Performance as Repair
with artists Gina Goico and Iván Sikic, organized by Se habla español
Saturday, October 13, 2018
3 to 5:30pm
Ivan Sikic, Honoring the Treaties, 2017. Image by Hans Neumann. [Image Description: Artist Iván Sikic walks backwards, standing in front of his collaborator Paul Cannon on a New York City crosswalk. Behind them, people walk and white building columns can be seen. Sikic wears a white tshirt and has short brown hair. Cannon is partially shirtless with gold leafing at the top of his chest and along his arms. He wears a light tan animal skin skirt, his hair is long and black, and his face has three red lines across the middle. Across his body is white powder.]
Organized by Se habla español, Performance as Repair explored the practices of two Latin American artists - Gina Goico and Iván Sikic. The program featured a performance by Gina Goico, a screening of a performance by Iván Sikic with collaborator Paul Cannon, followed by a conversation with Sikic, Cannon, and members of Se habla español examining the performative role of language in our society, how words can be used to combat the imposition of power and play an essential part in activism, denouncement, inclusion, and policy making.
Bios
Paul Cannon is a San Diego Native belonging to the Kumeyaay-Ipai people residing on the San Pasqual Reservation. Cannon is an honored Native Americana songwriter/performer who is recognized for being a healer for the indigenous peoples. In 2017, Cannon and his wife Lacey Cannon founded Indigenous Regeneration, an educational farm center aimed towards educating the local Native community on: food sovereignty, sustainable eco-home development, regenerative agriculture, holistic living, survival skills, and many more ancient practices that will inspire true indigenous sovereignty.
Gina Goico is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and activist. Her work focuses on identity and womanhood in the Dominican Republic and its diasporas, the self, community, and healing. She has worked alongside grassroots organizations in the Dominican Republic for social justice and political accountability, and with nonprofits in NYC, making art accessible to underserved children and youth. She holds an AAS in Fine Arts and Illustration from Altos de Chavon the School of Design and a BFA from Parsons. Goico lives in The Bronx and works all across NYC.
Iván Sikic is a conceptual artist who explores social and political structures and conflicts through durational performance, public activations, installation, and photography. He has presented work and attended residencies in the USA, Latin America, Australia and Europe. His work has been written about widely in mediums like Artishock (Chile), The Creators Project, Artnet News,VICE Colombia (Colombia), Fast Company (USA), and The Huffington Post (USA), amongst others. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.
Se habla español is a curatorial collective established in NYC comprised of Noelia Lecue Francia, María Alejandra Sáenz García, Andrea Valencia Aranda, and Natalia Viera Salgado, from Spain, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico respectively, whose collective nationality and immigration status includes exchange visitor visa and student visa holder, foreign born, U.S. citizen, and Noncitizen National. As Spanish speakers and curators, the collective works on artistic and social projects that expand the limits of language, addressing migration, identity, human rights, and memory.
