Organization history:

Mandate:

Matiz~Nuance Multi-arts mandate is to work with a diversity of contemporary arts with an emphasis on art practices, including music, theater, technology, creative writing, filmmaking and visual arts. We want to generate spaces to enhance the artistic cultural participation, expression, and exchange between Latin American and Canadian contemporary artists to promote socio-cultural integration. We want to work with professionals within a broad range of innovative artistic practices.

Objectives:

- To take a leadership role in the integration between artists and community by providing a forum for artists at all levels of development, so that they can exchange information and ideas on issues related to contemporary art and professional practice.

- To provide a space for the promotion, production, and presentation of contemporary arts in all media, celebrating new and innovative artistic and curatorial practices.

- To foster dialogue between contemporary artists from diverse cultural and political perspectives and communities without prejudice towards media or content.

Organization’s brief history:

We are a multidisciplinary group of artists and cultural workers that have been working in Toronto since 2008. We are promoting the convergence and communication between artists and their social milieu.

The main events we have organized in the past include:

I. First Forum on Art and Conflict

It took place on Monday, September 8, 2008 at OISE. The first forum of Artists and Conflict was a participatory active space to reflect, talk and raise awareness about the potential of the arts in the Colombian cultural development and conflict reality’s transformation. The strategies included planning initiatives of expression, recreating memory, denouncing and documenting the painful situation of Colombia. Because silence is the biggest strategy of repression, we continue looking at creation for the expression of all peoples.

Artists Participants:

From Toronto: Ruben Esguerra [Musician], Arlan Londono [Visual arts], Alejandro Roncerias [Dancer and coreographer]. From Colombia: Patricia Ariza [Theater], and Hollman Morris [Jornalist Media]

II. Minga’s* Solidarity Arts Celebration

It took place on Saturday, November 8^th, 2008 at the Native Canadian Centre,
16 Spadina Ave. It was a multi-arts solidarity event with the Minga carried out by Colombian’s indigenous people who were on the road marching and protesting against the Colombian government and its military impositions. This was an extraordinary contemporary art collaboration between Latin American, Canadian and Colombian artists. The project inlucluded music, poetry, video art, performances and a roundtable discussion that featured a series of video presentations and live video connections between Ecuador, Japan, Colombia and Canada.

Latin Canadian artists participation

Poets: Cecilia Pavia (Peruvian Indigenous); Nana Esperanza, Violeta Vigolla (Guatemalan Indigenous). Theater: Pilar Gonzalez (Colombia). Musicians: Diego Marulanda, Juana Awad, Ruben Esguerra, (Colombia); Luís Orbegozo, (Peru), Marcelo Puente (Chile), Ted Sankey (Quebec). Video Artists: Julieta María and Oscar Ordoñez (Colombia). Dance: Azteca dance group (Multicultural). Indigenous People: Mohawk Community.

*The word Minga describes an ancestral practice by Indigenous peoples in the Andean region. It refers to a collective effort called upon to carry out a common objective and it takes priority over other activities. Neither the Minga, nor its outcome has "owners". It's an expression of the maturity, discipline, community-based capacity and humility of the peoples. In the Minga, the common objective overrides individual needs; however, each individual effort is viewed as important.

III “Having Art for Dinner”

“Having Art for Dinner” is a series of dinner reunions presenting relational arts by artists from Latin America. It is “a laboratory through conversation” that promotes the exchange of perspectives about artistic processes in the context of broader socio-political issues and critical thought. This series provide an intimate setting to create a spirit of collaboration and strengthening the bonds amongst the community.

In these dinners the members of Matiz-Nuance are always present: Carmen Ocampo, Sandra Leon, Arlan Londono, Diego Marulanda and Julieta Maria

1. Conversations I Friday, at Arlan Londoño’s House, October 18, 2009 with Colombian curator Ana Maria Lozano, Artist participations: Julieta Maria Colombian Video artist Jorge Lozano Colombian Filmmaker.

2. Conversations II at Carmen Ocampo’s House, November 10, 2009

Artist participations: Diego Marulanda Colombian Musician, Alejandro Roncerias Colombian Dancer and Choreographer Juan Carlos Marquez Colombian Photographer and Biologist, Arlan Londono Colombian Visual Artist Julieta Maria Colombian Visual Artist

3. Conversations III at Arlan Londono’s House, February 19, 2009

Artist participations: Eugenio Salas Mexican Visual Artist, Jorge Lozano Colombian Visual Artist Rodrigo Hernandez Mexican Visual Artist