Spaces of Relevance

City: Ottawa

Producer: Amir Zargara

Genre: Docuseries

Spaces of Relevance dives into the daily lives of BIPOC artists in Ottawa, including a playwright, filmmaker, photographer, and more. Each artist names a space in Ottawa that special to them and creates a work of art inspired by it.

To watch Spaces of Relevance:

If you are already a Bell Fibe TV customer, go to channel 1, or watch it on demand with the Bell Fibe TV App.

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Episodes

Episode 1 - Habiba Ali

Habiba Ali is a spoken word artist and playwright in Ottawa. Habiba sits down to write her spoken word piece titled “Depressed and Oppressed”, which addresses the western misconceptions of Muslim women.

Episode 2 - Alex Raymond

Alex Raymond has lived in numerous cities across the world. However, in Ottawa, he discovered the people and community who affirmed his identity as an artist and fashion designer. He marks the Alexandra Bridge, the location of his first photo shoot, as the starting point of his creative journey.

Episode 3 - Fitch Jean

Fitch Jean, a filmmaker and storyteller, uses the Experimental Farm to tell his visual story. He illustrates the importance of nature and its ability to personify meaningful concepts and evoke certain feelings and emotions. In his studio, Fitch shows the steps involved during pre-production.

Episode 4 - Oladimeji Odunsi

Oladimeji Odunsi, originally from Nigeria, moved to Canada seven years ago and became a visual artist and photographer. Ola demonstrates his method for capturing images by taking some portraits at the Canadian War Museum. The final images reveal his creativity in the consideration of movement, architecture, colour, and other details when shooting his photos.

Episode 5 - Mesoma Onyeagba

Mesoma Onyeagba is an acclaimed visual artist. Mesoma often uses her friends as representations to express common themes such as intimacy, connection, and the beauty of black women in her artwork. She highlights the extensive amount of time and effort each piece takes, but she affirms how therapeutic the process is to her.