Myseum Intersections 2021: Akanzyla (Durational Performance)

About this Livestream Performance

Synopsis

Akanzyla is an Indian climate refugee living in T’karonto, located in the Northeast region of Turtle Island, on the shores of Lake Ontarí'io in 2050. The government has offered climate refugees housing in the run-down condos that flooded the land’s infrastructure in the early 2000s. Akanzyla is a polyworker, offering spiritual caretaking services for online communities, participating in algae cultivation and transformation experiments as a creative biologist in the Almanac Cooperative, all while being the second parent to two children conceived through hybridized surrogacy in a nurture pod and making content to increase the value of her namesake coin. Given the climate circumstances, she is only able to safely venture outdoors 1-2 times a week, leaving her physically isolated, yet weaved through digital realms of care and collectivity.

In this 7-hour live durational performance (attend for as little or last long as you'd like) you are invited into her apartment to witness a work day from a possible future where feminine principles such as interspecies communication, ancestral intelligence, ecological healing, care and cooperation reign, but conflict with the residue of destructive legacy systems including colonialism, white supremacy and capitalism.

Audience members will be invited to participate in collective work throughout the day, sensing into what futures of how we labour are available to us.

This work is informed by Memory Work, a foresight research project on the future of woman’s work led by FromLater and At The Moment (ATM).

*Please note as this is a durational performance you can tune-in/watch for as long as or as little as you choose. Join during a break or have a window/tab open throughout the day. There is also a participatory option while you watch, which isn't required but recommended.

About the Artist

Hima Batavia is a writer, artist and cultural producer based in T’karonto whose work is rooted in collectivity, emergence, radical systems imagination, fun and liberated futures.

IG: @hima_batavia

Website: himabatavia.com

Newsletter: himabatavia.substack.com

Event Accessibility

• As this livestream will be streaming you YouTube there will be Closed Captions.

About This Woman's Work

This Woman’s Work explores the past, present, and futures of women’s work in Toronto - through the lens of women of colour. Informed by family histories and emerging social and technological changes impacting the world of work, this exhibition features performance, visual art, film, and an immersive audio experience that invites audiences to think critically about possible and preferred futures of women’s work.

Through an intimate portrayal of her mother, Farihah Shah’s film, And With These Hands, captures the challenges modern women face managing work and familial responsibilities.

Skylar Cheung’s embroidery defiantly points to the undervaluing of housework, and Hima Batavia’s durational performance brings to life a woman working in a fictional future, based on Memory Work.

Together their pieces point to the pressures and barriers women face, which have only intensified with the pandemic.

This Woman's Work Project Team

At The Moment (Alica Hall and Natasha Singh)

At The Moment honours the collective strength of women who are breaking boundaries, using their voices and embracing who they are. We connect women to experiences that celebrate who they are. We share traditions and culture. We curate objects that are rooted in our history but redesigned for modern times.

From Later (Macy Siu and Robert Bolton)

From Later is a foresight studio based in Toronto. We monitor and make sense of change, developing clear-sighted and judicious futures perspectives. We develop tools and ways of working that augment our faculties for research, problem-solving, and creativity. We explore the capacities of art, science, theory, and strategy to address complex challenges.

About Myseum Intersections

Myseum Intersections is an annual city-wide arts and culture festival that explores Toronto through intersectional perspectives. This year’s festival taking place April - June, 2021 adopts a new hybrid model, balancing socially distanced physical exhibits with virtual exhibits, events, and experiences.

Learn more at:

http://www.myseumoftoronto.com/exhibition/myseum-intersections-2021/

About Myseum of Toronto

Myseum is your Toronto museum. Our engaging programs and experiences showcase the history, spaces, culture(s), architecture, and the people, that represent Toronto’s unique place in the world.

Please Note

• We will email you the YouTube link for this livestream 24-48 hours in advance and the YouTube link the day of.
• In case of any changes or cancellation to this livestream performance we will do our best to notify you in advance via email.