Medussah
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Medusshah is a musical duo from Ecuador that is now based in North Bay Ontario. Their music displays a range of sounds from electronic, pop, and dance music.
The duo consists of Samanta Jarrin and Sebastian Gabelas who have been heavily influenced by the presence music has had in their lives since childhood.
Samanta Jarrin has been involved in the music scene for ten years and her talents led her to many countries across the world. She received first place in a vocal contest in the state of Indiana and continued to study at the National Conservatory of Music and Unversity in Ecuador.
Ferhan Dogmusoz
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Ferhan Dogmusoz is a Turkish musician who is well versed in string instruments such as oud and cumbush. His style of music can be defined as incorporating older traditions with many modern ideas to create his musical pieces. He was immersed into the world of music from a young age due to the large role it played in his family. He has been featured on the radio, and popular television shows as an oud artist. He traveled to Russia after graduating from Hacettepe University to perform with international ensembles and musicians.
Derya Irdem
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Derya Irdem is a self-taught performer from Turkey who enjoys discovering new music and singing. In preparation for her performance at the Inclusive Arts Festival, we spoke with Derya to get to know more about her music and cultural influence.
Mr. Laylo
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Mr. Laylo (Eduardo Diaz) is a Chicago born artist who has become known in the art scene of his hometown as well as internationally. He began his career in 2014 and specializes in gray scale realism incorporating influences of urban graffiti.
While in Chicago, Mr. Laylo became influenced by the style of hip pop which became entrenched into graffiti art that inspired his work as an artist. As he progressed, his art career led to the opening of “Mr.Laylo’s Artistry Compay” and he became a freelance artist while residing in Toronto. He has painted in many states in America and continues to showcase his talent across the border in Toronto.
Serpil Odabasi
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Serpil Odabasi is an independent artist in Toronto of Kurdish descent. Her art consists of drawings, paintings, as well as illustrations and incorporates analog and digital media.
She is an activist that participated in many human rights campaigns for the duration of her practice in Turkey. This is portrayed in her choice to incorporate themes such as: violence, sexism, and war in her art.
In addition to this, she worked as an art teacher for 10 years in high schools across Turkey. Having been featured in more than 30 exhibitions in Istanbul, Athens, Ankara, Diyarbakir, Izmir, and Toronto, Serpil Odabasi is a recognizable artist.
Zara Hasan
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Artist Zara Hasan has been interested in art as a young girl and continues to create art as she grows. She is in her fourth year of studying in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at McMaster University. She considers art to be an escape from the hardships that come along in life. Despite being in a highly demanding university program, she still finds the time to create art as an escape from reality. Her art incorporates many mediums and highlights themes such as: unity and promotion of intersectional identities as well as universal truths and lessons. Her recent art incorporates Arabic calligraphy and she has created an Instagram account that goes by @heartsations to display her pieces.
Era Chorna
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Era Chorna is a ballet performer who started her journey as a dancer at the National Ballet Academy in Kharkiv, Ukraine. She later went on to join the Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet theatre as a soloist. Through her years as a performer, she has gained many awards and prizes for her talent. After graduating with honors from the Vienna Ballet Conservatory, she joined the National Ballet of Austria. Era has performed in the USA, Canada, as well as China.
Seu
Interview By: Aarusha Pushparajah
Serpil Odabasi is an independent artist in Toronto of Kurdish descent. Her art consists of drawings, paintings, as well as illustrations and incorporates analog and digital media.
She is an activist that participated in many human rights campaigns for the duration of her practice in Turkey. This is portrayed in her choice to incorporate themes such as: violence, sexism, and war in her art.
In addition to this, she worked as an art teacher for 10 years in high schools across Turkey. Having been featured in more than 30 exhibitions in Istanbul, Athens, Ankara, Diyarbakir, Izmir, and Toronto, Serpil Odabasi is a recognizable artist.
Guru Chhanda Das Saxena
Interview By: Emma Lum
“Factors like limited time, other priorities, non-cooperative health and inexperience with this dance form often challenge us, but they should never end up discouraging us. The more we know ourselves, the less approval we need of others”.
Chhanda Das Saxena
Guru Chhanda Das Saxena, an immigrant from India, is an Odissi dancer based in Scarborough Toronto. At the age of 5, Chhanda began training for 17 years in a variety of techniques such as balance, ancient hand postures known as mudras, rhythmic steps, eye movement, expression, sacred geometry, breathing, meditation, and energetic control.
Alexander (Sashi) Apostolov
Interview By: Emma Lum
Alexander (Sashi) Apostolov is a musician from Richmond Hill Ontario. He began developing an interest in music at an early age with the influence of his father who is a musician/composer. Sashi began taking piano lessons at the age of 4, and began expressing interest in playing the drums in middle school.
Jae Cabrera
Interview By: Emma Lum
Jae Cabrera is a first-generation Filipino-American singer/songwriter who infuses both R&B with Pop music and creates songs that reflect many artistic forms. Soulful and energetic are only a few words to describe the style of Jae Cabrera’s music. A veteran to the music industry, Jae’s music not only reflects today’s trendy sounds, it keeps his listeners wanting more, and that’s what keeps Jae motivated and excited about writing music that his fans can enjoy. Jae is also the Creator/Host of a weekly Instagram livestream series highlighting independent artists and creatives, “Friday Night Hour w/Jae” (currently in its 3rd year) and launched his daily internet radio show “Indie Vibin’ w/Jae” this year.
Hatice Akkuzu
Interview By: Emma Lum
Hatice Akkuzu is a visual artist who creates paintings out of small natural materials like tree logs, small branches, and stones. She enjoys the creating process and gets very excited to see what small pieces will become. She says that there is a strong connection between her life, emotions, and the materials she uses.
Aykut Gurcaglar
Interview By: Mayra Gaustein
Aykut Gurcaglar is a retired professor of art history who now spends his days creating visual art, with a creative focus on depicting cities; his art captures the history behind urban landscapes. He often combines watercolor with sketching techniques to create modern, yet soft, works of art. Before moving to Canada in 2014, he taught at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul. Currently, some of his works are displayed at Hittite Gallery in Toronto where he curated the exhibition “Mini Moderns from Turkey” in 2017. It was a pleasure to interview Aykut Guracaglar and learn more about his art, inspiration, and immigration story; I thank him for his thoughtful answers.
