Azadeh Pirazimian is a multidisciplinary artist, art educator based in Toronto and former lecturer in Iran. With a passion for exploring themes of self-expression, communication, daily resistance, through diverse media, including drawing, painting, photography, performance, and sculpture. Her methodology has been consistent throughout her career, resulting in her own distinctive visual language.

Over the years, Azadeh has showcased her works at multiple exhibitions in Iran, Canada, and the Netherlands. Her art in Canada has received recognition through the Newcomer Artists Mentorship Grant and RBC Space Awards.

Azadeh holds a bachelor’s degree in painting and a master’s in visual communication. In the fall of 2023, Azadeh will pursue her MFA at  University of Waterloo, where she can develop her artistic skills further.

Chico Togni holds a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the São Paulo University in Brazil and was an Artist Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. His works have been exhibited internationally, most recently at Kunsthaus Dresden and Museum der Bildenden Kunst Leipzig. He moved to Toronto in 2022.

Helio Eudoro is a Brazilian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto. He holds a BFA (Hons.) in Sculpture and Installation from OCAD University (2022). His work explores the intersection of identity, gender, sexuality, diaspora, and aging. Eudoro’s art investigates themes of possessions, waste, and the cycle of mindless ownership, seeking to spark dialogues that challenge our understanding of body and identities, as well as material systems and their impact on consumption and disposal habits. He has received several grants and awards, including the 2022 OCADU Carmen Lamanna Award and the 2020 RBC Newcomer Arts Award. Eudoro’s artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums across Canada and Brazil, including the Art Museum at the University of Toronto in 2023 and ArtworxTO in 2022. His art is featured in collections such as the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia and the Museu de Arte Contemporânea of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

Irina Lerman graduated from Vaganova Ballet Academy as a professional ballet artist in 2011 and 2016 with a Master’s Degree in Choreography. She presented her first choreographic production, Mind Games (music by Max Richter), on The Mariinsky Theatre stage and performed classic and contemporary productions during her seven years at the Mariinsky Theatre, working with international choreographers like Sasha Waltz and William Forsythe. She won a Silver Medal at the International Competition in Riga, Latvia, produced independent ballet projects, and collaborated with artists, composers, filmmakers, and designers. Early in her career Irina taught as a Guest Teacher and Choreographer at Ballet Intensives in Europe and the USA and participated in the Netherlands Dance Theatre SI and workshops by renowned choreographers Wayne McGregor and Edward Clug. In 2019 Irina joined the Atlantic Ballet of Canada as a Lead Soloist. She is a recipient of the 2022 Newcomer Arts Award.

Kseniya Tsoy is a new Canadian community-engaged artist originally from Uzbekistan. Whether it’s community murals, illustration or cultural production, Kseniya’s work has a distinct social purpose and focuses on diversity and inclusion. As a visual artist, her work is inspired by folk motifs and legends of different cultures that influenced her throughout her life. As a person of mixed heritage, Kseniya’s art is a visual expression of her never-ending exploration of identity and belonging.

Lana Yuan is an artist living and working in Toronto. She has exhibited at the Art Museum at U of T, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Stackt Market Gallery Box, Center 3 Gallery, Ignite Gallery and Red Head Gallery. Between 2022 and 2023, she was awarded the 401 Career Launcher Prize.

Arif Bahaduri was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 1992. He is an artist who started learning art in 2007 in a private art class in Kabul. Through his process, he learned different skills and worked with different materials, and now uses them to give meaning to his artworks. In 2013, he was among the top 10 in Kabul for the Afghan contemporary art prize, which helped him become familiar with contemporary art. His artworks are in mixed media, painting, and performance art. He has had solo and group exhibitions in and outside of Afghanistan and completed an artist residency.

Elsa Hashem is a visual artist whose main focus is Photography and Calligraphy-Painting. She works as an artwork/mural-documentation photographer in Toronto and a freelance Calligrapher. In addition, she teaches visual arts to kids; and ESL & Canadian culture to adults. Her artistic practice mainly involves conceptual art, portraying concepts like Migration, Being a Woman, Immigration, and Quarantine. Through her images and calligraphy-painting art, she tells stories of people, believing that stories can tell us about the realities in life that are too complicated. She is a recipient of Toronto Arts Foundation’s Newcomer Arts Award and RBC Mentorship Award. As a professional photographer, she combines deep theoretical/technical knowledge with experience documenting artworks, creating portfolios and photo books for the artists, designing brochures, and promoting products and artworks via social networks and various advertising materials. Elsa stands out in photographing events, including arts and cultural ones, meetings and gatherings, and outdoor festivals and events.

Gizem Candan graduated with first-class honours with two BFAs, one in Plastic Arts and Painting and one in Graphic Design, from Yeditepe University in Istanbul in 2019. In September 2022, she will start an MFA program in Criticism and Curatorial Practice at OCAD University. Gizem’s works have been exhibited in Canada and Turkey in private collections, including the Special Collections of the Toronto Reference Library. Currently represented by Sivarulrasa Gallery at Almonte, ON, her work explores psychological states using multidisciplinary oil painting, video, photography and readymade techniques. In addition to appreciating traditional painting’s aesthetics, Gizem also adapts it to modern tastes. Throughout her work, she explores the anxieties people experience today, their impact on the environment and themselves, and the challenges of being in a modern world and taking part in it. Her subjects range from self-portraits, portraits of people she has met and puppets she has created to objects in her environment. Both graceful and unsettling, her characters exude stoicism and supple energy. Much of her work is introspective, juxtaposing objects and people to explore states of tension and suspense.

Leila-Refahi works with painting, installation, and digital media to create participatory art experiences. Her work mainly focuses on environmental issues, climate change and endangered animals. Leila received her Master’s degree in Art Education from Concordia University in 2021 and has a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Art and Architecture University in Tehran, Iran. In her research and educational projects, she inquires about socially engaged art and its impact on raising and transforming environmental knowledge in communities. Leila has presented six solo exhibitions and participated in more than 60 national and international group exhibitions and festivals. She also ran participatory projects, in which she engaged audiences in the artwork process by asking them to create and precede the artwork, cooperating, and finally becoming artists of the work. The interactions between participants, the artist, and the artwork are the most significant part of her practice.

Naghmeh Ghasemzadeh, aka NAG, is a multi-disciplinary Iranian-French artist. She studied Visual Arts and New Media at the Université de Paris 8, France and obtained a MA from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada.

In her work, she examines her own stories of immigration, cultural assimilation, uprootedness, women’s rights, gender equality and resilience. NAG expresses such subjects through fragmented materials and narratives. She questions frantic consumption, accumulation and the sense of purpose by giving new life to outdated and broken things. Organic drawings and materials, medical or industrial waste are combined in mixed media and installations, creating strange living organisms. They are assembled to find imaginary links between events, beings, belongings and destinies. The use of materials that usually don’t fit together reflects her quest to find a place and community to which she’ll finally belong.

Video and sound installations also contribute to her narratives, showcasing physical and psychological resilience through juxtaposition, animation, loops, superposition and visual effects.

Yannis Lobaina is an award-winning Cuban artist, writer, emerging filmmaker and photographer based in Toronto. Yannis explores themes of immigration, diaspora, and motherhood through various narrative tools. Lobaina currently focuses on minimalist photographic storytelling. Her fascination with patterns in nature has immersed her in a photographic collection where she explores the pareidolias, patterns and spirals found in her environment. Her passion is capturing fleeting moments. Everything becomes part of the composition she weaves with her stories and photographs. Her photography series Alive, Upside Down is an interpretation of how mother nature shows us the power of resilience every day—visualizing beauty and finding balance on earth as a human being. Above the chaos is part of her mission as a mother and an immigrant.

Azadeh Pirazimian is a multidisciplinary artist and art instructor. Azadeh’s artistic work includes illustration, photography and videos that are inspired by her life experience in native country and her immigration experience in Canada. In all of her work, she offers a critical view of socio-political and cultural issues, and explores conversations to critically reflect on these issues. Azadeh believes that art has the power to address the issues that people are not able to otherwise discuss. Her intention is to shift her audience’s attention to these subjects. As such, her artwork intends to open up a discussion in boundary-pushing ways, through which we can find a bold and bright stance facing the situation.

Nami Ueno is a visual artist from Kyoto, Japan. A graduate from Kyoto University of Art and Design, Nami currently works as an art instructor for Cedar Ridge Creative Centre. Since arriving in Toronto, Nami has actively participated in various outdoor and indoor exhibitions. Throughout her long career as an artist, Nami has developed a versatile visual style which represent the stories she tells through her work. Nami’s portfolio ranges from playful and dreamy, to more grotesque and eerie illustrations that represent the variety of life desires and struggles. Recent accomplishments include receiving the Toronto Arts Council Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant (2020); she is currently collaborating with her mentor on a new project.

Sarvenaz Rayati is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto. She has a BA in painting and visual communication from Art University in Tehran. Sarvenaz currently works with various mediums including painting, light sculpture, and mosaics to weave storytelling in her work. Heritage, identity, path, nature, and the act of seeking are recurrent themes in her work. She is inspired by Persian miniatures, comics and the life around her.

Rimah Jabr is a Palestinian theatre director and playwright. Since moving from Belgium to Toronto in 2015, Rimah has devoted her time to artistic training and community building initiatives within Toronto’s art world. Rimah is currently an artist in residence at The Theater Centre in Toronto. In 2014, Rimah obtained her Master of Arts in Theater from Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel RITCS in Belgium. She has written “Two Ladybugs”, “The Prisoner”, “The Apartment”, “High Heels and Stuffed Zucchini” (2015), and has had many collaborations including “Two Birds One Stone” which was written with Natasha Greenblatt.

Besides theatre, Rimah has an interest in films, feature fiction and anime. She is experimenting with drawing and moving digital photos where she mixes real photos with drawing. Rimah is currently in her second year as a PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University in Toronto.

Shabnam Afrand is a visual artist, born and educated in Tehran, Iran. Shabnam has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Azad University (2001) and taught at the faculty of Fine Arts of Azad University (2003-10). Shabnam’s practice consists of painting, drawing, sculpture and installation, and explores the themes of life and death. Shabnam identifies and creates an ambience of longing in her work. Currently, Shabnam is using memorable objects with fanciful extensions to consider how one can integrate bitter memories and warm nostalgia into their sense of self. She has been a member of the Iranian Painters Society since 2003 and has international exhibition experience.

Yannis Lobaina is an award winning Cuban writer, filmmaker, and photographer currently based in Toronto. Yannis graduated from the International School of Film, Radio and Television and is a diplomate of the VII Literary Training Course “Onelio Jorge Cardoso”. She has published over 25 short fiction stories and Flash Nonfiction pieces worldwide, has over twelve years of experience as a published author and creative visual storyteller, and has produced more than 40 short fiction and documentaries in Cuba. Yannis explores themes of immigration, diaspora, and motherhood through different storytelling tools. Yannis received the Toronto Arts Council’s Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant (2019) for her current picture book “Amélie The Crow Girl”, the first manuscript of the bilingual Spanish-English series.  Recent publications include her non-fiction short “Canadiana Boots” in Tint Journal Magazine (2020) and the short story “Deeply Rooted” with publisher Editorial Mapale. She is currently pursuing Creative Writing at the University of Toronto. 

Sahar Abdallah is an award-winning illustrator of children’s books who has worked with various publishers in MENA region. She finds her inspiration in her cat, and loves working with the medium of collage. Sahar wrote and illustrated Fanoun’s Tales (Egypt, 2012) and I Found a Home-Tout the Flea (Egypt, 2014), which were nominated for Shaikh Zayed prize. Her third book Life is Love, Not War was published by Al Banan-Lebanon (2017). Sahar was awarded the state incentive prize for illustration (Egypt, 2012), was a runner-up for the Mahmoud Kahila Award in 2017, and also nominated for Arabic 21 award that same year. Recently, Sahar was awarded Etisalat’s Best Illustration award by UAEBBY-UAE. She has held four solo exhibitions: Children and Stories (2009), A Painting and a Book (2012) and Scribbles (2014). Her fourth exhibition, 2018’s Visual Poems, was held in Toronto. Sahar has also participated in various group exhibitions, including Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, Abu Dhabi Book Fair, and the CANSCIAP art show in Toronto.

Tenzin Desel was born into a family of political refugees, where her mother instilled the love of art history from an early age. She later graduated from prestigious Stroganov Moscow Academia of Industrial and Applied Arts, where she specialized in architecture, industrial design, interior design, and painting. Despite the many barriers faced due to her family’s prosecuted status, Tenzin earned a Master of Fine Art (MFA). During this time, Tenzin was invited by the Dalai Lama to study religious painting in India with Tibetan refugees at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. She dedicated the next 28 years to studying Buddhist paintings, philosophy, architecture and ancient Buddhist language. Tenzin’s experiences include working on a Tibetan costume for Martin Scorsese’s film Kundun (1997), Brave Festival (2018), Festival of Risk and Failure (2018), On future: Words and Images at Toronto Centre for the Arts (2019), Geography of Belonging exhibit at Newcomer Day at Toronto City Hall (2019), and the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (2019). Tenzin will also be part of Toronto Arts Council’s Artist in the Library program at the Toronto Public Library this year. She was also a 2018 RBC Arts Access Fund recipient and received a certificate from the City of Toronto’s Art Connections program last year. Tenzin feels at her best and most harmonious with her surroundings when engaged in art-making, whether drawing or painting. She gets inspiration from by City of Toronto arts programs and discovering the amazing cultural heritage of Toronto, and is eager to learn to make a contribution to the culture of her new home city.

Banafsheh Erfanian is a Toronto-based painter, illustrator, and educator. She was born in Tehran, Iran, and graduated from Tehran University of Art with a Bachelor of Graphic Design and also holds an MFA in Illustration. Banafsheh has illustrated 30 books and magazines and has written more than 25 articles in art publications. She has been painting and illustrating for 15 years, and her work has been exhibited in 45 shows around the world in Iran, Italy, U.S., Canada, Russia, China, Japan, and Serbia and won the award of excellence at the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition (China) in 2016 and an encouragement prize from the 15th Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration (Japan) in 2004. Banafsheh has been shortlisted in numerous international illustration and painting catalogs and awarded grants from Toronto Arts Council, Neighbourhood Arts Network and the City of Toronto. The stories she has illustrated, such as Arabian Nights, Ardavirafnameh (Zoroastrian Paradise, and Inferno) and Shahnameh (the epics of Iranian kings) convey mythical themes and are full of rich imagination. The stories that share their messages through magical realism or surrealism stimulate ideas for her because she is able to use them as a platform to illustrate what is beyond reality.

Tarek Ghriri began playing guitar when he was 14 years old, influenced by the artistic environment that surrounded him in Damascus. Tareq focused on classical music until he was introduced to Flamenco music, dedicating his musical practice to learning Flamenco and mixing it with traditional Arabic melodies to revive his own heritage while paying homage to another. After all the music Tareq loved vanished during the Syrian crisis, music again saved his life when he was jobless and living in exile after fleeing his home in Damascus in 2013, giving him new hope and a source of inspiration. Once in Toronto, Tareq decided to make a living through music, and notes he sees its effect on his family, friends, and fellow musicians and artists who are touched by the music – they often also collaborate, adding their own touch to make the outcome richer and unique.

Melika Saeeda was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and graduated with an MFA in Graphic Design from Tehran Art University. Over the past 10 years, she has illustrated more than 30 children’s books in Turkey and Iran. Many of Melika’s illustrations have also appeared in Iranian children’s magazines and books, and her artwork has been exhibited at book fairs in Iran, Canada, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. Her art is about telling stories that draw on her experiences as an Iranian artist. She is inspired by traditional Iranian methods of depiction, such as the narratives in Persian miniatures – tiny, ornate paintings that tell traditional stories. This visual tradition has inspired her own art practice and representational choices, which she explores through drawing, painting, lithography, and murals. “I am excited to join community arts initiatives here in Canada, now that I feel free to express myself in ways I could not before,” Melika notes, adding she wants to draw on those traditional depiction methods and their narrative potential “to tell new stories that depict the full range of human diversity and that reflect on social justice while celebrating the freedom. Rather than simply commenting on life in Iran, however, I want to explore how these stories can be retold, made contemporary, and shared in a new culture.”

Andrea Vela Alarcón is a Peruvian community artist and a self-taught illustrator. Her art is based on creating platforms where underrepresented communities, centering underserved youth and Indigenous folks, can express themselves and shape discourses around them through engaging with different storytelling tools, including documentary and zines. As an illustrator, Andrea’s work is inspired by Amazonian culture and is influenced by the naïve genre. She gets inspiration from folk culture, femininity and nature. Through illustration, Andrea creats her own mythology and memory, maintaining the connection with her homeland the Amazon. She has been working as a community artist since 2009. After moving to Toronto in 2015, she facilitated various workshops for newcomer youth (Koffler Gallery), LGBTQ+ (TAIS) and street-involved communities (Margaret’s). In Peru, Andrea has exhibited her work in different regions and has collaborated with various small businesses. She published her first children’s book through a Chinese publishing house (2012). In Toronto, she has had three collective exhibits thus far, and has participated in different fairs, including City of Craft and Canzine. Andrea has recently received the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant from Toronto Arts Council (2018), and the RBC Arts Access Award from Neighbourhood Arts Network (2018). Andrea is currently developing The Allegra Project, a lifestyle brand highlighting Latin American culture.