In 2014, Praba Pilar (interdisciplinary artist), Cecilia Araneda (filmmaker / curator) and Monica Martinez (visual artist) held a series of conversations that would trigger the formation of the Winnipeg-based Mujer Artista art group. Originally envisaged as a two-year project, Mujer Artista has since completed three process cycles in the eight years since, culminating with three group exhibitions at aceartinc, during which time it has supported the work and development of 20 prairie-based artists.
In this conversation, Pilar, Araneda and Martinez will reflect on the Mujer Artista process, its evolutions over time and what might be its most important impacts.
Hybrid in-person + zoom event
Zoom registration hereSpeakers
ABOUT Cecilia araneda
A Chilean-Canadian filmmaker and media art curator Cecilia Araneda came to Canada as a child as a refugee after her family escaped Chile’s military dictatorship. She holds a BFA (hons) from York University and an MFA from the University of British Colombia. Her short films have been presented at film festivals and art museums around the world, and have been recognized with a number of national and international awards and distinctions. Araneda has more recently completed her first feature film, Intersection, staring Carmen Aguirre, to be released in fall 2022.
From 2006 to 2017, Araneda served as the longest-tenured Executive Director of the storied Winnipeg Film Group / Winnipeg Cinematheque, the largest independent media arts centre on the prairies. In 2005, she co-founded the Winnipeg-based WNDX Festival of Moving Image. In 2014, she co-founded Mujer Artista, a group of prairie-based Latin women artists. In 2019, she became the first ever prairie recipient of the national Joan Lowndes Award from the Canada Council for the Arts, for her independent curatorial practice.
ABOUT MONICA MERCEDES MARTINEZ
Monica Mercedes Martinez is a Canadian process based/performative ceramic artist. As a Chilean who grew up on the Canadian prairies, she uses her practice to discuss the historical foundations that influence how we define who we are and where we belong. Martinez holds a BFA from AuArts (formally known as the Alberta College of Art+ Design) and an MFA from the University of Manitoba. Martinez has participated in both national and international exhibitions and as well as numerous artist residencies. Martinez is part of the group Mujer Artista and was a member of the art collective CONSTELACIONES.
ABOUT PRABA PILAR
Praba Pilar is a queer diasporic Colombian artist creating performance art, social practice, digital/electronic installations, experimental public talks, and workshops in museums, universities, festivals, galleries, and streets around the world. Pilar has a decades long practice critical of extraction-based approaches to technology.
In search of better electric dreams, she is sharing approaches rooted in hemispheric resistance and resurgence by engaging the public through reflection, generosity, and criticality. Her most recent project, The Techno-Tamaladas, has been awarded MACLA’s Cultura Power Fellowship, Headlands Center for the Arts’ Community Rapid Response Fund Award, and the California Arts Council’s Local Impact Award. Pilar has a PhD in Performance Studies from UC Davis, is presently teaching in Critical Studies at California College of the Arts, and can be visited online at prabapilar.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.