diasporas; Nalini Mohabir will trace the trajectory of the role of Indo-Caribbean women’s role in politics shaped by labour movements in the sugar industry; and Joy Mahabir will discuss the literal and symbolic meanings of Indo-Caribbean women's jewellery.
Reclaimed: Indo-Caribbean HerStories is supported by the Toronto Arts Council and the Raphael Yu Centre for Contemporary Ceramics.
About the International Ceramic Art Fair
The International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF) is a 10-day celebration of some of the most compelling recent ceramic art, featuring works by emerging and established artists from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as online and in-person programming by artists and curators.
Many artists are reconsidering how we define ourselves as a species and how these changing definitions can alter our relationships to each other, to other animals and life forms, and to the land we inhabit. The separation of the human and non-human is increasingly understood as porous or insignificant. Clay can be seen as a mediator between the human and non-human, blurring the boundaries with its life-giving properties, its capacity to record and hold human memory, its characteristic of absorption, and its capacity to connect us to the land.
How can we re-orient our relationship to the planet through a more nuanced understanding of our connection to other forms of life? How can emerging discourses of the human shift us toward new and generative understandings of our bodies place in the world?
Join us to view the works at ICAF and participate in the accompanying programs to explore these and other questions.
Location
Gardiner Museum, M5S 2C7