Art show teaches UTSC students about their community

On-campus exhibit runs to May 25

The Circus, 2012, ink on paper.  

University of Toronto Scarborough students who feel disconnected from the surrounding community decided an art exhibition could reduce that gap.

Multiplicity: Scarborough Identity is an exhibition that creates awareness and teaches students about their community.

“We wanted to focus on what it means to people live in Scarborough, how they identify the area and how they are identified with the community,” Tiffany Schofield, student and curator of the art exhibition, said.

The three-month-long exhibition is in the Kennedy Gallery at Scarborough Museum. It is presented in partnership with Gallery 1265, a student gallery.

Artists in the exhibit are Zarish Asif, Daniele Dennis, Dorica Manuel, Tara Mazruk, Nick Noh and Victor Wong.

Dennis used digital media and ink on paper to create his work “The Circus, 2012.” The concept came from the media coverage surrounding the shooting that occurred on Danzig Street in Scarborough in July 2012.

“Many reporters stopped at nothing, by contacting residents via Twitter and Facebook and pointing their cameras in people’s faces as they grieved,” Dennis said.

He wrote that the City of Toronto went as far as to offer media training to the Scarborough residents to ensure their message remained protected and kept in context.

Self-Portrait, 2012 is a series of photographic prints by Nick Noh. She showed that although we say skin colour shouldn’t distinguish people, discrimination still exists.

“I heard one of the student say, ‘there are too many Asian kids at this school, and I can’t tell the difference between classmates,’” Noh said.

She decided to pursue her work with this theme. The five images contain a yellow ball walking around the school. The reason it is used, is that it has no special features to distinguish itself other than its colour and general shape.

“We just look at it as a ball, and nothing else. Just like the ball, to them I have no special features; I’m just a ‘yellow ball,’” Noh said.

The art exhibition will end on May 25 with a closing reception. Schofield said the artists there will be able to interact with the people who have seen the show.

About this article

By: Amirul Islam
Copy editor: Samantha Bridges
Posted: Mar 20 2013 1:38 pm
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