September 4 - October 9
Kriss Li is a multimedia artist who creates films, installations, and conceptual projects that explore structures of power. These works investigate the foundational divisions and hierarchies that maintain our social order—the ways these systems condition us in spite of our intentions, and the hidden sites of possibility that we can exploit towards greater collective capacities. Kriss's artistic practice is informed by extensive engagement with community organizing, especially at Prisoner Correspondence Project, a volunteer-run solidarity initiative for LGBTQ prisoners where they've been a collective member since 2009.
Kriss’s work has been shown at over 100 festivals globally, including screenings at DOC NYC, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Vancouver International Film Festival, Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Videoformes International Digital Arts Festival, International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City, Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, and Laceno d'Oro. Kriss has been selected for international residencies including Amant New York (USA), Villa Sträuli (Switzerland), Paper Machine (USA), Struts Gallery (Canada), Vidéographe (Canada), and Ada X (Canada). They’ve programmed for Vancouver Queer Film Festival and Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art.Kriss is the recipient of multiple grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In 2023, they were a finalist for the New Generation Award from the United Association for Labor Education for their work as a labour organizer.
While at Struts, Kriss Li will be conducting archival research and interviews for a hybrid film about the federal women's prison system in Canada, which underwent an ambitious reform in the 1990s and currently confines around 600 people across the country.
For purposes of research, Kriss is looking to speak with people with connections to the closure of Prison for Women and the construction of regional federal women's prisons in the 1990s, including the associated commissions and community responses during that time. Contact admin@strutsgallery.ca if you fit this description and would like to contribute to the project.
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