Do You See What I See? at IMPACT 25 International Theatre Festival

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About

Presented as part of IMPACT 25.

Artists Bangishimo and Gary Kirkham transform the words of students from the Ross MacDonald School for the Blind into powerful illuminated portraits. Each glowing image reveals how the students experience the world—blurred, shadowed, or darkened by blindness. But with a phone or tablet, Augmented Reality peels back the distortion, uncovering the sharp, original photo. Inspired by the students’ declaration, “When I go out, I’m the blind kid, but I’m so much more,” the installation challenges us to see beyond disability and meet these young people in all their richness, strength, and individuality.

Bangishimo (They/Them) is an IndigiQueer Anishinaabe photographer originally from Couchiching First Nation. Bangishimo is a community organizer, educator, and advocate. Their focus is creating space for marginalized communities to come together allowing voices to be heard. Their advocacy and photography has allowed them to visit over sixteen countries; taking photos and sharing the stories of those they meet along the way.

Gary Kirkham is a locally based professional artist working in light installations and theatre performance. His work has been seen extensively across Canada and internationally. The majority of the work in Gary’s 40 year long career has been in collaboration with other artists

Links

• IMPACT 25 Website impacttheatrefestival.ca

Organizer

IMPACT 25 International Theatre Festival

IMPACT (International Multicultural Platform for Alternative Contemporary Theatre) is a biennial festival produced by MT Space in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada – presenting politically-charged and urgent international, national, and local work by Indigenous, Black, and Racialized artists since 2009.

Founded in 2004 by Majdi Bou-Matar, MT Space centralizes minoritized voices and narratives through theatre. Over the past two decades, MT Space has grown from being a company that produces one show every other year to an organization that brings culturally and socially relevant work from across the country and around the world to communities in Waterloo Region – bringing different communities together to create a community of difference.