Exhibition of Photography & Film: Toronto Free Gallery | 1277 Bloor Street West | April 24 – May 22, 2010
Many Years Later is a visual project composed of two intertwined events captured by filmmaker and photographer Marcos Arriaga. The first project is a series of black and white photographs taken between 1986 and 1987 in Lima Peru where Arriaga worked as a photojournalist for the weekly magazine Amauta.
These documentary-style photographs present a social and political record of protests by union workers and popular organizations. The second part of the exhibit is a video projection chronicling the Days of Action by union and community members in Ontario against the conservative government of Mike Harris from 1995 to 1996. While recently reviewing this video footage, Arriaga observed a compelling thematic continuation to the images that he captured in Lima more than two decades ago.
Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that celebrates working class culture. Founded in 1986 by the Labour Arts Media Committee of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Mayworks is Canada’s largest and oldest labour arts festival. The Festival was built on the premise that workers and artists share a common struggle for decent wages, healthy working conditions and a living culture.