Working in collaboration with Blank Slate, FADO is pleased to present a performance, video screening and talk by Gusztav Uto, one of Romania’s foremost performance artists. This will be the final work in Visa Trauma, a series of four actions undertaken by the artist during his visit to Canada (previous actions were performed in Chicoutimi, Montréal and Québec City during August, 2003).
Gusztav Uto presents performance actions combining political and poetic impulses that respond to current and local situations. Visa Trauma comes out of the circumstances under which Uto finds himself in Canada. Originally invited to perform as part of SYLVA, a collective of Transylvanian artists formed for this tour, Uto found himself alone after his five companions were denied Visas by the Canadian embassy in Bucharest. Consequently, these performances speak to this unexpected absence of his colleagues and of the difficulties of communicating across cultural, geographic and administrative borders.
After his performance, Uto will show some video documentation of the ANNART festival in Romania and engage in a discussion with the audience about how art is valued in Romania versus Canada.
This event is presented in collaboration with Blank Slate, a new Toronto forum for discussions, critical talks, conferences, workshops and interdisciplinary events blending together science, technology philosophy, politics and art. Special thanks to Le Lieu for organizing Gusztav Uto’s trip to Canada.
© Gustav Uto, Visa Trauma IV, 2003. Photo Miklos Legrady.
