Art Farm Closing Reception with Performance by Alexandra Gelis

Join us as we mark the closing of Art Farm with a celebration with the many artists, farmers, and collaborators who have participated in the exhibition throughout its run.

The afternoon will include a sound and video performance by artist Alexandra Gelis that activates Outdoor School's mobile sculpture Art Farm Stand, based on her research and exploration of Phragmites, a non-native plant at the U of T Scarborough Farm. Curator Amish Morrell will deliver remarks, and we'll be launching the many publications and printed materials created through exhibiting artist Shannon Gerard's Plant Parenthood studio & classroom.

A series of interventions rooted in plant-based explorations, Gelis's performance interlaces handmade paper crafted from the fibres of Phragmites—the so-called invasive reed—and their plant neighbours, with soundscapes and video footage captured with the participation of students who journeyed into Phragmites fields at the U of T Scarborough Farm. These papers, expansive and textured, become more than material artifacts; they transform into carriers of silent stories, embodying the resilience of plants and the human interventions that seek to control them. Gelis' actions are an invitation to attendees to reconsider the ethics and impacts of controlling nature through chemical means and to reflect on alternative paths of stewardship that prioritise coexistence and empathy over dominance. This performance is a call to action for the banning of the common herbicide glyphosate.

Light refreshments will be served, and a cash bar will be offered. All are welcome! This is a relaxed reception, attendees are welcome to come and go as they need, and seating will be available. The gallery is wheelchair accessible. If you have other accommodation needs, please contact dmg.utsc@utoronto.ca.

Alexandra Gelis is a Colombian-Venezuelan-Canadian media artist whose research-based, process-oriented practice spans film, photography, drawing, and media installations incorporating custom-built interactive electronics and sound. Her single-screen films and modular immersive non-fiction installations delve into the ecologies of various landscapes through personal field research, examining socio-political interventions. Gelis collaborates with communities across the Americas, focusing on the interplay between plants, people, and power in the context of colonization and globalization. Her concept of "Migrant Plants" explores plants as political allies in struggles against colonialism, war, and migratory and racial regimes, documenting the autonomous behaviour of these plants. Gelis's projects have been exhibited internationally across North and South America, Europe, and Africa. She holds a PhD in Environmental Studies and Urban Change.