EXHIBITION - RAH: #oreo_liveitwhite - January 18 - March 9, 2019
EXHIBITION OPENING, FRIDAY JANUARY 18, 6-9PM, SPAO CENTRE (77 Pamilla St.) Accessible
January 18, 2019, from 6 pm to 9 pm, join us at the SPAO Centre (77 Pamilla St.) for an artist talk and the opening reception of #oreo_liveitwhite, featuring the work of Rah, an Iranian-Canadian artist from the Ottawa/Gatineau region.
A media and performance artist, Rah developed the character of Oreo to address contemporary political issues and to stimulate dialogue surrounding racism and white privilege. In her new work, Rah uses social apps as a “relational sketchbook” where she performs as Oreo to critically examine nationalism in the digital age by appropriating hashtags, visuals and symbols used by nationalists from around the world. With this exhibition, Rah inspires an urgent consideration of the ethics of engagement on network technologies.
Rah’s exhibition is presented in partnership with the Qu’ART Collective as the first event of their 2019 meta-festival series. As 2019 marks both the 50th anniversary of the first federal legislation to decriminalize gay sex in Canada, and also the 30th Anniversary of a summer of targeted homophobic violence in Ottawa-Gatineau, Qu'ART's year-long collaborative programming aims to broaden LGBTQ2+/ queer artistic activity and to encourage intergenerational knowledge-sharing within our communities.
Rah will present an artist talk at 6 pm, in collaboration with Capital Rainbow Refuge, an organization that works with LGBTQ communities to sponsor sexual minority refugees. Following Rah’s presentation, there will be a reception at 7 pm, with remarks at 7:30 pm.
#oreo_liveitwhite continues until Saturday March 9. It is free and open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays between 12 and 5 pm, or by appointment. The SPAO Centre Gallery is fully accessible.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rah Elah is an Iranian- Canadian digital and performance artist. Rah’s work has been exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally at spaces including: Images Festival (Toronto), Museum London, Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa), Williams College Museum of Art (Williamstown, Massachusetts), Miami Art Basel, Nieuwe Vide (Haarlem, Netherlands), Pao Festival (Oslo, Norway), Kunst Am Spreeknie (Berlin, Germany), Kunsthaus Graz Museum (Graz, Austria), and Onassis Cultural Center (Athens, Greece). She has been the recipient of numerous awards including: finalist for Team Canada in Digital Arts, Conseil Des Arts et Des Lettres Du Quebec Research/Production grant for Digital Arts (2014) and Film (2015), and a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. She has been awarded several residencies including the Koumaria Residency (Greece, 2016), AX Gallery (Berlin 2016), MUU Galleria (Helsinki, 2015), Studio Das Weisse Haus (Vienna, 2014) and the Artslant Georgia Fee Residency (Paris).