calendar of past activities and details

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 at 6:00pm

Echoes of Affection: A fusion of realms - Photography & A.I. Art by Kwasi Kyei

Supported by Toronto Metropolitan University and Colectivo Toronto

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

Artist Statement

I explore the multifaceted nature of human experience, queer identities, place/space, and time through digital black-and-white photography. I frame imaginable narratives and their context, capturing the form, emotion, texture, and the play between light and shadow - of duality. At my core, I mirror my quest to discover who I am, seeking acceptance and belonging.

In my creative process, I use AI to transcend boundaries and reveal captivating depth in nuances. My goal is to stimulate thought and deepen connections, offering a glimpse into our shared human complexity and beauty with room for personal interpretation.

* Special thanks to Bar Bacan Staff. 

Thursday, June 15th, 2023 at 6:30pm 

Coming Out: A Mini Retrospective - artwork by Leslie Coleman

Curated by Sandy Mcleod - Co-presented by Colectivo Toronto

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

A mature Canadian-Caribbean artist, Leslie Coleman lives between Toronto and Belize. Leslie has devoted decades to a pursuit of mastering the timeless classic oil painting methods and B&W photography darkroom technique. This art for music lovers charts his expanding repertoire, seeking out, a stroke at a time, new freedom to open up his vision, full of fresh focus for the road ahead. Leslie methodically explores an expanding diversity of inventive imagery destined to situate his life experience as a gay man of colour, while connecting us to his recent realities of dealing with survival and recovery from several life-threatening health challenges… an outsider artist, Leslie exhibits his independent art spirit, freed from conforming to the established models, out to defy our (and his own) expectations.

* Special thanks to Bar Bacan Staff. 

Thursday, May 25th, 2023 at 7:30pm

Pacho el Archivo Visual (Pacho's Visual Archive)

a short film by Blanca Marcela Lopez

cinematography by Sue Johnson and music by Scott Hardware

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

After the death of my only brother I found rolls of undeveloped film. 

This documentary is a reenactment of those stills and an exploration of the aspects of my brother's life that I didn't know.

Blanca Marcela Lopez worked in her home country, Colombia, as a journalist, researcher and video editor for several years. She holds an MFA in Documentary Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. She currently works at the CBC as a news editor and when she has time, directs short films.

* Special thanks to Bar Bacan Staff. 

Thursday, April 27th, 2023 at 7:30pm

The Good Word by Andrea Thompson

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

Andrea Thompson is a writer, editor, educator and spoken word artist. Andrea was the 2009 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word’s Poet of Honour and in 2005 her spoken word album, One, was nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award. In 2019 her album, Soulorations earned her a Golden Beret Award, and in 2021 she received the Pavlick Poetry Prize.

Her most recent work is The Good Word, a spoken word album that explores the intersection of Black history and faith. 

Presented by Crafting Community TMU and Colectivo Toronto 

* Special thanks to Sandy McLeod, Ken Moffatt and Bar Bacan Staff. 

Thursday, December 15th, 2022 at 6:00pm

Collage: Re-envisioning civic discourse in urban space

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

The artists in this show pick up the unfinished work of history and speaking to contemporary civic discourse around person, social, political, economic and environmental issues. The artists sourced collage materials through strolls in downtown Toronto. The elements of the collage include found material from the streets, such as, organic matter, signage, decorative materials as well as rubbish.
Artists:

Meera Dhebar / Camilla Gibb / Mehdia Hassan / Anna Jedrzejowski / Sandy McLeod  / Jim Nason and Ada So
Presenters and co-sponsors: 

Colectivo Toronto - Jack Layton Chair - Toronto Metropolitan University - Community Engaged Learning - Teaching Faculty of Art - Toronto Metropolitan University - Social Sciences Humanities Research Council and Bar Bacan.
* Special thanks to Sandy McLeod, Camilla Gibb, Ken Moffatt, Reena Tandon and Bar Bacan Staff. 

Thursday, December 16th, 2021 at 6:00pm

"Book Reading by Sandy Mcleod"

Presented by Colectivo Toronto and Jack Layton Chair 

(Ryerson University)

at Bar Bacan - 369 Roncesvalles Ave. Toronto 

* Special thanks to Ken Moffatt and Bar Bacan Staff. 

Friday, January 24th, 2020 at 9:00pm

S8 Festival Toronto

"Panorama - Women in Experimental Cinema"

This programme showcasing independent Argentine and Latin American women filmmakers. This unique programme presents the work of artists who use a variety of different methods to explore the possibilities of the Super 8 format. The generation of filmmakers presented in this programme wants to make their voices heard and express their ideas and visions through their films: the stories are developed freely, allowing the erasure of the line that separates fiction from the experimental or the documentary.

 Program:

*Historia Clínica / Medical History
13:30 min - Super8 - B&W/Colour - 2013
by Lujan Montes and Luciana Foglio
*Intemperie / Out of the Open
08:45 min - Super8 - B&W - Sound - 2014
by Lujan Montes
Sound Design by Gustavo Esnaola Moro
*Constitución
03:40 min - Super8 - B&W - Sound - 2013
by Melisa Aller
*Desierto / Desert
03:31 min - Super8 - B&W - Sound - 2011 / 2012
by Melisa Aller
*Sun in the head
02:01 min - Super8 - B&W - Sound - 2011
by Melisa Aller
*Valor de uso-Valor dde cambio / Use Value-Exchange Value
03:34 min - Super8 - Colour - Sound - 2013
by Melisa Aller
*Cinescape
03:00 min - Super8 - Sound - 2013
by Macarena Cordiviola
*Neón
03:23 min - Super8 - Sound - 2016
by Azucena Losana
*Sp
03:04 min - Super8 - Sound - 2015
by Azucena Losana
*Kapri
02:48 min - Super8 - Sound - 2015
by Azucena Losana
Sound Design by Azucena Losana and Sebastian Martinez Toro
*We acknowledge the support of
CINAIN (Cinemateca y Archivo de la Imagen Nacional)
under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture of the Nation and
Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales - INCAA - and The General Consulate of Argentina in Toronto.

Thursday, October 10th to Sunday, October 20th, 2019

Gallery1313 - Toronto - Ontario

Notas y Huellas by Leticia Obeid 

Videos

Presented by Club Cultural Matienzo

Curated by Laura Preger

Support by The Consulate General of Argentina in Toronto and Fondo Metropolitano de la Cultura, las Artes y las Ciencias  Ciudad de Buenos Aires 

Parallel Lines by Rita Camacho Lomeli

Installation

*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Saturday, June 1st, 2019 - Earl Nichols Recreation Centre 

London - Ontario

Break!

The Super Bakers (Eugenio Salas) / Ellen Moffat / Myss Taiken / Jheimz Media and our international guest artist Christian Delgado 

*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, November 15th, 2018 - Ryerson University
PIMATISIWIN (life) - Indigenous Filmmakers
Focussed upon the short documentary work of Gail Maurice, Theola Ross and Paola Marino, this session discusses the effects of colonialism on First Nations communities.
The session also explores resilience and culture.
Speakers: Joanne Dallaire and Nataleah Hunter Young
Co-presented with Jack Layton Chair and Ryerson University

Program:
*Memory in Bones by Gail Maurice - 3:30 min.
*Thirst: Canada’s Dirty Little Truth by Gail Maurice - 14:50 min.
*Twilight Dancers by Theola Ross & Paola Marino - 16:31 min.

Thursday, May 31st, 2018 - TAIS

"Artist in Residency"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Julian Gallese
co-presented with Toronto Animated Image Society and Trinity Square Video

Friday, May 4th, 2018 - CineCycle
“Even if my hands were full of truths”
A first Toronto Retrospective of Films by Francisca Duran
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Program
*She was so young back then - 03:00min - 16mm
*Kingdom of Shadows - 06:00min  - digital
*Mr. Edison's Ear - 32:00min - digital
*Boy - 06:00min - 16mm
*Cuentos de la Niñez - 08:45min - 16mm
*Retrato Oficial 1 - 01:00min - 16mm
*Retrato Oficial 2 - 04:00min - digital
*Even if my hands were full of truths - 07:20min - digital
*New Work - 18:03min - digital

Friday, November 17th, 2017 - CineCycle
"In a Present Distance"­
A Retrospective of Films by Tracy German
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council
Program
*The way I feel - 03:00min - 16mm
*A Private Path of Blue - 13:00min - 16mm
*Scheme - 01:30min - digital
*In a Present Distance - 27:00min - 16mm/Super 8/digital
*Inarya -10:00min - 16mm
*I Smiled Too - 03:00min - 16mm
*New Work - 10:00min - digital

Sunday, May 11th, 2017 - CineCycle
"Collective Creative Creation in Indigenous Cinema"
Round Table, co-presented with aluCine Latin Film & Media Arts Festival

Thursday, April 27th, 2017 - The Commons
"The Art of Collectivity"
Round Table, co-presented with Images Festival

Saturday, March 11th, 2017 - CineCycle
"This Looming Matter: Making Material the Forgotten and Underrepresented Histories of Women in Technology Arts"
A Retrospective of Films by Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof and Kelly Egan
*We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts
Program
*Light Magic - 03:00min - 16mm
*Finger Petals - 04:00min - 16mm
*Bodies of Knowledge - 04:00min - 16mm
*Her Carnal Longings - 08:05min -16mm
*C:won Eyed Jail - 04:05min - 35mm
*Fugitive I(i)ght - 09:00min - 16mm
*Font Mágica - 06:05min - 16mm
*Ransom Notes - 04:00min - 35mm
*Echo - 09:00min - 16mm
*Athyrium Filix-Femina - 04:00min - 16mm

Tuesday, December 13th to Sunday, December 18th, 2016 - Club Cultural Matienzo
"Arte Mediático Canadiense / Canadian Media Art / Art Médiatique Canadien"
*We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Embassy in Buenos Aires, Brava Producciones, Prudencia Seguros and Grolsch

"Experimenta Canadá"
Experimental Short Films
Program
*Bunte Kuh - 06:00min - digital by Ryan Ferko, Parastoo Anoushahpour and Faraz Anoushahpour
*350 MYA - 05:00min - 16mm by Terra Long
*It Never Really Happened - 04:20min - digital by Dennis Day
*Thunderbolt - 03:25min - 16mm by Heidi Phillips
*Poem - 03:45min - digital by Dan Browne
*Untiltled - 09:00min - 16mm by Madi Piller
*More is Less - 02:00min - digital by Andrew J. Peterson
*This Town of Toronto - 03:30min - 16mm by Izabella Pruska
*Famous Diamonds - 06:00min - digital by Daniel McIntyre

"Video Projections"
Program
*Calendar Girls - 04:00min - digital by Lisa Birke
*Alberta - 02:50min - digital by Dan Browne
*Passage14 - 10:00min - 35mm by Alexandre Larose
*Dance to Miss Chief - 14:20min - digital by Kent Monkman
*Self-portrait in alterNation between ascencion and descent - 03:55min - digital by Jude Norris/Tatakwan
*Fluff Film - 05:00min - digital by Mée Rose
*Crawl: Altes Museum Berlin - 04:35min - digital by Alize Zorlutuna

"It's Queer Up North"
Short Films
Program
*I'm Yours - 05:00min - digital by Chase Joynt
*Moohead - 01:00min - 16mm by Deirdre Logue
*All That is Left Unsaid - 02:27min - digital by Michéle Pearson Clarke,
*Sight - 03:23min - Super 8 by Thirza Cuthand
*Being Green - 03:30min - digital by Jess Dobkin
*Untitled (eleven years) - 05:22min - Super 8 by Scoot Miller-Berry
*From Alex to Alex - 06:11min - digital by Alison S.M. Kobayashi
*Beyond the Mirror's Gaze - 03:52min - digital by Iris Moore
*The Island - 06:00min - digital by Trevor Anderson

"Errores de Vida"
A Retrospective of Films by Nicholas Pye and Sheila Pye
Program
*Loudly, Death Unties - 11:00min - digital
*A Life of Errors - 14:00min - 16mm
*The Paper Wall - 10:00min - 16mm
*Stumbling Block - 07:20min - digital
*Hive - 14:17min - digital
*Untitled - 07:00min - 16mm
*The Lesson - 08:00min - 16mm

"Eleven in Motion - Abstract Expressions in Animation"
Program
*Old Ink - 03:49min - animation by Richard Raxlen
*Inner View - 02:40min - animation by Patrick Jerkins
*As Above so Bellow - 01:44min - animation by Elise Sinard
*The Yarwood Trail - 03:58min - animation by Richard Reeves
*Traffic Flow II - 02:59min - animation by Nick-Fox-Gieg
*Strips - 05:22min - animation by Félix Dufour-Laperriére
*Stroke  - 04:13min - animation by Ellen Besen
*Playtime - 02:45min - animation by Steven Woloshen
*William's Creatures - 03:00min - animation by Pasquale La-Montagna
*The end is the beginning - 02:23min - animation by Craig Marshall
*The importance of Hortense - 04:11min - animation by Lisa Morse 

curated by Madi Piller

Friday, November 25th, 2016 - CineCycle
"Memories in Bones"
A first Toronto Retrospective of Films by Gail Maurice
co-presented with ImagineNative, VTape and NFB (National Film Board)
*We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts
Program
*Smudge - 12:00min - digital
*Little Indians - 03:00min - digital
*Memory in Bones - 03:00min - digital
*Thirst - 14:15min - digital
*Misawac Kawi Na'wapamitin (Until we meet again) - 14:00min - digital
*Asssini - 12:47min - digital

Saturday, October 15th, 2016 - Pix Film
"Towards a Vanishing Point"
A Retrospective of Film by Chris Kennedy
*We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts
Program
*4x8x3 - 03:00min - 16mm
*Jane's Window - 10:00min - 35mm
*Memo to Pic Desk - 06:05min - 16mm
*The Acrobat - 06:00min - 16mm
*Simultaneous Contract - 05:30min - 16mm
*Schuh Schnell Service - 03:00min - 16mm/Super 8
*Towards a Vanishing Point - 08:00min - 16mm
*Phantoms - 14:00min - 35mm

Saturday, May 28th and Sunday, May 29th - 2016 - TAIS
"Creation and Commissioning Workshop"
(Coco Riot, Alex Flores, Fiya Bruxa and Sandra Brewster)
Instructors: Eduardo Vaisman (music and sound) and Janice Schulman (animation)
*We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts

Thursday, November 19th, 2015 - Pix Film
"Interactive Art Presentation"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Sybil Lamb
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, November 5th, 2015 - Pix Film
"Beyond Representation: Queer Embodiment and the Feeling of Queerness"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Alize Zorlutuna
co-presented by Curatorial Collective SUM°
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 - Pix Film
"Reading the Other: Thoughts on Collaboration"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Z'otz* Collective
(Nahúm Flores, Erik Jerezano and Ilayna Martinez)
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, October 8th, 2015 - Artscape, Young Place
"The King is dead, long live the King"
Performance by Rosa Mesa

Thursday, October 1st, 2015 - Pix Film
"Ráfagas Canadienses" - Canadian Gusts
Short Films
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council
Program
*Still Life-Urban Sprawl - 08:45min by Gareth Long
*Bending Over backwards - 03:00min by Heather Keung
*Memory Traces - 02:00min by Lorena Salome
*Treshold - 06:00min by Michelle Irving
*Twinning Series - 12:30min by Gunilla Josephson
*Beyond the usual limits - 03:00min by Deidre Logue
*Gig - 03:30min by Tom Sherman
*Fray - 04:20min by Tom Sherman
*Strongest Man - 04:33min by Jeremy Bailey
*Failure - 06:42min by Nelson Henricks
curated by Guillermina Buzio

Thursday, September 24th, 2015 - Pix Film
"ars memorativa | the art of memory"
A Retrospective of Films by Scott Miller-Berry
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council
Program

*ars memorativa - 19:00min - 16mm/digital
*beth olem/house of the world - 06:00min - 16mm/digital
*anamnesis - 03:00min - 16mm
*untitled (eleven years) - 05:00min - Super 8

Thursday, September 24th to Thursday, November 19th, 2015 - Pix Film
"Many Dead"
Video Installations by Nike Arnold, Oliver Pietsch and  Mathieu Brohan,
curated by Juana Awad
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council
Program
*Hades Treptow - 09:35mim - digital
*From Here to Eternity - 41:00min - digital
*P.R. - 43:00min - digital

Thursday, June 11th, 2015 - Pio! Centre for Drawing
"Drawing the Silence(D)"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Coco Guzman
(known also as Coco Riot)
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, May 21st, 2015 - Pix Film
"From Linear to Interactive"

Artist Talk/Presentation by Eduardo Vaisman
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Thursday, April 16th, 2015 - The Beaver Hall Gallery
"Interactive Art Presentation"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Teresa Ascençao
co-presented by aluCine Festival
*We acknowledge the support of Ontario Arts Council

Friday, May 30th, 2015 - Pix Film
"Creative Process: the search in my work"
Artist Talk/Presentation by Rosa Mesa

Thursday, May 22nd, 2015 - Pix Film
"Exquisite Corpse Videos Project (ECVP) Volume 4 - Porn/Politics"
Films and Videos by Ana Moravi, Dellani Lima, Guillermina Buzio, Andres Weber, Arhtur Tuoto, Christian Leduc, Clémente Demesme, Evan Tyler, François Zajéva, Gabriel Soucheyre, John Criscitello, John Pirard, John Sanborn, Jorge Lozano, Kai Lossgott, Kin Dotty Hachman, Steffi Simen, Marcelo Amorin, Matthias Roth, Natalia De Mello, Alejandra Gelis, Pila Rusjan, Nia Pushkarova, Niclas Hallberg, NinjaThyberg, Moönk Nung-Hsin, Per Riksoon, Savio Leite, Simone Stoll, Sojin Chun, Syina Perhsdotter, Wait Kit Lam, Ulf Kristiansen and Ulysses Castellanos, curated by Kika Nicolela