A guy who wants to demonstrate what it means to 'have an agenda' in design.
Born Toronto, 1962. One partner, two children (6 and 10). Visually impaired.
Professional opinion researcher and communications designer with a focus on civil society, public policy, and system level challenges of access, justice, nd sustainability.
Currently director of a unique consulting operation delivering communications services, strategy, evaluation, fundraising, and opinion research to non-profits, public agencies, charities and labour unions.
Groundbreaking contemporary artist Larissa Sansour will present her interdisciplinary work, including the speculative trilogy, In the Future They Ate from the Finest Porcelain (2016), A Space Exodus (2009) and Nation Estate (2012). Sansour's artworks, especially those addressing the history of Palestine and the Middle East, are immersed in current political discourses and dystopian future imaginings, combining live motion and CGI. Sansour's works have shown internationally, most recently at The Mosaic Rooms in London, UK; Berlinale; the Guanajuato International Film Festival winning the Best Short Experimental award; Amrani Gallery in Madrid; and last year at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.
Ilene Sova, Artist and Educator/Faculty of Art OCAD University, will be on the jury as an artist for the Samara Everyday Political Citizen Award. The jury includes Margaret Atwood and Ricker Mercer. "Everyday Political Citizen is an annual contest that profiles ordinary people working to strengthen their communities. In a year where many around the world are questioning the merits of democracy, we celebrate Canada’s strength: the advocates, educators, organizers, and politicos whose tireless dedication strengthens our democracy."
Ilene Sova: "While researching for the Missing Women Project, I poured over newspapers, for personality details like, “she loved to write poetry” or “her laugh was contagious”. I would meditate on these insights while I painted. Through the research, it became painfully clear that violence and lack of action were based on outdated notions of “good women’ and “bad women." At that realization, I made a commitment to use the artwork as a vehicle to provoke discussion about gendered violence and to build a network around art and social justice issues that could enact change. Through my projects, I wish to move people with art towards new gender paradigms are healthy and help to heal our communities."
