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TORONTO ART PROJECTS

UNPACK STUDIO is an independent platform for artistic collaboration based in Toronto, Canada. It is aimed at coordinating and curating contemporary art projects.

Our mandate is to provide a context for aesthetic research developed in the cultural, linguistic and political articulations of knowledge, particularly reflecting on the understandings of migration, race, gender and power. We are interested in investigations aimed at exploring the conceptual intersections and points of rupture of these definitions.

We seek to potentiate artworks that reflect on the negotiations that discrete concepts and fields of knowledge are subjected to when extrapolated to other cultural spaces or disciplines, whether through life experience or research. Our objective is to promote the work of artists and curators that question the validity of definitions as absolutes, in light of the trans-disciplinary nature of contemporary thinking.

HAVANA ART RESIDENCY

The UNPACK STUDIO Havana Art Residency is open to visual artists, curators and researchers interested in developing projects in Cuba. The self-directed residency runs from three to seven weeks and includes meeting with an internationally recognized art contact, interaction with the Havana art scene, independent workdays and possible presentations to the public.

The artist can create local-foreign collaborations, interact with contemporary Cuban practitioners and give Cuban art students the opportunity to see diverse practices. Creatives can research, produce new work individually or in collaboration, network with artists, art students, galleries, curators, and explore Havana.

Unpack Studio residency is strategically situated in Vedado, a central and popular neighbourhood of Havana, with easy access to all areas of the city (view map). There is walking distance access to food markets, stores, internet wifi spots, jazz bars, swimming pools, art galleries, cinemas and theatres.

LAST POST FROM RESIDENTS

Curator Tamara Toledo at UNPACK

My visit to Unpack Studio Residency in Havana was absolutely fantastic! I had the privilege of time, space, and the peace needed to accomplish what I had set myself to do away from home, and I treasured every minute! Cuba’s geopolitical circumstances and its historical references became sources of inspiration to my writing, embedding itself into my Ph.D. dissertation. This residency gave me the time to focus on my writing, slowing the pace of time, and the immediate urgency of routines. It gave me the opportunity to think, to feel, and understand where I was heading with my writing, while also feeding my curatorial inquisitive mind.

Attending artist talks, art tours, conducting studio visits, witnessing heated panel discussions, visiting archives and museums, and various contemporary art exhibitions of prominent and emerging Cuban artists, felt like a gift I had been awarded with, and I was there to just soak it all in, without any preconceived notions or imposing any of my own ideas onto different realities. As a scholar and curator who navigates spaces of critical consciousness and creative output, I was determined to not fall into stereotypes or grandiose expectations. Instead, I felt extremely grateful for the opportunity, for the historical moment I was witnessing, under a very privileged circumstance, I felt it my responsibility to just listen and not judge.

Despite staying for only a week, I was able to establish a comfortable space to create and write. I felt welcomed, appreciated, and valued. I had several opportunities to also relax, eat fresh fruit, enjoy the sun, share a good coffee with friends, breath the salty air, listen and dance to contagious music, and meet friendly people. Thank you, Unpack Studio, and everyone who made this visit memorable and unforgettable, with the hopes to return soon.