THE LIVING VOICE: AN EVENING OF LABOUR ARTS POETRY
Friday May 6th, 7PM (Doors open at 6:30PM)
Join us for an evening of live poetry as Maysam Ghani, Danny Torres, and Funmilola Lawson perform their most recent work, inspired by collaborative art-making with local labour organizations: Labour 4 Palestine, Toronto & York Region Labour Council, and Jane Finch Action Against Poverty.
Performances will be followed by a screening of “The Heartbeat of Poor Tom”; a short audio play by Lisa Nasson presenting a fictional story about a woman dealing with the aftermath of the racist attacks in Mi’kma’ki last year over the broken Peace and Friendship Treaty.
Refreshments served.
PAUL-DANIEL TORRES
Paul-Daniel Torres, is filmmaker, poet and actor, raised by Ecuadorian immigrants in Toronto. His work is based in decolonization, exploring themes of love, family, mental health, politics and intergenerational trauma. He employs an eclectic style reminiscent of his hometown’s multicultural aesthetic, and believes in art’s ability to heal. Always aiming to make people smile.
MAYSAM GHANI
Maysam Ghani is a Muslim settler with Palestinian and Syrian roots, who was born and raised in Tkaronto (Toronto). Maysam is an aspiring educator, poet, and organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement (Toronto Chapter) where she is committed to seeking collective liberation. In her work, she has explored questions of settler colonialism, maternal lineages, food histories, and more. She is grounded in her community and seeks to nurture healing, justice, and generosity in her organizing. She has published pieces in the academic journal New Sociology: Journal of Critical Praxis (2020), in addition to the Queen’s Journal of Indigenous Studies (2019), Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship Anthology (2019), and Collective Reflections (2018). She was awarded 2nd place for the 2020 Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Anthology. She was a featured panelist at the international Palestine Writes Festival, speaking on a panel entitled “Architects of Our Narrative” for emerging Palestinian writers. She was a featured poet at the Canadian Spoken Word Festival in 2019 and has performed poetry in two productions of Down There. Catch her reciting poems at your local Palestine solidarity action!
FUNMILOLA (LOLABUNZ) LAWSON
With the rise of artists blowing up from Toronto, Funmilola (LolaBunz) Lawson is definitely next up. Lola is a hip hop artist first but holds several titles as a songwriter, spoken word artist and entrepreneur. She is known for her authenticity in her music and sound locally and internationally. Lola’s passion for uplifting her community fuels her creations; from workshops, to poetry, music and beyond. Lola uses her music and words to inspire other youth while bringing attention to issues that impact her community. Lola is recognized as a leader in her community and has been booked to perform, organize youth-led initiatives and speak at conferences in Toronto, across Ontario and internationally. Over the years, Lola has been published and won poetry slams showcasing her writing abilities. She has also landed major hip hop performances on BET freestyle Friday, South By Southwest (Texas), A3C Hip Hop Festival (Atlanta), and opening for Rapper Wale at Art Basel Miami to name a few. Never static, Lola catches her fans off-guard with versatility in her music and words. Lola holds a B.A in Social Science from York University and is pursuing her Masters in Education.
LISA NASSON
Lisa Nasson is an actor, director and playwright from Millbrook First Nation in Mi'kma'ki Territory. She studied acting at George Brown College and was selected to train in Classical Theatre at Stratford Festival's Birmingham Conservatory. Lisa is currently in rehearsals for Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well in Stratford, and has been writing and directing works when she has time away from performance. Her most recent credits include Romeo and Juliet as Benvolio at the Stratford Festival, and Little Bird as Jade which was presented at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. She is currently writing her first feature film, and her new play titled Mischief is being presented to schools in Ontario with Roseneath Theatre. Lisa is also writing and recording her own music, which she hopes to one day release when the timing is right.
