Cuto Reed
Santiago Tavera
Pronouns: he/him
Thesis supervisor Accepting inquiries
- Assistant Professor - Critical Experimental Practices in Intermedia (Video, Performance, and Electronic Arts), Studio Arts
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Biography
Santiago Tavera is a Colombian-Canadian artist, researcher and curator based in Montréal. Tavera’s practice revolves around constructing immersive and interactive projects that expand the body and perception through digital media, to evoke virtual simulations of migrant and queer narratives of dislocation. In Tavera’s work, mixed media compositions of videos, 3D graphic animations, text, sound, archival material and architectural elements create blurred experiences of physical and virtual spatial embodiments of the “other”. Tavera’s projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Le Conseil des art de Montreal and the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, and presented in Canada at Optica, une centre d’art contemporain, MAI-Montréal, arts interculturels, Projet Casa, Articule, SUR Gallery, Agence TOPO, Montréal’s 3rd International Digital Art Biennial, Interaccess, Forest City Gallery, as well as Internationally at the International Art Fair of Bogota-ARTBO, the Images Festival of Manizales, the International Symposium on Electronic Art-ISEA, (Colombia) the Changwon Sculpture Biennial (South Korea), La Galeria de Arte e Pesquisa–UFES (Brazil), Solange Guez Arte Contemporaneo (Argentina), Laboratório de Arte Alameda (México). Tavera holds a Master of Fine Arts in Intermedia from Concordia University, and a Bachelor of Arts with an Honor Specialization in Visual Arts and a Major in Psychology from Western University.
Teaching activities
Intermedia (Video, Performance and Electronic Arts)
2025 (winter)
2023 (fall)
- IMCA 610/612 MFA Studio - Intermedia (Video, Performance and Electronic Arts)
2024 - 2025 (fall and winter)
2023 - 2024 (FALL AND WINTER)
- IMCA 310 Intermedia Video Production
2025 (winter)
- ARTX 492 Independent Study (Emmett Angel)
2024 (fall and winter)
- IMCA 471 Independent Study (Daniel Little)
- IMCA 471 Independent Study (Emmanuel Zuniga Salas)
Research & Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2024 The Novels of Elsgüer (Interactive Documentary), OPTICA- un centre d'art contemporain, Montréal, QC.
2021 Camouflaged Screams [The Novels of Elsgüer -Episode 4] (collaboration with Laura Acosta), OPTICA- un centre d'art contemporain, Montréal, QC.
2020 If I saw you, I don’t remember [The Novels of Elsgüer - Episode 5] (collaboration with Laura Acosta), MAI - Montréal arts interculturels, Montréal, QC.
2018 Reverberations of a Topological Daydream, Forest City Gallery, London, ON.
2016 Stereo Linear Balance, Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay, The 3rd International Digital Art Biennial of Montréal (BIAN), Montréal, QC.
2016 Translational Spaces, Agence TOPO, Montréal, QC.
Group Exhibitions
2024 Ser Antena: El deseo de saber por donde va la fuga, R.A.R.O Residency Exhibition, Espacio ODEON, Bogota, Colombia.
2023 En el filo del caos, Suratomica Mutante, Estacion Terrena, Bogota, Colombia.
2022 A Flower and a Thousand Paths, Céline Bureau, Montréal, QC.
2022 Across Space – Sympathetic Vibration, exhibition part of the Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2022 - Channel: Wave-Particle Duality, Changwon, South Korea.
2022 At a distance - from within, Project Casa, ArtPop Festival, Montréal, QC.
2022 If I saw you, I don’t remember (outdoor screening), Géoparc Mondial UNESCO de Percé, La Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques en Gaspésie, Percé, QC.
2021 Video/Play (screenings), Montréal Connect part of Printemp Numérique, Montréal and Brussels.
2021 Résonances du Réel, [collaboration with Laura Acosta], Maison de la Culture Claude-Léveillée, Montréal, QC.
2021 Entre Rios (screening), Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques en Gaspésie, Galerie d’Art, Percé,QC.
2021 Latin@america: Embedding Bodies and Localities [collaboration with Laura Acosta], Sur Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
2020 Antes de que todo sea polvo, Artecámara, [collaboration with Milton Riaño] ARTBO | International Art Fair of Bogota, Colombia.
2020 Passages Convergents, Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce,Montréal, QC.
2018 Code-Corps, The HTMlles Feminist Festival of Media Arts Digital Culture, Articule, Montréal, QC.
2018 Passages Convergentes, Maison de la culture Villeray-St-Michel-Parc Extension, Montréal, QC.
2018 Design and Media Art Exhibition, Centro Cultural Rogelio Salmona, The International Image Festival of Manizales, Manizales, Colombia.
2018 Live Despecho [online exhibition], The Wrong- A New Digital Biennial: Homeostasis Lab Pavilion.
2017 La Obra en el Espacio (The Work in Space), Aproximaciones a la Museografía Actual, Laboratório de Arte Alameda, Mexico City.
2017 Virtual Narratives of Dislocation (Live Broadcast VR Session), Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.
2017 Virtual Narratives (VJ projections), The Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa, ON.
2017 Narratives of Being & Belonging, Galeria de Arte e Pesquisa,Vitória, Brazil.
2016 DSSOTS, Chromatic Festival- MTL x TO, Hangar 16, Montréal, QC.
2015 DSSOTS (Screening) Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Toronto, ON.
Curatorial Projects
2024 Threading Topological Tales, 101 Gallery, Ottawa, Canada (Tania Lara's Solo Exhibition).
2023 VCR Image Curator-in-Residence, The Visual Collections Repository, Concordia University.
2022 A Flower and a Thousand Paths, Céline Bureau Gallery | Residency, Montréal, Canada.
Camouflaged Screams, Optica - centre d'art contemporain, Montreal, 2021.
Paul Litherland
Patterns of Plasticity, Céline Bureau, Montreal, 2022.
Juan David Padilla
The Novels of Elsgüer - Interactive Documentary. Optica - centre d'art contemporain, Montreal, 2024
Paul Litherland
Publications
2023 Acosta, Laura and Tavera, Santiago, The Novels of Elsgüer: Counter Narratives and Ecosystems of Corporeal and Virtual Displacement. Ecocene: Cappadocia Journal of Environmental Humanities. <https://ecocene.kapadokya.edu.tr/index.php/ecocene/article/view/166/137>
2017 Tavera, Santiago, Translational Spaces: Virtual Narratives Of Being & Belonging, in Journal of Virtual Creativity, Intellect Books, U.K: p.133-146. < https://doi.org/10.1386/vcr.7.2.133_1>
2016 Digital Architectural Environments: Experiencing the Translation Between the Physical and Virtual in AC2 (Architecture | Concordia’s second publication): 80-83.
2015 Digital Architectural Environments: Experiencing the Translation Between the Physical and Virtual in Architecture Rendez vous Art – Episode 2: 165-172.
Published Mentions
2023 Borquez, Marcela, [Exhibition review], Willful ambivalence in A Flower and a Thousand Paths. Vie des arts magazine. March 20, 2023. <https://viedesarts.com/en/reviews-en/willful-ambivalence-in-a-flower-and-a-thousand-paths/>
2021 Bracmort, Cecilia, [Exhibition Review], Immersion dans un monde de paradoxes à OPTICA. Vie des Arts. <https://viedesarts.com/visites/immersion-dans-un-monde-de-paradoxes-a-optica/>.
2021 Du Ruisseau, Olivier, [Article], Concordia University, Faculty of Fine Arts.
<https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/finearts/2021/06/04/interactive-video-installation-by-two-concordia-artists-shown-at-optica.html?c=/finearts/news>
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2021 Janssen, Shauna. Camouflaged Screams - Immersive and Scenographic Constructions of Wilding [Exhibition text], Optica, centre d’art contemporain, Montréal: <http://www.optica.ca/programmation/index.php#1002>.
2021 Arana, Claudia. Latin@merica: Embedding Bodies and Localities [Exhibition text], Sur Gallery, Toronto, Canada. <https://www.surgalleryvirtual.ca/>.
2020 Valdés, Emiliano, Antes de que todo sea polvo, ARTBO, Artecámara [Exhibition text], Temporada, Bogotá, Colombia, 2020. <https://www.artbo.co/temporada/Artecamara/Antes-de-que-todo-sea-polvo>.
2020 Redgrave, Veronica, Shape-shifting Compositions: The exhibition “Passages Convergents” [Exhibition Review], in Vie des Arts, N°260 – Sep. 29, Fall 2020 Edition, Montréal, Canada.
2018 Rosales Argonza, Mariza. «Angles morts, visions transfrontalières latino-québécoises» [Book chapter], Vues transversales. Panorama de la scène artistique latino-québécoise, Mariza Rosales Argonza (ed.), Montréal : Les Éditions du CIDIHCA / La fondation LatinArte, 2018: p. 127-172.
2018 Sophie, Chartier. La technologie comme prise de parole, in Le Devoir, Montréal, QC.
2018 Lam, Tina. Virtual Gaze [Exhibition text], Articule, Montréal.
2017 Mackrous, P. Translational Spaces [Exhibition Text - E-Book] in Inhabiting the Uncertainty of the Showcase: p. 69-73.
2016 Mackrous, P. Santiago Tavera, Translational Spaces – mars 2016 – avril 2016 [Exhibition Text] at AgenceTOPO, Montréal, Canada: https://www.agencetopo.qc.ca/wp/en/santiago-tavera-translational-spaces-mars-2016-avril-2016/
Selected Grants and Awards
2023-2026 Composite grant (with Laura Acosta), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2024 Residency Grant (Arts Abroad), The Canada Council for the Arts [Colombia].
2024 Travel Grant (Arts Abroad), The Canada Council for the Arts [Colombia].
2023 Longlist finalist - Quebec Region, Canada’s Sobey Art Award, National Gallery of Canada.
2022 Concept to Realization Grant (with Céline Bureau), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2022 Residency Grant (Arts Abroad), (with Laura Acosta), The Canada Council for the Arts [Italy].
2021 Public Presentation (with Laura Acosta), Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
2021 Research and Creation Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts.
2021 Finalists of the Bourse Plein Sud, Plein sud, centre d'exposition en art actuel à Longueuil.
2021 Digital Now Grant (with Optica and Laura Acosta), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2020-2021 Concept to Realization Grant (with Laura Acosta), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2020 Digital Originals Grant (with Milton Riaño), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2019-2020 Vivacité Grant (with Laura Acosta), Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
2019 Research and Creation Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts.
2019 Concept to Realization Grant (with Laura Acosta), The Canada Council for the Arts.
2019 Travel Grant (Arts Abroad), The Canada Council for the Arts [Colombia].
2018 Concept to Realization Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts.
2018 Travel Grant (Arts Abroad), The Canada Council for the Arts [Colombia],
2017 Travel Grant (Arts Abroad), The Canada Council for the Arts [England].
2017 Travel Grant, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec [Brazil].