"Launching SALOON Toronto is a big pleasure for me. My objectives for this branch are to unite Toronto's thriving and diverse community, recognise the accomplishments of our members, and foster significant cross-cultural dialogue with the larger International SALOON network.
SALOON Toronto will offer the community's women-identifying cultural workers and practitioners a much-needed support network. I hope to emulate the generosity and thoughtfulness that I received while working with SALOON Berlin during their tenth anniversary, and the enthusiastic support from SALOON Vienna. I was moved by the dedication and commitment of the women in this network, and it inspired me to bring this initiative to Toronto.
SALOON Toronto and its members acknowledge the land on which we gather, create, and reside are the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, the meeting place of Toronto (also known as Tkaronto) is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island, and we are grateful to work on this land."
--Rah Eleh
Rah Eleh (she/her) is a video, net and performance artist and a PhD candidate at die Angewandte, Vienna. Rah's multimedia artworks delve into issues of intersectional identity politics and contemporary art practice, contributing to greater social knowledge, awareness, and cultural discourses surrounding ethnic futurism, ethnonationalism and technoculture. She has exhibited extensively at spaces including: Venice Biennale (ECC, Palazzo Mora), Images Festival (Toronto), Williams College Museum of Art (Williamstown, Massachusetts), Nieuwe Vide (Haarlem, Netherlands), Pao Festival (Oslo, Norway), and Onassis Cultural Center (Athens, Greece). She has been the recipient of numerous awards and residencies including the Koumaria Residency (Greece, 2016), Studio Das Weisse Haus (Vienna, 2014), Intergenerational LGBTQ residency (Toronto Island) and the Artslant Georgia Fee Residency (Paris). rah-eleh.com
Noor Ale, (Curator, thepowerplant.org)
Shabnam Afrand (Multi-disciplinary visual artist, shabnamafrand.com)
Miriam Arbus (Curator, skyfinefoods.com)
lo bil (performance artist, lobil.art)
Jutta Brendemühl (Curation & communication, ca.linkedin.com/in/juttabrendemuhl and goethe.de/ins/ca/en/index.html)
Jenn Goodwin (Artist, Choreographer, Curator, Producer, jenngoodwin.ca)
Anik Glaude (Curator, markham.ca/wps/portal/home/arts/varley-art-gallery)
Sherri Hay (Artist, sherrihay.com)
Candice Houtekier (Entrepreneur, Art Collision and Floating Point Gallery, artcollision.ca, floatingpointgallery.com)
Anique Jordan (Artist and Curator, aniquejjordan.com)
Simin Keramati (Artist, siminkeramati.com)
Rea McNamara (Writer and Curator, linktr.ee/reeraw)
Hajar Moradi (Multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, hajarmoradi.com)
Lorna Mills (Artist and Curator, lornamills.ca/waysofsomething)
Zeesy Powers (Artist, zeesypowers.com)
Clare Samuel (Artist, photography and video, claresamuel.com)
Melika Shafahi (Artist, melikashafahi.com)
