Well done! Akin also salutes all the winners of the Art Access Awards:
Volodymyr 'Volo' Bedzvin | Musician originally from Ukraine whose sound is a unique combination of cello and vocals treated with sound effects pedals. Volo has performed across Europe and North America, including at the Luminato Festival.
Banafsheh Erfanian | Painter, illustrator and educator born in Tehran, Iran, whose illustrations grace 30 books and magazines. Her work has been exhibited in 45 shows around the world and won international awards.
Tarek Ghriri | Musician originally from Damascus, Syria, whose music is inspired by classical and Flamenco music, which he now blends with traditional Arabic melodies for a sound all his own. Also a founding member of local trio Diar.
Leen Hamo | Professional singer, violinist and visual artist from Aleppo, Syria, who is a violinist and choir member with the Canadian Arabic Orchestra of Mississauga and founding member of local band Diar.
Xuefei Ji | Chinese-born painter interested in capturing body language and the human figure, inspired by the pioneering Western painters of the early 19th century.
Siavash Kavehmaryan | Iranian electronic-music composer/performer who blends computer-assisted sounds with Iranian traditional music.
Nour Kaadan | Musician from Damascus, Syria, who is a core member of local Syrian-Flamenco band Diar and the collective Music from Hope, a creative outlet where children can communicate through art to overcome trauma.
Yannis Lobaina | Cuban writer, filmmaker and storyteller who explores themes of immigration, diaspora and motherhood through storytelling. She also works at the International School of Cinema, Radio, and TV as a director, script consultant and still photographer.
Ahmed Moneka | Actor and musician from Iraq who is the co-founder of Toronto bands Moskitto Bar (a harmonious blend of Celtic, Balkan and Arabic music) and Moneka Arabic Jazz (rooted in jazz and blues as well as Afro rhythms and the Iraqi maqam style of singing).
Parisa Pajoohandeh | Filmmaker and academic from Iran interested in sociopolitical issues and the struggles of human life, such as identity, migration, war, solitude and women's stories.
Melika Saeeda | Illustrator from Tehran, Iran, who has illustrated more than 30 children’s books in Turkey and Iran. Her work, inspired by the narratives in Persian miniatures, has been exhibited at book fairs around the world.
Omid Shakib | Filmmaker originally from Iran with 20 years’ experience working in the film industry in Iran, Iraq, the UK, and now in Canada. He has directed and produced over 25 documentaries, docudramas, and experimental films.
Alice Il Shin | Korean filmmaker trained at Nihon University in Japan. Since then, she has worked in Japan, Korea, the U.S., and Canada as a director, producer, and editor.
Rouvan Silogix | Pakistani-Tanzanian director, writer, actor, producer and classical pianist. Artistic Director for Theatre ARTaud and a member of the Mammalian Diving Reflex collective, he was Writer in Residence at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2018 and a finalist for the Emerging Director Residency Award from Crow's Theatre.
Megha Subramanian | Storyteller in dance, writing and film inspired by her Indian roots who aims to modernize the traditional Bharatanatyam dance form through teaching and performance. She also draws on writing and filmmaking to support this artistic vision.
Salbhi Sumaiya |Visual artist from Dhaka, Bangladesh. As a hard of hearing (HOH) individual, she was drawn to painting due to its accessibility to her as a visual art form. Her work focuses on raising awareness of contemporary issues, including animal extinction and Myanmar’s atrocities against the Rohingya population.
Namie Ueno | Painter from Arashiyama, Japan who began studying art as a teenager. Beyond their decorative beauty, her artworks look for a balance between fear and longing away from the materialist culture of today, a truce between the often duelling aspects of our own selves.
