Rajni Perera: In Conversation with Devyani Saltzman

“I’ve been an artist for thousands of years. I’m here again just to do the same that I’ve always been doing. ”

–  Rajni Perera, The Globe and Mail (December 2022)

Rajni Perera (Toronto) is one of the country’s leading multimedia artists. Her work explores issues of hybridity, futurity, ancestorship, immigration identity/cultures, monsters, and dream worlds. Her practice seeks to open and reveal the dynamism of the icons and objects she creates, both scripturally existent, self-invented and externally defined, thus creating a subversive aesthetic that counteracts antiquated, oppressive discourse, and acts as a restorative force through which people can move outdated, repressive modes of being towards reclaiming their power.

Her work has been shown in the solo exhibition Futures at the McMichael (2023), Banners For New Empires at The Mackenzie Gallery (2019; duo with ISF-artist-alum Nep Sidhu); TRAVELLER at Patel-Division Projects (2019); and Believe at The Museum Of Contemporary Art Toronto (2018). Perera’s Fresh Air (2019) was acquired by the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Join Rajni for an in-depth conversation with writer/curator Devyani Saltzman about her practice, her relationship to ancestry and Sri Lanka, and the Vancouver debut of her exhibition The Vessel with Two Mouths. 

Ticket includes the artist talk (at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts) and a post-talk reception at the exhibit itself (at the Roundhouse Community Centre).

Schedule:

Talk: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts: 149 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7)

Reception: 9:00 – 10:00 PM (Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre: 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2W3)

This event is curated by Devyani Saltzman.