[spectre] MONITOR 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video: Toronto 24 March 2011

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SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) presents



MONITOR 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video

Programmed by Ayesha Hameed


Featuring works by Nabil Ahmed (UK), Karen Mirza and Brad Butler (UK),
Smriti Mehra and Tahireh Lal (India), Nahed Mansour (Canada), Jane Chang Mi
(USA), Md Hasan Morshed (Bangladesh), Sharmila Samant (India), Vivek Shraya
(Canada), Ambereen Siddiqui (Pakistan/ Canada), Asim Waqif (India) and The
Torontonians (Canada). 




Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video is an annual experimental
short film and video screening program that showcases independent work by
South Asian artists from Canada and around the world. Monitor 7 brings
together 12 new works that explore the relationship between everyday
objects and the moving image in our rapidly changing global society. The
films and videos included in Monitor 7 use playful, personal and creative
strategies of coping with shrinking public space and growing economic
disparities.

Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video was programmed by
performance and video artist Ayesha Hameed, who is also a Postdoctoral
fellow at the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths
University of London, UK. 

Highlights of Monitor 7 include a joyous performance video by a local
artist collective called The Torontonians in How to Be a Brown Teen (2010).
Indian artistSharmila Samant, examines fear and longing of birth and
destruction in her uncanny video The Dilemma (2010) and award-winning duo
Karen Mirza and Brad Butler examine everyday activities in Karachi during a
period of civil unrest, developing a resonant critique of traditional
documentary practices in The Exception and The Rule (2009).

Dinesh Sachdev, Founder of Filmi, Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival and
member of the Monitor 7 jury says: “Monitor 7 audiences can expect to be
surprised and moved by cheeky, smart and poetic films this year, which
resonate with the pulse of the global South Asian diaspora. I think Toronto
audiences should always be aware of the ever evolving identity of the
Global South asian diaspsora.”

Pablo de Ocampo, Artistic Director of Images Festival adds, “Taking part
in the Monitor 7 jury this year was a real treat for me—a chance to see a
really wide ranging selection of South Asian artists from across the globe
and each of those works representing a different perspective and voice. As
a collection of short work, the program shows the many ways in which
questions of cultural identities and experiences can be addressed through
film and video. Having seen several editions of Monitor over the past few
years, I'm always impressed with the diversity of talent represented in
these screenings, and this year was no exception.”

Sanjay Ratnam and Ahash Jeevakanthan from the artist collective The
Torontonians are thrilled about the world premiere of How to be a Brown
Teen: “"It feels good to be part Monitor 7; some brown adults can finally
see the basic truth about how their kids see them. Brown kids have rights;
we can be white if we want to." 

Artist Biographies



Nabil Ahmed is an artist and musician living and working in London. His
practice involves working with people, software, video, audio and text to
form critical responses to relevant political questions. He is the
co-founder of Call & Response, for London’s Research Architecture at
Goldsmiths, University of London.

Karen Mirza and Brad Butler have been actively involved in the London art
scene for over thirteen years. They received the 2009 production grant from
the Museum of Contemporary Cinema Foundation Madrid, they were Festival
Award winners at The 2010 Chicago Film and Video Festival and were
nominated for the 2010 Transmediale Award Berlin.

Smriti Mehra and Tahireh Lal are Bangalore-based video artists. Mehra
completed her MFA in Media Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and
Design at Halifax, Canada. She is the artist-in-residence at the Centre for
Experimental Media (CEMA) and also teaches at Srishti School of Art, Design
and Technology, where Lal completed her BFA from in 2008. Since then she
works at CEMA and makes experimental videos.

Nahed Mansour completed her MFA at Concordia University in 2010. She works
in performance, video and installations. Her interest around the
representations of gender and racial relationships draw her to personal and
historic archives. Her work has been presented widely including: Nuit
Blanche (Toronto 2009 and 2006), DSVM + Festival (Quebec City, 2006) and
7a*11d (Toronto, 2006).

Jane Chang Mi is concerned with the intersections and boundaries between
her cross-cultural of her Asian heritage and American identity. Her work
explores the tensions between culturally specific symbols and those that
are generic and part of our popular culture. Jane divides her time between
Los Angeles and Honolulu.

MD Hasan Morshed is in the process of completing his Master of Fine Arts
degree at the University of Dhaka. He works in painting, installations and
video. His work have been exhibited widely in Dhaka.

Sharmila Samant is a work deals with issues of globalisation, identity and
consumer culture. She has been awarded residencies at the Rijksakademie,
Amsterdam and Gasworks, London. Recent exhibitions include Against the
Grain at the Biennial of Sydney (2008), Things and Stuff at the 2nd
Johannesburg Art Fair (2009) andSez Who?, Experimenter Art Gallery,
Kolkata (2010).

Vivek Shraya is a Toronto-based artist. Winner of the We Are Listening
International Singer/Songwriter Award, Vivek has released albums ranging
from acoustic folk-rock to electro synth pop, driven by powerful vocals,
incisive lyrics, and tight pop hooks. God Loves Hair, his first collection
of short stories, won the Applied Arts Award for Illustration. Seeking
Single White Male is his first short film.

Ambereen Siddiqui works in photography, video and animation to explore the
personal and political characteristics of being a part of large and diverse
South Asian diaspora in North America. She is currently completing her MFA
in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Shereen Soliman is a new media artist working in single channel video and
video installation. Her work investigates the disconnections of family and
cultural history in contemporary society. Capsule is her most recent video,
which premiered in November as part of the 27th Kassel Documentary Film and
Video Festival in Germany.

The Torontonians are a Parkdale-based art collective, working in
collaboration with research-art atelier Mammalian Diving Reflex. They
create performance, give lectures, make videos, dance on the street, hassle
drunk guys, take photographs, check cell phones, sing songs, play cellos,
draw bunnies, take the TTC, ride bmx and do volunteer hours.

Asim Waqif graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture and
currently works in their faculty. He has worked as a production designer
for films and television. His artwork combines his interests in
architecture, art and design and often deal with concerns in ecology and
anthropology.


Please join us for Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video on

24 March 2011 at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue), Toronto, 7.30pm.


For more information on Monitor 7, please contact Srimoyee Mitra,
Programming Co-ordinator at info at savac.net or call: 415-542-1661


SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre)

450-401 Richmond Street West,

Toronto, Ontario, M5V3A8

E: info at savac.net/ T: 416-542-1661.


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