Mixing poetry, new media, AI, "D-CAF" unveils its visual arts program on October 17

 

The Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF) will kick off its Visual Arts and New Media Program next Tuesday, on October 17, 7 p.m.

 

 

The event will take place at the Kodak Passageway in Downtown.

 

The program features three cutting-edge artistic installations, fusing technology, visual arts, and various artistic realms, including Poetry.

 

The program begins with "Baalbek," an installation crafted and orchestrated by Andrea Sztovánovits with composition by Gergely Álmos.

 

This creation draws inspiration from the pioneering Hungarian artist Csontváry’s painting, Baalbek, symbolises the transition between heavenly, ethereal and earthly existence. With their groundbreaking audiovisual installation of the same name, Andrea Sztovánovits and Gergely Álmos allow audiences to manipulate the projected image of the painting – allowing them to change the perspective, colours, and light effects – to mesmerising results.

 

 

This interactive engagement unfolds against a medley of sounds: a sandstorm, the voice of a muezzin, the metallic ruckus of the city, and the play of bells; each representing one of the three planes comprising the image.

 

 

The program also features “Blink and You’ll Miss Us” an original series of 21 microfilm poems by Afghan and Canadian filmmakers, featuring poems by Aria Aber.

 

Filmed in Kabul and Toronto from October 1-15, 2020. These films are both an international conversation and a unique artistic collaboration. The poems are written by Aria Aber, directed by 

 

Shahrbanoo Sadat and Baqir Tawakoli, music composed by Hailey Beavis, artistic direction by Ryan Van Winkle, commissioned by: Canadian Theater and the Toronto International Festival of Authors.

 

 

Moreover, there's "Drink Your Milk," a series of animated poems about our bodies, our voices and who controls them. After stunning audiences at the Women of the World Festival in Pakistan, the film poems will make their Arab world premiere at D-CAF.  The animation is skillfully crafted by Emma Brierley, featuring poetry by Yusra Amjad, Tanveer Anjum, Kishwar Naheed, and Elsa Sajjad , translated into English by Manahil Bandukwala. The show's music is composed by Hailey Bevis, with artistic direction led by Ryan Van Winkle.

 

 

The program concludes with the captivating performance "How Am I Here?", trapped in the vacuum between nightmarish homecoming and the oppressive reality of exile, the performance employs VR technology, AI, and choreographed enactment of the dreams to reflect an emotionally charged experience. How am I here? offers insights into the archived dreams that inspired the performance, as they were written and told. It includes personal comments, tutorials on lucid dreams and using the arts to communicate trauma; along with an audio-dream journey performed by singer Shadi Ali. Directed by Mey Seifan, with Basil Nouri as the Executive Artistic Director and enriched by Shadi Ali's insightful singing, the show opens from November 3 to November 5, running from 2 pm to 10 pm.