Panel Discussion: Public Intimacy

Which visual, mental, or historical markers may help us to make the distinction between public and private?

In response to our ongoing exhibition, Public Intimacy by Berlin-based artists Sophia Hirsch and Johannes Mundinger, we will be hosting a panel discussion with several artists and scholars from an array of fields, including visual arts, literature, media, religious studies, advocacy, and more. Moderated by Dr. Miranda Crowdus, Director of the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University, our guest panelists will untangle the multivalent themes that are brought forward in Public Intimacy, including geopolitical and social movements, material practices, and much more.

Admission is free. Click here to reserve your spot. Guests are invited to view Public Intimacy following the panel. Click here to read more about the exhibition.

Presented in partnership with Goethe-Institut Montréal and the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University. Presented with support by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Montreal and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

OUR PANELISTS: 

Heidi Barkun is a chronically ill and disabled transdisciplinary artist from Tiohtià:ke – Mooniyang – Montreal. She has a Master of Arts in Visual & Media Arts and Feminist Studies (UQAM, 2020), a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Concordia, 1999) and a Bachelor of Science (McGill, 1995). Her projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She is the 2020 laureate of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art.

Michael Blum is an artist, author, and professor at the École des arts visuels et médiatiques, UQAM, Canada. In his artistic work as well as his writings, he deals with people, stories and places between everyday life and politics. He is the author of Oranienstraße. Ausgrabungen. Eine Verschronik (KLAK Verlag, Berlin, 2019) and Domaine Lilium, his first novel (Héliotrope, Montréal, to be released March 2023).

Miranda Crowdus is an assistant professor at the Department of Religions and Cultures and the director for the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies and holds the Research Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies. Crowdus’ research interests lie at the intersection of ethnomusicology and Jewish Studies. She earned her doctorate at City University London in 2016. Prior to her move to Canada, she spent five years in Hanover, Germany, as a research associate at the European Centre for Jewish Music.

Neal Santamaria serves as the Quebec Regional Director for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Neal holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and did doctoral studies in Sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Prior to moving to Canada, Neal worked on immigration issues in France and in the Dominican Republic. Neal worked as the Associate Director of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS) at Concordia University.