Happening Festival 2019
Group Exhibition
918 Gallery
May 6-30, 2019
This exhibition showcases the artwork of 18 artists as part of the multicultural celebration of Happening Festival 2019 created to promote a more diverse and inclusive cultural landscape in Toronto.
The exhibition allowed us to explore, from a diverse range of artistic styles and techniques, the relevance of socially engaged art shows and how they can establish different dialogues where creativity can converge with visual culture and civil engagement. It is important to show art that reflects different people and we should continue to create and support a more inclusive, equitable and innovative artistic environment for artists to showcase their work. It's vital to maintain these reciprocal relationships to ensure that we are creating and promoting art from different social and cultural perspectives.
The show includes works by Shabnam Afrand, Angela Rosa Boyer, David Chinyama, Alberto Cruz, Vero Diaz, Youssef Elgohary, Vasile Ghiuta, Denirée isabel, Tania Iraheta, Lubna Nabulsi, Ana Gabriela Lopez, Ghazaleh Naderian, Flor Maria Mejia, Anjali Patel, Lidia Barrera, Mariana Bolaños, Alex Usquiano and Jieun June Kim.
David Chinyama is a multi-disciplinary visual artist whose work is inspired by form, movement and color. It explores subject matters often centered upon aspects of identity, political, socio-economic and religious connotations. His journey and love for visual storytelling dates back to his childhood days in Zimbabwe. Between 1997and 2000 he studied at the School of Visual Art and Design of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and later at Harare Polytechnic in Zimbabwe. He received several National Merit Awards for his early work, leading to successful solo exhibitions throughout Zimbabwe as well as internationally in France, Germany and the USA. His works are found in permanent collections of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe as well as in various embassies including the Canadian Embassy in Zimbabwe. At the end of 2017 he moved to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he re-launched his independent art practice.