Touch Change: A conversation between Syrus Marcus Ware and !Kona

In conjunction with Syrus Marcus Ware's exhibition 2068: Touch Change, Vancouver Independent Archives Week presents a discussion between the artist and Vancouver-based activist and writer, !Kona.

Ware's exhibition takes the shape of an archive fifty years in the future, looking back at the present day. In it, the artist points to a historical record of black activism and presence here on the West Coast via a series of large-scale graphite portraits and documents, gleaned from his ongoing research into existing and historical BIPOC communities. His work also carries a speculative premise: that activists of different generations and geographies might meet for the first time in the hypothetical fonds of the archive. Syrus and local artist and activist !Kona will take the show as a jumping off point for a discussion around social justice, networks of relation, speculative fiction and the artist-initiated archive.

**ASL Interpretation will be provided for this event.

Syrus Marcus Ware is a Vanier Scholar, visual artist, activist, curator and educator. Syrus uses painting, installation and performance to explore social justice frameworks and black activist culture. Syrus is the inaugural Daniel’s Spectrum Artist-in-Residence (2016/17) and a core team member of Black Lives Matter-Toronto. Syrus is also part of Blackness Yes!/Blockorama. He is working on a PhD at York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.

!Kona is a Vancouver-based artist, writer and activist. Her creative and social justice-oriented work has spanned arts/ cultural, queer, feminist and Black communities for over 20 years.
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