WRITING
WRITING
PROJECTS
Jessica Karuhanga is a first-generation Canadian artist of British-Ugandan heritage whose work addresses issues of cultural politics of identity and Black diasporic concerns through lens-based technologies, writing, drawing and performances. Through her practice she explores individual and collective concerns of Black subjectivity: illness, rage, grief, desire and longing within the context of Black embodiment.
She is the 2020 - 2021 recipient of Concordia University's SpokenWeb Artist/Curator In Residence Fellowship. Karuhanga has presented her work at SummerWorks Lab (Toronto, 2020), The Bentway (Toronto, 2019), Nuit Blanche (Toronto, 2018), Onsite Gallery (Toronto, 2018) and Goldsmiths University (London, UK, 2017). Currently, she is developing new works for forthcoming exhibitions at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, TANGLED Disability + Art and Museum London. Karuhanga's writing has been published by C Magazine, BlackFlash, Susan Hobbs Gallery and Fonderie Darling.
She has been featured in AGO's Artist Spotlight, i-D, DAZED, Visual Aids, Border Crossings, Exclaim!, Toronto Star, CBC Arts, esse, filthy dreams, Globe and Mail and Canadian Art. She earned her BFA from Western University and MFA from University of Victoria. She lives and works in Toronto, Canada where she is part-time lecturer at Ryerson University.
PRESS
2021
Feature, Listening Feels, by jamilah malika abu-bakare, Canadian Art Magazine
Interview, xviix
Interview, Breakaway, CBC Radio
2020
Feature, Winnipeg's WNDX Festival of Moving Image Details 2020 Edition, Exclaim!
Feature, Artist Spotlight, Art Gallery of Ontario
2019
Review, Queer Arts Festival's show Relational rEvolutions questions the future by Alexander Varty, The Georgia Straight
Feature, the new new york, i-D
2018
Feature, Six Toronto artists pushing their city into a more progressive future, by Ashleigh Kane, DAZED
Feature, 5 best bets at Nuit Blanche, by Murray Whyte, Toronto Star
Column, McMichael gallery showcases archive of Canadian hip-hop culture, by Chris Hampton, The Globe and Mail
Review, Exhibits prob identity and vices, by Joe Belanger, The London Free Press
Review, Seeds of discontent at OCAD nature-derived art show, by Murray Whyte, Toronto Star
Review, The Sunshine Eaters, by Liz Ikirko, PUBLIC
Review, The Sunshine Eaters, by Anna Kovler, Border Crossings
2017
Feature, 10 Artists Who Are Taking Care, by Amber Berson, Canadian Art Magazine
Review, all our days are full of breath: a record of momentum, by Coman Poon, C Magazine
Feature, by Adam Barbu, esse magazine
2016
Feature, Art and HIV: This powerful public poster series is challenging how we look at the virus, by Theodore Kerr, CBC Arts
Column, Dead Tired Of Being So Bloody Positive: PosterVirus Reflects AIDS Activism Now, by Emily Colucci, filthy dreams
Interview, A Conversation with Jessica Karuhanga, by Luther Konadu, Public Parking
Interview, A Conversation with Jessica Karuhanga, by Heather-Campos Castillo, Heart-Beats
Review, The Artists Newsstand, by Emily Fitzpatrick, C Magazine
Column, PosterVirus 2016, Visual Aids
2015
Interview, Tribal Dances of the Black Female Body, by Kofi Fosu Forson ARMSEYE
EXHIBITIONS
2022
From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, and Speculative Futures, Museum London, Canada
After Care, Mitchell Art Gallery, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada
2021
Undeliverable, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Canada
Collective Offerings, Art Gallery of Guelph, Canada
Léuli Eshrāghi and Jessica Karuhanga: Projections, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Canada
Gardenship, Museum London, Canada
Sensing, Feeling, Being, Glory Hole Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Aural Alterities, SpokenWeb and CURRENT, Canada
2020
Emotional Landscapes, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Canada
do you feel me?, The Bows, Calgary, Canada
Luminocity, Kamloops Art Gallery, Canada
2019
Undercurrents, The Bentway, Toronto, Canada
Ground, Sheridan Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Relational Revolutions, Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver, Canada
2018
I continue to shape, Art Museum at University of Toronto, Canada
our roots are here, amongst the grasses, Y+contemporary, Toronto, Canada
Inscapes, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Canada
Sunshine Eaters, Onsite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
Embodiment, Museum London, Canada
2017
all our days are full of breath: a record of momentum, Art Museum at University of Toronto, Canada
WARNING! Mind the Gap, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2016
Pixelation, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, Canada
Finishing Lines, Forest City Gallery, London, Canada
2015
25 Multiples Toward a Past and Future, Deluge Contemporary Art, Victoria, Canada
Truth be Told, YBT Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2014
Exposed, Nia Centre for the Arts, Toronto, Canada
11:45, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto, Canada
It wasn't Supposed to be this way, Videofag, Toronto, Canada
PERFORMANCES
2020
#Carefree, WNDX Festival of Moving Image, Winnipeg, Canada
2019
#Carefree, Long Winter, Toronto, Canada
2018
#Carefree, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
2017
(Featured Performer) Lido Pimienta, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
(Featured Performer) Lido Pimienta, Polaris Prize, Toronto, Canada
ground and cover me, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Canda
through a brass channel, Art Museum at University of Toronto, Canada
ground and cover me, OCAD University, Toronto ON
2016
(Featured Performer) Ame Henderson and Evan Webber’s performance encyclopedia, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
#Carefree, ASSEMBLÉE, Studio 303, Montreal, Canada
#Carefree, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Carefree, Fine and Mellow, Trinity Square Video, Toronto, Canada
(Featured Performer) Christof Migone’s Mixer, The Royal Conservatory,Toronto, Canada
Boom Aura, DOORED 24, DoubleDouble Land, Toronto, Canda
Shade Shadow Spectre, Forest City Gallery, London, Canada
A Still Cling To Fading Blossoms, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2014
Bone Black Dust and Sky Lickers, The Drake Hotel,Toronto, Canada
A Still Cling To Fading Blossoms, Electric Eclectics Festival, Meaford, Canada
The trip, the fall, and the lost heap of longing, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto, Canada
(Featured Performer) Brendan Fernandes’ Closing Line, Chance Motives, SculptureCentre, New York, NY
CURATION
2018
Ineffable Blaze (Trinity Square Video, Toronto ON)
with Kiera Boult, Jazmine VK Carr, Danièle Dennis, Dainesha Nugent-Palache,
Marcelline Mandeng, Aurel Haize-Odogbo and Jared Brown
SYMPOSIA & LECTURES
2021
Lecture: Talk & Workshop (Université de Yaoundé I, Cameroon)
Panel: Artist Talk & Opening Reception (Dunlop Art Gallery, Canada)
2020
Lecture: Luminocity Artist Talk (Kamloops, Canada)
2019
Panel: Mystique Afrique (Africa Salon, United Kingdom)
Panel: TIFF Transforms: International Women's Day (TIFF, Canada)
2018
The Unknown and Unknowable: A Conversation with Jessica Karuhanga and Nehal El-Hadi (Trinity Square Video, Canada)
Panel: Been Here So Long (The Art Gallery of Peterborough, Canada)
Lecture: Western University's ART NOW Series (Museum London, Canada)
2017
Panel: Remembrance and Difference (Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Canada)
Panel: Tender Skeletons (Art Museum at University of Toronto, Canada)
Panel: Working with Dancers in Contemporary Art Space (Blackwood Gallery, Canada)
Moderator: The Un-Othered Body, curated by Esmaa Mohamoud (OCAD University)
Panel: Conversations on FORCE, hosted by C Magazine (Gallery TPW, Toronto, Canada)
2016
Keynote: Archives Matter: Queer, Feminist & Decolonial Encounters (Goldsmiths, United Kingdom)
2015
Panel: In Conversation: Her Hustle, moderated by Ariella Starkman (Soho House, Toronto, Canada)
Lecture: Worn Dialogues: Gallery Conversations (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada)
Panel: Exploring Black Feminine Identity (The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada)
Panel: Black Portraitures (Harvard University and Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Florence, Italy)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 - Present
Part-time Lecturer, Technology, Identity and Creativity, School of Media, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Part-time Lecturer, New Media Thesis Project, School of Media, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
2016 - 2020
Sessional Professor, Performance Art, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Canada
Sessional Professor, Curation: Nature & Culture, Curatorial, Criticism and Curatorial Practices, Faculty of Art, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2017 - 2020
Board of Directors, Gallery TPW, Toronto, Canada
2019
Sessional Professor, Museum Studies, Curatorial, Criticism and Curatorial Practices, Faculty of Art, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2018 - 2019
Sessional Professor, Foundations Studies in Studio, Department of Art, Culture and Media, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Canada
2014 - 2015
Administrative Assistant, Onsite Gallery at OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2010 - 2012
Sessional Instructor, Drawing - ART 200, University of Victoria, Canada
Studio Assistant, Noah Becker, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
AV Technician Assistant, University of Victoria, Canada
2010
Teaching Assistant, Foundations in Studio Art, Western University, London, Canada
PUBLICATIONS
2021
Interview, Transmissions 4: American Artist, Blackwood Gallery
2019
Essay, Guillaume Adjutor Provost, Fonderie Darling
2018
Feature, FrameWork 5/18: Oliver Husain, Susan Hobbs Gallery
2017
Feature, Kapwani Kiwanga, BlackFlash Magazine
2016
Review, Simone Leigh: The Waiting Room, New Museum, C Magazine
Column, Artefact: Francisco-Fernando Granados, C Magazine
Writer-in-Residence, 7a11d International Festival of Performance Art, Toronto, Canada
JURIES
2019
Juror: Animating Toronto Parks Grant, Toronto Arts Council
Juror: New Media Thesis Project, Ryerson University
2017
Juror: Visual Arts Creation Projects Grant, Ontario Arts Council
2016
Juror: Level One: Emerging Artists Grant, Toronto Arts Council
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS
2021
Ontario Arts Council, Visual Arts Creation Projects
Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create: Concept to Realization
Toronto Arts Council, Visual Arts Project Grant
2017
Toronto Arts Council, Emerging Media Artist Grant
Ontario Arts Council, Culturally Diverse Curatorial Projects Grant
2016
Ontario Arts Council, Visual Arts: Emerging Grant
2015
Toronto Arts Council, Emerging Visual Artist Grant
RESIDENCIES
2021
Reader-in-Residence, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada
M:ST 10 Biennale in partnership with RAVY Biennale, Yaoundé, Cameroon
2020 S
SpokenWeb Artist-in-Residence, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
SummerWorks Lab Residencies, Toronto, Canada
The Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency, Toronto, Canada
2017
7md8 On-line Residency in partnership with Trinity Square Video, Toronto, Canada
2014
Artist-in-Residence, The Drake Hotel, Toronto, Canada
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, Canada
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Western University, Canada