ABRA

April 1- May 6, 2020, 2019
Whippersnapper Gallery
594 Dundas St W

ABRA is a video installation that centres working-class labour, surveillance and socio-economic bubbles. 

In a storefront installation, artist Hiba Ali presents a fictional conversation with Amazon’s orange-coloured mascot, Peccy. In this scene, the colour orange represents  both labor and danger. As a Muslim woman, and former Amazon worker in the United States, Ali ponders surveillance, policing and economic uncertainty . She alerts us to the need to  unionize and build solidarity across racialized and working class communities.

Hiba Ali is a new media artist, writer, DJ, experimental music producer and curator based across Chicago, IL, Austin, TX, and Toronto, ON. Her performances and videos concern music, labour and power. She conducts reading groups addressing digital media and workshops with open-source technology. She is a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Queens University, Kingston, Canada. Hiba has presented her work in Chicago, Stockholm, Toronto, New York, Istanbul, São Paulo, Detroit, Dubai, Austin, Vancouver, and Portland. She has written for THE SEEN Magazine, Newcity Chicago, Art Dubai, The State, VAM Magazine, ZORA: Medium, RTV Magazine, and Topical Cream Magazine.