“The Space in Between”

by Salima Punjani

PUBLIC EXHIBITION: 21-23 JULY

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Opening Reception: FRIDAY, 21 July, 6 – 8 PM

Afternoon Reception: SATURDAY, 22 July, 1 – 4 PM

Morning Reception: SUNDAY, 23 July, 11AM – 2PM

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The Space in Between invites you to imagine the possibilities of what a gallery can be. 

For the past month, our artist in residence Salima Punjani has transformed Trinity Square Video into a living room with comfortable furniture. She invited about 30 artists from Toronto’s Mad/Deaf/Disability arts community to come, relax and have an informal conversation over a meal. These gatherings were audio recorded and Salima is transforming them into a multisensory listening experience using vibrotactile technology that will be open to the public. 

Join us to vibe out in a comfy living room and feel what it is like to be in “The Space in Between” a participatory, relational art project that imagines and builds a space for Mad/Deaf/Disabled artists in Toronto to come together in a soft, slow, unspectacular way. 

No reservations necessary. ASL interpretation, an active listener and a sensory care station are available. 

Please refer to our Access Guide for more information about this exhibition and Trinity Square Video.

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Salima Punjani is a multisensory artist grounded in relational aesthetics. A common thread through all of her work is the creation of environments that allow for receptivity of connection. She is particularly interested in how multiple senses can be used to expand the possibilities for people to feel welcome in art spaces as well as to create artful experiences of empathy, softness, anti-urgency, intimacy, and connection. Her recent work explores themes such as softness and anti-urgency, isolation and resocialization processes related to COVID-19, rest as resistance to systemic injustice and how medical data can be subverted into finding human connection rather than pathologies.

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Image description: Sunshine lights up two people sitting on plush multi-textured pom-pom-lined floor cushions, eating panda coconut ice-cream out of crystal bowls with their feet soaking in bubbly cold water on a hot day, scented like a misty post-rain shower.

Image Credit: K Iskandarsjah

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Trinity Square Video, Tangled Art and Disability, Ada X and InterAccess in making this project a possibility.