The second public talk for At the Transit Bar: An International Visiting Curator Series* is by Marie Hélène Pereira, curator and cultural practitioner from Dakar, Senegal. Pereira is Senior Curator (Performative Practices) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin and Curatorial Advisor for RAW Material Company in Dakar. She has a strong interest in politics of lands, migration and questions of belonging.

In the frame of her public talk, Pereira will share stories of placemaking experienced through her curatorial practice from her involvement at RAW Material Company — center for art, knowledge and society — to various lines of continuity established with and by the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Pereira will expand on the social and political responsibility of the curator in places where the act of curating translates in various forms. While visiting Toronto and its art scene, her research will center on indigenous knowledges, spiritual resistance, and bodily discourses built as a response to the conundrum of restitution, reparation, and rematriation.

Pereira is the second visiting curator for At the Transit Bar, a program bringing ten prominent international curators to Toronto over two years to support curatorial research and to further propel Toronto’s contemporary arts and cultural scenes into a global network of artists, curators, and art institutions. Each visiting curator will give a public talk on their research, conduct studio visits with local artists, and host a curatorial workshop for emerging curators. AGYU has partnered with ten Toronto arts organizations to host each curator and present the talks in various locations across the city. We are pleased to partner with MOCA in presenting this public talk by Marie Hélène Pereira.

This in-person public talk by Marie Hélène Pereira is on Wednesday, August 21, at 6:30 pm at MOCA (158 Sterling Road, north-end gallery space on the ground floor).

*The title of this series refers to Vera Frenkel’s multi-channel video installation … from the Transit Bar (documenta IX, 1992) *

Marie Hélène Pereira is a curator and cultural practitioner from Dakar, Senegal. Pereira is currently the senior curator of performative practices at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), a multidisciplinary arts institution based in Berlin. Prior to her current position, she was co-curator for the 12th Berlin Biennale: Still Present! and recently concluded her tenure as Director of Programs at RAW Material Company, Senegal, where she organized exhibitions and related discursive programs since it was founded in 2011. Her work and research are guided by a prominent interest in developing curatorial projects at the intersection of art, knowledge, and society. Pereira was the recipient of the 2021 Independent Curators International (ICI) Curatorial Research Fellowship to further her research on African arts and culture.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (MOCA) (formerly the Art Gallery of North York est. 1999) is a contemporary art focused institution that has served as an important gathering space in Toronto and Canada for artists to experiment, celebrate complexity, and offer thought-provoking responses to the current cultural moment.

Thank you to our Funders:

At the Transit Bar is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts; Ontario Arts Council; and Toronto Arts Council with the support of Outset Contemporary Art Fund, UK and Partners In Art, Toronto. Sensorium: Centre for Digital Art and Technology is providing space for the emerging curator workshops. Our core operations are supported by York University.

The visiting curator series At the Transit Bar is conceived and led by Jenifer Papararo, AGYU director/curator, with support from Liz Tsui and Kalina Nedelcheva, communications assistants.

 At the Transit Bar comes at an exciting moment for the gallery, as we transition from the Art Gallery of York University to The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery, opening November 2024 with a new building, visible vault, and a renewed engagement with the numerous communities we are embedded within.