Collective Thinking, Archives & Histories

This artist, researcher and curatorial panel will explore questions around positionality within histories, places and archives to open up spaces for new voices to emerge, as well as dialogues within communities on identity, memory and embodiment. John Latour will present his collaborative artist’s book project, Rétrofictions / Re Fictions / Fictions that explores how the erasure of history can lead to a creative space for new stories. Santiago Tavera will present his recent curatorial resident project at the Visual Collections Repository (VCR) at Concordia University on the integration of latino diaspora and queer practices into academic and historical contemporary archives. Pamela Caussy will introduce the VCR Curator-in-Residence program intended to provide a more inclusive visual collection by inviting emerging scholars to curate a collection of works created by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) filmmakers and artists. k.g. Guttman will present on her site-situated performance in domestic space, Dette sans raison is the river at her door, 2024. The performance for one person at a time takes up hospitality as a plane for experimentation and as a concept to feel into the exposures and intensities between host and guest. Rodrigo D’Alcântara will present a cross-section of his recent artistic production, showing works that he has realized collectively in Latin America in order to debate the role of the artist-director in contemporary art. Cristo Riffo’s presentation will focus on technologies of the past for the future, a dive into latin american cybernetics in project cybersyn, and how these events informed the artist’s last piece Sistema Cinco: Non-Human determinations. 

Panelists:

• Moderators: Santiago Tavera
• Respondent: John Latour
• k.g. Guttman
• Pamela Caussy
• Cristo Riffo
• Rodrigo D’Alcântara

Bios

John Latour (Teaching & Research Librarian – Fine Arts at Concordia University) specializes in research on contemporary Canadian art, artists’ books, research creation and open access. Also a practicing visual artist, he explores how the past is mediated through objects, images and texts through a range of media. His openly accessible artists’ publications include Rétrofictions / Re Fictions / Fictions (2012-2019) and Who Was Who Was Who in Canadian Contemporary Art / Qui était qui était qui dans l’art contemporain canadien (2023).

Santiago Tavera (Artist in Residence faculty, Intermedia area of Studio Arts, Concordia University) is a Colombian-Canadian artist, researcher and curator based in Montréal. Tavera’s practice revolves around constructing immersive and interactive projects that explore migrant and queer narratives of dislocation. In Tavera’s work, mixed media compositions of videos, 3D graphic animations, text, sound, archival material and architectural elements create blurred experiences of physical and virtual spatial embodiments of the “other”. 

Pamela Caussy manages the Visual Collections Repository (VCR) at Concordia University in Montreal. The VCR supports research and teaching for the Faculty of Fine Arts by offering visual resources, media services, programming, and training opportunities for students, faculty, and researchers. Pamela holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and an MLIS from McGill University. 

Dr. k.g. Guttman (she/they) (Artist in Residence faculty, Intermedia area of Studio Arts, Concordia University) is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and teacher, a solo mother, and a graduate of Leiden University’s PhDArts program, the Netherlands, receiving financial support from SSHRC for her work on situated performance and practice. From the social location as a white person of Jewish and Irish descent in the ongoing settler colonial context of Canada, she reflects on ways to be involved in reparative actions with collectives, and integrates trauma informed somatic practices in pedagogy and practice.

Rodrigo D’Alcântara (PhD graduate researcher, Art History, Concordia University) is a Brazilian multi-artist, researcher and curator based in Montreal/Tiohtiá:ke. His practical and theoretical research articulates symbolisms, dreams and counter-hegemonic mythologies in contemporary times, through personal and collective dissident narratives. His works have circulated in diverse artistic venues in Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Brussels, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, United States, Uruguay, among others. In academia, he proposes dissident approaches to art education in Abya Yala. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Art History department at Concordia University, where he also teaches Brazilian Art as a sessional lecturer.

Cristo Riffo (MFA graduate researcher, Studio Arts and LEADS program, Concordia University) is a Chilean artist who explores the concepts of memory, light, politics and biology through the creation of kinetic installations and Live A/V performances, hacking and modifying technological devices through the usage of electronics, robotics and biology. He completed a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Playa Ancha (Chile), and a Master in Technology and Aesthetics of Electronic Arts from the University Tres de Febrero (Argentina). Cristo has participated in several group exhibitions in Chile and the rest of the world such as Bahia(BR), Buenos Aires (AR),  Montreal(CAN) , Bogotá (COL)  and Berlin (GER). In 2023 he presented his work at the theme exhibition of Ars Electronica -Who owns the truth?