Anchoring Experiences of Belonging Through Creative Practices
Thursday, November 30, 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Live Streamed Online via YouTube
Panelists Khadija Aziz, Herman Pi’ikea Clark, JJ Lee, and Julius Poncelet Manapul each delve into their experiential belonging through their distinct creative practices, which connect deeply with their identities, and communities. Through their art, they tell stories about their sense of belonging or disconnection within diasporic and Indigenous contexts. The discussion will be moderated by Susan Jama, Programs and Community Coordinator.
Above Image: On Americanity and Other Experiences of Belonging, 2023. Onsite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto. Installation View. Photo by Em Moor.
About the Panelists
Khadija Aziz is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and educator investigating authorship and agency through the potential of collaboration between materials, machines, and audiences. Khadija’s goal is to bring more marginalized voices into Canada’s arts ecosystem so we can begin to see our own narratives reflected in the spaces that shape Canada’s culture and heritage.
Khadija is currently teaching at OCAD U’s Material Art & Design program, from which she graduated in 2020 with a BFA. She earned an MFA from Concordia University’s Fibre and Material Practices program in spring 2023. Her art has been published and exhibited in Canada, USA, Australia, Austria and the Czech Republic. Her artistic and community arts practices have been recognized through awards from Craft Ontario, the Ontario Museum Association, and the Surface Design Association.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Herman Pi’ikea Clark is a Keiki o ka ‘Aina from a family with deep ancestral roots across Hawaii. He completed a Master of Fine Arts in Pacific Design from the University of Hawaii and a Doctorate of Indigenous Education and Art from Massey University in New Zealand. Over the last twenty-five years, Clark has gained international recognition as an artist, designer, and professor of Indigenous art and education. Clark combines his broad experience as a university professor, a business partner, innovation institute director, designer/artist and educator to inspire the development of new ideas, concepts, products and approaches that grow the capacity, potential and performance of leaders and executive teams.
In 2003, he established ‘Pili,’ a Design studio focusing on Pacific identity. His commissioned projects include works for architectural, graphic, textile and interior design.
JJ Lee explores the impact of colonization and immigration on identity and representation through mixed-media drawing installations. She's exhibited widely in public institutions and artist-run centers, garnering grants and awards, both individually and with The Drawing Board collective. In 2022, she received the Price Teaching Excellence Award. Her art is held in Canadian and American collections. Based in Toronto, Lee is a tenured Associate Professor at OCAD University, Contemporary Issues of Representation. She's represented by Prow Gallery (Halifax, NS), and Gallery on Queen (Fredericton, NB.) Her recent exhibit, "In My Yesterday," at the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, traces her family's multi-generational emigration from China to the Maritimes (late 1800s to 1957).
Born in Manila, Philippines, Julius Poncelet Manapul immigrated to Tkaronto, Canada in 1990. He attained a BFA at OCAD U in 2009, a Professional Art Studio Certificate from TSA in 2011, a Masters of Visual Studies and a Sexual Diversity Studies certificate at UofT in 2013, and the Fashion Exchange Program at George Brown College in 2019. Julius has presented installations, sculptures, performances, digital, and immersive work widely in Toronto. His experimental art performance films have been shown at national and international queer film festivals. Julius had been an Associate Chair for DRPT (Drawing and Painting), an Interim Chair for INTM (Integrated Media), LIFE (Life Studies), & SCIN (Sculpture and Installation) Program at OCAD U, currently teaching in the Faculty of Arts at OCAD U.
Susan Jama is an art worker with over 5 years of experience leading community engagement and public arts programming with strong grassroots experience. She is the Programs and Community Coordinator at Onsite Gallery. Susan has worked with various institutions that approach heritage in a community-minded manner including Toronto Ward Museum (TWM) and Black Artists’ Networks in Dialogue Gallery & Cultural Centre (BAND). She graduated from Masters of Museum Studies from University of Toronto and completed her Bachelor in Psychology & History at York University. She currently serves on the Museum Education Roundtable board and sits on Group of Ontario Emerging Museum Professionals (GOEMP) Committee.
Onsite Gallery is generously supported by The Delaney Family.
We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Nexus.
