In a meeting of hearts, artists Winsom Winsom and Pamila Matharu talk with Qanita Lilla about their journeys and their ongoing mentor-mentee relationship. Winsom sheds light on her rich practice that traverses the globe, including her time in Kingston, and Pamila talks about Fresh Arts and finding her creative community. Together, they discuss vital pedagogies that nurture young artists’s minds and souls. How is Black feminist artistry fostered and what is the lifeblood that sustains it?
The thing is not to be afraid. Not to be afraid of the Other and to understand the time we have on Earth. What are you doing to be a good Ancestor for the future? Pay it forward.
Pamila Matharu introduces her exhibition “Where Were You in ‘92?” during the Exhibition Celebration.
Installation view: Winsom: I Rise, December 22, 2018–July 7, 2019. Art Gallery of Ontario. Artwork © Winsom Winsom. Photo: Art Gallery of Ontario.
Winsom Winsom is a black woman who is rooted in her rich ancestry of African, Caribbean, Indigenous Tainos /Arawak, Spanish, and Scottish heritage. Her heritage forms the framework of much of her artistic expression, and her connection to the spiritual world informs her artistic conversations between herself and the world at large. Winsom’s artistic expression involves telling stories by painting, sculpting, surface designing on textile, creating/ producing videos and writing. Combining art forms, allows her to embrace the full spectrum of her artistic expression, as a visual multimedia installation artist.
www.winsomwinsom.com / @winsom.winsom
Pamila Matharu is a settler of Panjabi, Indian descent (Jalandhar and village of Bhanolangha in the district of Kapurthala), born in Birmingham, England, arrived in 1976. Based in Tkarón:to (Treaty 13 territory), on the lands of the Mississaugas, the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat. Approaching contemporary art from the position of critical pedagogy and using an interdisciplinary and intersectional feminist lens, Pamila’s work culminates in a broad range of forms including installation art, social practice, and experimental media art. Currently on view is their research-based project Where Were You in ‘92? commissioned by Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston, ON).
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With Opened Mouths: The Podcast is hosted by Dr Qanita Lilla and produced by Agnes Etherington Art Centre in partnership with Queen’s University’s campus radio station, CFRC 101.9 FM.