The Shifting Plane of Performance

Thursday, April 26 – Saturday, April 28, 2012

Co-presented with South Asian Visual Arts Centre, Toronto

The Shifting Plane of Performance is a series of performances, symposia, and a discussion forum that examines contemporary developments and directions of performance art, its relationship to social practice and relational aesthetics, and how performance functions beyond North American or European models. The three-day platform will open with a performance by the Montreal-based artist, Ali El-Darsa on Thursday April 26th.

This will be followed by an intensive symposium on performance on Friday April 27th, and will culminate in a moderated discussion forum on Saturday April 28th. The symposium and forum are funded through Diane Borsato and Stephanie Springgay’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant “The Institute of Walking: Research and Creation in Relational and Interventionist Arts Practices” and produced in collaboration with the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto, and co-curated by Swapnaa Tamhane.

The symposium is planned to coincide with Diane Borsato’s show, Terrestrial/Celestial, at the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU)– opening Wednesday April 4 from 6-9pm. The exhibition continues until June 10, 2012. Diane Borsato: Terrestrial/Celestial is curated by Emelie Chhangur.

Thursday April 26  6pm
Performance by Ali El-Darsa Entr’acte

Friday April 27  5:30-9:30pm
Symposium

Panel 1: Positions of Performance Today
Christof Migone, Director/Curator, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, Mississauga; Antawan Byrd, Doctoral Student, Art History, Northwestern University, Chicago; Swapnaa Tamhane, Artist/Curator, Toronto; Ambereen Siddiqui, Executive Director, South Asian Visual Arts Centre, Toronto.

Panel 2: Performance not merely as performance
Darren O’Donnell, Artistic Director, The Mammalian Diving Reflex, Toronto and the Torontonians; Vesna Krstich, Curator, Toronto/London; Wanda Nanibush, Executive Director, ANDPVA, Toronto; Jimena Ortuzar, PhD student, The University of Toronto; Amish Morrell, Editor C Magazine.

Panel 3: Institution vs. Public Space
Stephanie Springgay, Assistant Professor, OISE, The University of Toronto; Emelie Chhangur, Assistant Director, Art Gallery of York University; Jess Dobkin, Artist/Curator, Toronto; Jorge Lucero, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Kim Simon, Curator, TPW.

Saturday April 28  1-3pm
Forum
Moderated by Matthew Goulish, Adjunct Full Professor, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.