I'm just back from a lovely jaunt to Mexico City, partially for work and partially for pleasure. One of the highlights was seeing the solo exhibitions of work by Marcel Dzama and Leonora Carrington at Galerie OMR. The program pairing was a pleasing match given the politically-charged, compellingly unhinged oeuvres of both the Canadian artist Dzama and the late Carrington, a grande dame of CDMX's surrealist and feminist scenes.
I was also quite taken by the duo exhibition at the Museo Tamayo called Wayamou: Common Tongues, which unites the works of Laura Anderson Barbata (Mexico, 1958) and Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe (Sheroana, Venezuela, 1971). Here's some info from the show's notes:
"During her first visit to Mahekoto-Theri (Platanal), State of Amazonas, Venezuela, Laura learned the art of canoeing from the Ye'kuana people. They, following the principle of “reciprocity”, invited him to teach them something in return. The artist then gave a workshop to make handmade paper with natural fibers attended by young people and children from other communities, including the young Yanomami Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, who decided to become an artist based on this transformative experience.
In 1992, together they founded the project Yanomami Owë Mamotima (The Yanomami art of making paper) as an initiative for the community to narrate the Yanomami story with their own voice, and not from the colonial, religious or anthropological projects that had been established in the area for decades. One of the most relevant publications was Shapono (Casa) from 1996, an artisanal book made of vegetable fibers that contains the story of the origin of collective housing."
To wit, there were some magical material moments throughout the show – I especially loved Hakihiiwe's grouping of acrylic paintings made on Nopal paper 🌵 See a shot I took below.
And I loved Barbata's installations below – more hammocks in museums, please!
Now that I'm back, I'm diving right into the Artist Project fair, which launches this evening with the Opening Night party; tickets for the fête include entry into the rest of the weekend's programming. And I've noticed an official after-party is happening at Gladstone House, for all the night owls out there.
During my tour we'll be spending some time in the fair's Untapped exhibition space, which looks fabulous this year. The programming, which showcases the work of student, new grad, and self-taught artists, features a few creatives I have my eye on including paper artist Seden Lai (below left) and multi-media artist Zhuyu Li (below right).
Saturday, March 14th was such a special day; from the delicious wines and pizza at Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery to the lively collage workshop guided by Paper Bananas at the Niagara Artists Centre, every stop during our Culture ON Tour Niagara uncovered a gem in the region that I'm sure everyone aboard our bus will be returning to! As a first-time visitor to the NAC, I was amazed by the history of the space and breadth of its programming; hanging out in the Centre's charming vintage furniture-filled theatre area was a real treat, too.
Ditto about our tour and talk at the Shaw Festival, where we were taken behind the curtain by a group of incredible docents. We even got to see beneath the Shaw stage, as well as the room where set designers make maquettes for the productions. So cool! I hope to return during the run of Amadeus, which starts July 8th. Costume assistant Sahdia Cayemithe, who I told you about in a previous newsletter, also showed us the notes and references her team uses for the shows, and I heard a few folks from our group remark that they'll be returning for the run of Funny Girl, which starts April 24th, to see the final designs in action.
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Opaloma is grateful to exist on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is currently home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
