What are the ways in which artists and arts institutions act as a force of displacement? What have we learned from our past experiences, and what can we do to avoid future harm?

Please join Miami-based artist Fereshteh Toosi for an in-person listening and dialogue session activating the exhibition’s central sculptural platform.

Fereshteh Toosi designs experiences that pose questions and foster animistic connections through encounter, exchange, and sensory inquiry. Their artwork often involves documentary processes, oral history, and archival research. These projects are augmented by audio, video, handmade electronics, and media transmissions. The live art events often take place outdoors in gardens, parks, and waterways. Immersive performances are produced in conjunction with small sculptures, short films, installations, scores, and poetry.

In 2021, Fereshteh was participating in the Montréal/Miami New Narratives Lab hosted by the National Film Board of Canada, O Cinema, MUTEK, and FilmGate Interactive. They also earned a Knight New Work 2020 award for their project Oil Ancestors, and a Miami Live Arts Lab Alliance residency to develop Metaphysical Hotline, a performance by telephone for an audience of one. Water Radio, a series of contemplative canoe and kayak outings, was supported by The Ellies Creator Award in 2018.

Fereshteh lives and works in El Portal, Florida on stolen lands still stewarded by the Miccosukee and Seminole people, and previously by the Calusa and Tequesta tribal bands. They are an Assistant Professor in the Art and Art History Department of the College of Communication, Architecture, and the Arts at Florida International University.