The Living Room: Creative Team & List of Works Cited

In September 2016, the ROM and OCAD U embarked on a unique partnership, which culminated in an original student-created installation that is part of The Family Camera (May 6 - October 29, 2017). This work was designed by the students in consultation with their instructors and ROM staff as part of the OCAD U Digital Futures graduate course, "Family Camera at the ROM." Here is some more information about the people behind this installation, as well as citations of works that inspired The Living Room. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The Living Room was created by artists, designers, and curators in the Digital Futures and the Interdisciplinary Masters in Art, Media & Design Graduate Programs, and the Visual and Critical Studies Undergraduate Program, at OCAD University in Toronto: Samaa Ahmed, Margarita Castro, Bijun Chen, Mudit Ganguly, Jeffrey Garcia, Sara Gazzaz, Afaq Ahmed Karadia, Annette Mangaard, Ania Medrek, Katie Micak, Natasha Mody, Manik Perera Gunatilleke, Maya Wilson-Sanchez, and April Xie.

Under the guidance of: Martha Ladly (course director), Immony Men (creative and technical director), Julie Crooks (curatorial instructor), and Jennifer Orpana (curatorial instructor).  

With the support and mentorship from The Family Camera Network and ROM staff: Deepali Dewan (Dan Mishra Curator of South Asian Art & Culture), Ryan Dodge (Digital Engagement Stratagist), Emilio Genevese (Exhibit Designer), Steven Laurie (Project Manager), Scott Loane (Video Producer/AV Specialist), Alyssa McLoed (Web Desiginer and Front End Developer), Zoe McQuinn (Coordinator, Festival Programs), and Sadia Zaman (Managing Director, ROM Canada).

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

The Living Room
4 channel video installation, mixed media
2017
Courtesy of OCAD University, Toronto, Ontario

Living rooms are shared spaces that exist at the intersection of our public and private lives. They are places where families spend time together and also receive guests, who become an audience for their family photographs and stories. The Living Room installation depicts the history, culture, and politics present in our homes and in our photographs. It shows how through stories and images, we create new histories that help shape our society. 

The Living Room is an immersive experience that explores the power of storytelling through sharing family photographs. This intimate setting portrays how photographs may be kept, shared, and displayed. It uses projection-mapping technology to create a multi-sensory narrative. The installation show how personal remembrance can contribute to collective memory. 

In this installation, visitors are welcomed into the living rooms of Aylan, Mudit, and Patricio, whose stories express moments of celebration and resilience alongside accounts of family migration, individual resistance, and personal affirmation.

Share your own stories: #ROMfamcam 

The Living Room presents the stories of:

• Mudit Ganguly: Mudit is an artist, designer, and maker, who grew up in Mumbai, India. He now resides in Toronto. Mudit aims to tell stories through his work that allow him to honour the tenacious self-determination and resilience of queer, trans, racialized, migrant, and femme communities.
• Aylan Couchie: Aylan is an Anishinaabe artist from Nipissing First Nation in Northern Ontario. She is a mother of three boys, Kye, Kody, and Kaiden, and grandmother to Klyde, the newest addition to the clan. Though Aylan is based in Toronto, her family remains in Northern Ontario, which she calls home. 
• Patricio Dávila: Patricio is a designer and artist born in Santiago, Chile. His family moved to Canada in 1973, escaping the U.S.-backed military dictatorship that overthrew Chile’s democratic government. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Toronto. Patricio has a PhD in Communication and Culture and teaches at OCAD University.

WORKS CITED

Castro, Margarita, 2016.  “The Interactive Family Album”, Proposal, The Family Camera at The ROM, Special Topic Graduate Course, Digital Futures Graduate Program. Toronto, Canada: OCAD University. 

Cinciripini, Marina and A. Carelli, V. Cuculo, S. Mignosa, 2013. L’Archivio, Piccolo Museo del Diario Interactive Exhibition, Fondazione Archivio Diaristico Nazionale. Milan, Italy: dotdotdot.

Gluk, 2013. SBA: Furniture Gets New Skin, 3D Mapping Installation, SBA Furniture. Vilnius, Lithuania: Gluk Media.

Small Design Firm, 2008. Nobel Chamber, Interactive Book and Installation, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Small Design Firm, Inc.

Karadia, Afaq Ahmed, and Muhammed, Hamza, R. Minhas, A. Naeem, J. Raza, 2014. Nayna, 3D Fashion Show. Lahore, Pakistan: Black Light Motion Creative Labs. 

Ladly, Martha,J. Crooks and J. Orpana, 2016. The Family Camera at The ROM, Special Topic Graduate Course Syllabus, Digital Futures Graduate Program. Toronto, Canada: OCAD University.

Medrek, Ania, 2016. “The Living Room”, Proposal, The Family Camera at The ROM, Special Topic Graduate Course, Digital Futures Graduate Program. Toronto, Canada: OCAD University.    

Men, Immony, 2009. Effections: “We need to talk”, Video Installation. Montreal, Canada: Occurrence Espace d’Art et d’Essai Contemporains.

Mr. Beam Concept, 2011. Living Room, Projection Mapping Installation. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Mr. Beam Studio.

Real Studios, 2002. War Photography Drawers, Interactive Installation. Manchester, UK: Imperial War Museum North.

Rose, Gillian, 2010. Doing Family Photography: The Domestic, The Public and The Politics of Sentiment. Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

The Family Camera Network, 2016. http://familycameranetwork.org/ (accessed September 1, 2016.)

Xie, April, 2016. “Beyond the Visual: Defining the Family Photograph as Object, Practice, Space and Subject”, Essay, The Family Camera at The ROM, Special Topic Graduate Course, Digital Futures Graduate Program. Toronto, Canada: OCAD University.

This blog is part of an ongoing series that reflects on the nature and meaning of family photos. It is related to The Family Camera Network project, a community archive project to collect and preserve family photographs with their stories.  #ROMfamcam