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maneesa | மனிஷா

@witsandwounds

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ஃ 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 ஃ

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Split Homes and Staggered Bones was an altar to generations of traumas and desires that host my mind and body. Every word, face, shape and colour in this installation is a practice of devotion. Our furrowed stems and rigid roots stain the waters of our womb but this hollow well is abundant.

It was an honour to share this very personal healing project with guests at Whippersnapper Gallery. Photo credit to Emma @vibeartsto 🙏🏾

Soundscape: https://soundcloud.com/maneesa-veeravel/affirmations taken in Whippersnapper Gallery by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

It's been a while and it will probably take longer

🌀As my energy was ebbing, I took part in a residency on belonging in the commons with very talented folks a few months ago. I'm very grateful for the support of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Association of Ontario, @sketchtoronto @designtofestival @stacktmarket and every one's beautiful responses. The irony in this piece is how distant and increasingly withdrawn I've became in order to protect myself in my "hometown". Rest and communal support is so sacred. I give thanks to everyone who has showed up for me and/or THEMSELVES in the last year. Healing takes commitment and hardwork during the most uncertain times.🌀 taken in Tkaronto by @witsandwounds

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5 years ago

Through Neighbourhood Walks - the trees came to life! 🌳🎨 A huge thanks to WJ Properties for supporting our recent Neighbourhood Walks workshops at Grenoble School! From February to April, students took part in neighbourhood sketching walks where they were encouraged to create works inspired by the world around them!

Thanks again to WJ Properties for supporting our mission to spark creativity in youth across the GTA💚 by @witsandwounds

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2 days ago

LOCATION UPDATE
Due to the rain forecast, the session has been moved indoors to the Clark Centre for the Arts!

Fire has the ability to create or wreck, transforming that which it comes into contact with. Ecological collapse has accelerated the scope of its devastation, its brunt most heavily faced by marginalized communities. While the intensity of fire demands reckoning, its heat can also reshapeor forge something anew. As the structures of the everyday become more precarious, fire casts its light over what must be faced to move forward. When a way of life collapses in on itself, how do we imagine ourselves in the aftermath? Just as it can make or destroy, fire also nurtures, the hearth standing as an emblem; a beacon of communal gathering signalling to what lies beyond the immediacy of upheaval. The poems explored will bring together the multiple poles of fire’s capabilities and what can be gleaned from its variances.

Building the Communal Fire
Participants are invited to bring a small object, a photograph of chosen or biological family (or both), a piece of writing connected to fire, transformation or renewal. It might represent something you wish to release, protect, honour or carry forward.

This session will be facilitated by featured poet, Maneesa Veeravel @witsandwounds and Tender Possibilities’ founder, @farhiatato.

Maneesa Veeravel is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice moves across poetry, visual art, and community-based creation. A mad, queer, Tamil, gender fluid, survivor, Maneesa was born and settled on the stolen lands of the Wendat, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Through art, research, and collective learning, their work gathers intergenerational wits, wounds, and wisdoms, tending to questions of land, body, memory, and the ongoing practice of survival.

Presented with support from the City of Toronto @culture_to and @scarborougharts with special thanks to @thestorefront

Flyer and program designed by Anda Untila @bae_aulenti✨

Refreshments will be served by Krish, our community food coordinator @cookeduntiltender

Register through the link in bio: https://fire-with-maneesa-veeravel.eventbrite.ca by @witsandwounds

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2 months ago

This saturn returns been rough so I'm mostly here seeking survival tips. Stepping out of social, physical, emotional isolation isn't easy. But I'm grateful for the tiny glimmers that appear when I get out of bed and confront some of my fears. Which is why @greenhousetheatre is supporting me in creating a sacred ritual for BIPOC survivors to connect, co-create and care for one anothers inner children.

We'll have a treasure chest, loot bags, yummy Tamil foods and opportunities to write, paint, move, mold and sculpt. Please join me in creating a collective altar through the link in my bio!

Masks are required. All participants will be asked to wear a sticker to symbolize their social distancing needs (no contact, elbows only or high fives allowed). taken in Scarborough, Toronto by @witsandwounds

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3 years ago

If you'd like to chat about your experiences with care work, please get in touch 💌

Happy new moon in Aquarius! I'm mostly posting for self accountability and connection to this manifesting energy. Here for intense curiosity and commitment to renewal as my saturn return begins 😭🙏🏾

2. Watercolour painting + coasters painted by my mom and I
3/4. Screenshot of a powerpoint slide, referencing "Can I be a good social worker?" -Harjeet Badwell
5. Video of me sorting dried flowers 🥀
6. An image of making paper at paperhouse studio
7. A video of me taking apart a guitar from hell
8/9. Image of tarot cards
10. 12am fireworks 01.01.23 First image is a graphic with an icon of a mic and a photo of a vegetarian meal for thai pongal.

Text reads:
As someone so often doing the caring and the doting, how can you surrender to recieving care?

Call for BIPOC women and gender diverse folks who are caregivers in any formal or informal capacity. As a part of Empathy Squad's winter cohort, I am working on a mini podcast series with Fixtpoint to untangle the intricate intimacies of caregiving through oral histories. I would be honoured to connect with you for a confidential interview.

If you are interested, please email me maneesaveeravel@empathysquad.ca taken in Aquarius by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

This is just a tiny update and ask for you to check out @Jotikart @Massyartssociety's Flourish event! It's a hybrid qtbipoc market and I'll be selling prints online! Also check out my mom's new instagram, products are coming soon: @warmweavings 💕

This year unfolded what was mourned and unmourned in my body, since dissociation hit an all time high in 2020. My body was loud and communicative, tightly shedding from within and absorping everything outside. It's been one of the hardest years to live through. Despite suicidal ideation, social anxiety, nausea, hyper-vigilance and fatigue - I managed to be more honest with myself this year, I got out of my basement every now and then, I created arts and crafts, I researched within supported communities, I supported my kin and most importantly, I slept a lot! Progress can look like anything! by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

For BIPOC Scarborough 💗

You can now register for my virtual pulp painting classes with @workmanartsto and @scarborougharts next month! This course is for anyone interested in creating art from household materials as a form of introspection and expression rooted in reclaiming our connection to our bodies, lands and/or materials.

No skill level or previous experience is required. Everyone is welcome. Please register ahead to ensure all materials can be made available. Classes will be in English, however, I am also able to facilitate in Tamil if there is a need. Link is in my bio! taken in Scarborough, Toronto by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

1. bloodlines, watercolour 🎨
2. My mothers simple slip on flats have carried both of us over the last three years. This nuit blanche, our shoes and I will be one of four artists on display at @batashoemuseum. Thanks to @vibeartsto and creative director @charrothechronicler! Please drop by to watch 'In her footsteps' 🤱🏽
3. Prints are still available for purchase 🔗
4. Free writing from a very nourishing workshop with @jotika_healingarts 💕
5. A few moulds and deckles - papermaking content and opportunities coming soon! 🐸 by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

This September 19th to September 25th, 2022 I'll be selling some work online with @queenwestartcrawl. There is a very limited amount of prints and t-shirts and all sales will include a mini sticker/magnet!

You can purchase my work directly through the link in my bio. Sales begin this Monday and end on the 25th.

I will also be open for commissions from now until October 1st. If you are interested in a custom piece, please email me with a detailed description for a quote or book a consultation! taken in Queen West Art Crawl by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

Tomorrow is the last day to visit @maudmostly at @whippersnappergallery and see my installation. Thank you so much for those who've been and for all the lovely feedback I've received. It means so much to have my work witnessed, especially by Tamil kin. This painting and more will be sold online this Spetember 19-25. I'll share more details very soon! by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago

I just want to thank everyone for the support I've received this week!

Especially my mum who helped me translate a lot of writing into Tamil for my exhibition. Despite being in recovery, she did her best to help me.

Lately, I've been feeling like a missing puzzle piece, consuming the unresolved wounds and desires of my mother. Being a caregiver is never easy. Our cycles of emotional, mental and physical challenges remind us that neither of our needs have been met in the past. We've had to navigate so much together since 2020 and it’s been a very difficult time. But we’re learning that some wounds can be healed when you address it with care teams.

Here’s to staying rooted, finding middle grounds, recovering with support, asking for help and taking it one day at a time. taken in Gratitude by @witsandwounds

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4 years ago