Programming

For the third time, DARE-DARE is delighted to be taking part in the Sudbury Alternative Art Fair (FAAS), bringing the practice of an artist-run center member to a wider audience.

For four days, some twenty artists from across the country will create new works and performances before the public's very eyes. For its seventh edition, FAAS 7 will take place on Kathleen Street in the Donovan district. This time, artist Florencia Sosa Rey has been chosen to take part in this fabulous collective fair.

The performance The Colour of Distance is an exploration of my interest in hospitality and its cultural differences through the simple act of greeting. At the Subdury Alternative Art Fair (FAAS), June 2023, taking place at the Croatian Center, I introduced myself by saying I wasn't going to do a frontal performance. I invited people to have a drink at the venue's bar and to gather, sitting and standing, as if waiting for a show to start. I then began my infiltrating stroll by greeting everyone, one after the other, randomly, engaging in a one-on-one with the modular questions, "How do you greet people?" "How do you react to a greeting? With this unspectacular chit-chat process, we engaged in the action described together. Around 60 people were greeted. There was physical contact, body language, handshake, wave, smile, eye contact, hug, a kiss on the right cheek, two kisses: the right first, the left next for some, and the reverse for others, the touch of the shoulder, saying a word, refusing, shyness, full embrace, hello, hi, bonjour, que tal, and words I can't remember in Polish, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Farsi, among many other languages.

Florencia Sosa Rey

Florencia Sosa Rey is a visual and performance artist based in the unceded territory of Tiohtià:ke/ Moonyiang, also known as Montreal. Using an approach rooted in a corporeal and somatic sensibility, she is interested in the hybrid socio-cultural history that her body carries in order to explore notions of memory, community and identity. She articulates pieces that address the embodied affect developed in relationships of intimacy, whether past, present or future. These being connected to people, experiences and certain inanimate objects. Her work is articulated through abstract drawing, performance, textiles, video and collaborations.

Since 2018, she has been involved in several collaborative processes as a performer, member of collectives or educator. Whether with artists, neophytes or family members, she is interested in the intersections and frictions that coexist in these dynamics, and which are synonymous with generosity, adaptability and a sought-after interdisciplinarity.

She holds a BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University. Her personal and collaborative work has been presented in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, United States, Iceland and Argentina. She has received grants notably from the Canada Council for the Arts.