Blessy Augustine

Blessy Augustine is currently pursuing her PhD in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University, Ontario. She has an MFA in Art Writing from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and an MA in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She is the recipient of the 2019-20 Art Writers’ Award and is one of the recipients of the 2017 Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Art in America, Artinfo, The Hindu BusinessLine, Mint, Reader’s Digest, Degree Critical, etc.

Her present research looks at art, especially socially engaged practices, related to refugees, immigrants, extrajudicial spaces, and emancipatory pedagogy. A publication, titled Independent People, based on some aspects of her research was produced by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council and Take on Art magazine and will be released in September 2021.

EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS
Jamelie Hassan & Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou Smoke, and Lucas Stenning

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Blessy Augustine, Anna Da Silva, Anahí González, Jessica Joyce, Ira Kazi, Shelley Kopp, Emmy Meredith, Ashar Mobeen, Mireya Seymour, and Michelle Wilson.

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

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OUR STORY

Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website.

The Embassy Cultural House gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.

The Embassy Cultural House is thankful for the mentorship program established by Western University's Visual Arts department and the continued support of the students and Faculty of Arts & Humanities.

Our Partners

E M B A S S Y C U L T U R A L H O U S E . C A

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.