Defying the Margins

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Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

June 2, 2023

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Defying the Margins brings together works by established and emerging artists, designers, and writers from OCAD University in Toronto, Canada and the artistic community at Alice Yard in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Defying the Margins embraces interdisciplinary approaches that explore the Caribbean as a space rather than a place, grounded in community and land-based practices. To defy the margins is to question hierarchies of power and influence. Whether the margin functions to keep something in or out, how can we reposition ourselves to see beyond these pre-determined boundaries? The artists here showcase completed and developing works related to ritual and performance, collective identity and diaspora, as well as the natural, artificial, conceptual, and sonic environs of Alice Yard and Port of Spain. Some artists focus on the body as their medium, while others experiment with a variety of technical processes and their creative applications. Defying the Margins facilitates a collaborative exchange between Alice Yard and OCAD University, inviting students and professional practitioners into the same space for a period of two weeks. The resulting exhibition is the product of this exchange, which has positive implications for all participants on a social, cultural, and artistic level.

Defying the Margins features work from fifteen artists from Toronto and Port-of-Spain, including Anisha, Rhonda Chansoo, Celine Suelyn Choo, Madeline Collins, Holly Enns, Olivia Eyre, Khushi Jetley, Yuxi Ji, Sebastien Mean, Farzaneh Moallef, Ananda Poon, Luis Vasquez La Roche, Marinna "Mahrinnart" Shareef, Madalyn K. Shaw, and Elechi Todd.

Curated by Madalyn K. Shaw. With special thanks to Christopher Cozier and Esery Mondesir for organizing. Supported by OCADU International as part of the Global Experience Project (GEP), generously sponsored by The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.