Derailing Dignity Opening Reception

Join us for the opening reception of Derailing Dignity, an installation and sound piece by Krish Dineshkumar.

Derailing Dignity reflects on the experience of migrant workers who deliver food using bikes in Toronto. The intent of the work is to zoom in on the particular intersection of both gig work and migrant labour, holding room for the many ways in which dignity is far removed from the very hands of those that feed us.

This takes shape through exploitative labour practises, migratory policy, and increased sentiments of racism and xenophobia. The installation + sound piece aims to reflect on what we collectively lose (sight/site of) when we consent to the practice of fragile and unsustainable labour systems that are veiled as means of bringing comfort to our lives.

Light refreshments served. Drop in event, no registration required.

Presented with Whippersnapper Gallery. This project was developed through Mayworks’ Labour Arts Catalyst and informed by research with migrant rights activists and Gig Workers United. 

Krish Dineshkumar is a cook, composer and sound artist. He has worked on a range of audio productions as a sound designer and archival researcher. Krish has contributed to art installations by the Tamil Archive Project that have been exhibited at InterAccess, The Public Studio and Lakeshore Arts. In his own musical practice, he’s drawn to archiving forgotten histories and engaging with narratives that hold complexity. Cooked Until Tender is a project through which Krish offers catering services and food-related programming across the city of Toronto. The aim of Cooked Until Tender is to teach people how to cook and facilitate discussions around food insecurity, communal care, gender equity, and food ethnography.

At Whippersnapper Gallery we are committed to the underdog artist*. We provide emerging artists and cultural workers with a platform to expand the parameters of their practice and develop ethical, rigorous relationships with communities, particularly racialized, queer, disabled and working class people.
Our teeny tiny gallery is viewable by the public 24 hours a day through fully exposed street level windows. Whip is structured to encourage peer-to-peer mentorship and create innovative programming that catalyzes social transformation. We offer space to experiment and confront displacement in the ever-gentrifying urban core in which we are situated. artist-run centre committed to the cultivation of inclusive spaces for emerging visual and media arts, community arts, and experimental forms of exhibition making. We provide artists and cultural producers with a flexible platform and exhibition space to expand the parameters of their professional practice. Whippersnapper is structured to encourage peer-to-peer mentorship and promote success by the artists’ own standards. Through critical and diverse programming, Whippersnapper initiates new relationships and unexpected conversations.