Curated by Anna Khimasia
31 January – 11 February 2017

The new and experimental Open Space Lab (OSL) turns the empty gallery into a space for research, creation and collaboration. OSL looks beyond conventional exhibition formats, offering artists the opportunity to explore, develop, test and talk about new ideas or artworks.

Each of three editions of the OSL runs for a period of seven to days and will involve a unique public component. For this first edition of the OSL, join Toronto-based artist Gita Hashemi in the gallery and online as she creates Grounding, a new embodied writing performance. Hashemi’s work starts with her dream of a space where writing fully intertwines with embodied gestures and performative expression to create visual-emotional landscapes. Hashemi will be writing (in Farsi) selections from life writing by an Iranian woman of her generation, in response to their recent conversations about being women.

Hashemi’s practice draws on visual, media, performance, site-specific and live art strategies. Exploring social relations and the intersections of language and culture, Hashemi’s work is centred on marginalized histories and contemporary politics, often with an eye on women’s experiences.

Open Space Lab is generously supported by the Stonecroft Foundation for the Arts and an Ontario Arts Council Culturally Diverse Curatorial Projects grant.

Carleton University Art Gallery
St. Patrick's Building
http://cuag.ca
@CUArtGallery