Hanan Abbas, Emkay Adjei-Manu, Abby Adjekum, Czarina Mendoza, Dalia Shalabi, John Hill, and Tee Kundu
October 21 – December 21, 2022
In Summer 2022, Factory Media Centre hosted Alt-Futures, a digital residency program for emerging BIPOC artists and creators which fostered collaboration and technical skill-sharing amongst participants. This included several workshops provided by the residency’s facilitators John Hill & Tee Kundu, workshops from guest artists, and weekly meetings.
We are pleased to feature the culminative work from this residency through the exhibition, Alt-Futures: Here, Now, Next. Featuring new work from seven exciting, emerging artists: Hanan Abbas, Emkay Adjei-Manu, Abby Adjekum, John Hill, Tee Kundu, Czarina Mendoza, and Dalia Shalabi.
There’s No Place Like The Desert (Where?), Hanan Abbas. GIFS, 2022 
Pearl of the Orient, Czarina Mendoza. Mixed media with fresh water and plastic pearls, 2022 
Installation view of Alt-Futures: Here, Now, Next 
Fly on the Wall (And the Seasons), Abby Adjekum. Mixed media, 2022 
Installation view of Alt-Futures: Here, Now, Next 
The desolate escape, Dalia Shalabi. Interactive 3D experience, 2022 
Here With You, Tee Kundu. Spark AR Filter, 2022 
drum song, John Hill. Handrum, Sound, 2022 
Once before, the Body, May Adjei-Manu. Video, 2022 
Installation view of Alt-Futures: Here, Now, Next 
The desolate escape, Dalia Shalabi. Interactive 3D experience, 2022 
There’s No Place Like The Desert (Where?), Hanan Abbas. GIFS, 2022 
Installation view of Alt-Futures: Here, Now, Next 
Pearl of the Orient, Czarina Mendoza. Mixed media with fresh water and plastic pearls, 2022
About the Artists Residents:
Hanan Abbas is an Iraqi-Canadian emerging artist & designer based in Mississauga, Ontario. She holds a BFA from McMaster University and is currently pursuing a post-grad in Interactive Design.
Emkay Adjei-Manu is a multi-disciplinary artist, community-engaged arts worker and researcher. Their art explores embodiment, myth, and memory. In their spare time, Emkay enjoys daydreaming as a tool for remembering and imagining past and future life.
Abby Adjekum is a Hamilton-based artist and curator, mainly working in oil paint. She makes vibrant introspective pieces that explore themes of Black femininity, intimacy, and co-existence in white spaces. She creates art that addresses how emotional vulnerability and tolerance are informed by the ways Black women navigate cultural identity.
Czarina Mendoza is an artist and musician currently based in Windsor, ON. Originally from Alberta, she moved to Ontario and received her Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Media Art History & Visual Culture at the University of Windsor in 2019. She has assisted in multiple areas such as panel moderating, programming, and archival research with organizations Centre[3] (Hamilton), Artcite Inc. Arts Council Windsor & Region and the public library. Alongside her practice she enjoys working in audio, in field and music recordings, contributing as audio technician for the 25th Anniversary of Media City Film Festival. Her work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Windsor and Artcite. Inc.
Dalia Shalabi is a Moroccan-Palestinian multi-disciplinary artist. An uninvited guest living and creating on the lands of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat people.
She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of British Columbia, where she explored film and performance art as mediums of resistance and healing. Her work focuses on the lasting impact of colonization with an emphasis on oral histories.
About the Programming Residents:
John Hill (he/they) is a queer, Indigenous poet and artist from Hamilton, Ontario. Since 2019, he has worked in the middle of sound; employing the techniques of collage, cut-up, field recording, and distortion to tell stories. John is inspired by dreams, Indigenous metaphysics, and magic. Since 2021, they hold the position of Public Programs Coodrinator at the Hamilton Artists Inc, a not-for-profit artist-run centre.
Tee Kundu is an interdisciplinary artist, illustrator & designer. They mostly draw things. In addition, they often work in social practice, and they want to be helpful.
Workshops
HTML and CSS Workshops with Tee Kundu
An Alt-Futures exclusive workshop, residents have learned the basics of HTML and CSS coding with one of our facilitators, Tee Kundu.
OBS Livestream Workshop with B Wijshijer
This important foundational digital skill is perfect for online facilitations, performances, as well as digital artwork documentation for grant/exhibitions proposals. Participants would follow along with B Wijshijer and learn to set up basic audio/visual live streams with OBS Studio. Streaming venues include Facebook, Twitch, and more.
An Exercise in Portals with Hiba Ali
In this three-part workshop series, entitled “An Exercise in Portals”, participants have learned 3D design, modelling and animation to create 3D interactive world with Blender, 3D open-source program, Mozilla Hubs, an interactive 3D platform. They have explored how we can design spaces that provide us care and slowness in the digital realm.
Publication
An accompanying digital and printable publication was built on and is hosted through Glitch, a collaborative programming environment.
Factory Media Centre would like to acknowledge funding provided by Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts towards Alt-Futures:
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