About
Join Nina and Masoud in a “roundtable” discussion/workshop where you will learn how to develop an idea into a feasible project. Topics explored will include how to nurture and grow an artistic practice, authenticity in creative work, how to find new sources of inspiration, feasibility and funding, how to develop skills and acquire resources, the value of mentorship and collaboration, and the value of self-confidence, persistence, and resilience.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Materials required: a writing utensil and notebook where participants can record their thoughts and ideas
Facilitators
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Nina Platiša
Artist
Meet Nina: A war child who moved to Canada over 20 years ago from the former Yugoslavia, Nina is an emerging musician, songwriter, producer and recording artist. She is well on her way to having a successful career in music, with her migration experience and her family story informing her art. In this residency, she will launch her new album: Za Klavir: For the Piano, an impressive collection of 26 original compositions that blend minimal, contemporary and classical roots with elements of Balkan folk music. Nina is also offering workshops where she will share the resources that helped her create winning grant applications to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
Nina Platiša was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. She is a lifelong pianist who began composing music at the age of seventeen. Nina’s dynamic music is emotional and introspective, spanning various forms from solo piano to electro-infused soul.
Her debut album Za Klavir: For the Piano is a collection of original compositions for solo piano. The pieces combine minimal, contemporary, and classical roots with elements of traditional Balkan folk music. Za Klavir was recorded at Port William Sound in Mountain Grove, Ontario and is due to be released in April 2023.
On the upcoming project LEVELSEVEN, Nina is the vocalist, songwriter, and producer of an album of intimate and inventive pop music. Her previously released singles I Wove A Garment For You and Your Lust are an extension of this project. Both Nina’s albums have garnered generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
In 2021, Nina took part in the Guelph Emerging Artist Mentorship Program, in which she was the mentee of composer and musician Jeff Bird, and in 2022 she participated in Undecimals, an artist exchange project created and organized by artists. Nina has composed for several short films and her music will appear in the upcoming Canadian feature films Broken Waters and Campaign On: A Lifetime of Athletic Pursuit. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University and recent student of Berklee College of Music, Nina is also a proud educator, teaching piano, musical theory, and composition to students aged 6 – 76.
Photo by Sunny Kooner.
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Masoud Riyazati
Artist
Meet Masoud, an artist with over a decade of experience in documentary work and portrait photography. He is also an award-winning film maker and an experienced film editor. As part of his photography-based residency, he will conduct workshops on advances in the development of photographic practices. Additionally, his images, which offer fresh and distinctive insights on having recently navigated a new culture, will be showcased in April. Through an innovative darkroom printing technique called “uneven development,” Masoud will create an unforgettable series of black-and-white photographs that depict the feelings of migrants while adjusting to their new lives ‒ their journey, their losses and successes, their grief and happiness. Notably, his photograph, “Terror,” won the K.B. Jackson Award in Portraiture in the Hart House Camera Club’s 97th Exhibition in 2019.
Masoud Riyazati is a multidisciplinary artist who draws inspiration from his life journey and brings lived experiences into his photography, films, and music. He was born in Iran and moved to Canada in his late twenties. Later, he applied to the University of Toronto, where he is finishing his Anthropology and Visual Arts degrees. Throughout his studies, he has been active in the art community, producing award-winning photography and experimental film.
In 2019, Masoud travelled to Turkey to interview refugee families struggling to care for their ill children as part of a campaign to amplify their voices. He is currently a Hart House Artist in Residency, working on a photo essay exploring the emotional effects of migration and finding one's place in the world.
Photo by Sunny Kooner.
