Lani Maestro (born 1957) is a Filipino-Canadian artist who divides her time between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. She works in installation, sound, video, bookworks and writing. Her works deal with investigations of memory, forgetting, language, silence, and the ethics of care. From 1990 to 1994 Maestro was co-founder and editor of HARBOUR Magazine of Art and Everyday Life, a journal of artworks and writings by artists, writers and theorists.

Early life and education

Maestro was born in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and studied at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

where she received a BFA. Maestro spent her childhood in the Philippines, influencing her textile installation ''Cradle'' at Hallwalls in Buffalo, NY. Maestro lived in Manila until she immigrated to Canada in 1982. She pursued an MFA at the reputedly avant-garde art school, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax. She taught studio arts at the Nova Scotia College Of Art and Design (NSCAD University) and

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

. From 1990 until 2000, she conducted graduate seminars in the MFA program at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Selected Exhibition History

Maestro's large scale installations have been mostly commissioned site specific works. In 2013 and 2014, Paysage Industriel (Foundation France), "ces Mains" and "Limen" were constructed in defunct jewellery and shoe factories in the villages of Ardeche and Moussey, France. In 2010, "L'oublie de l'air (The Forgetting of Air") was shown at the Darling Foundry, Montreal with the collaboration of American composer, Malcolm Goldstein. In the same year, "No Pain Like This Body" opened at Centre A International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Vancouver, Canada. Expanded versions of the installation/exhibition were shown at Plug In, Winnipeg (2011) and mo_space, Manila (2015). In 2006, Susan Gibson-Garvey curated "sing mother (twilight eats you)" at Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2005, "je suis toi." (i am you.) opened at Eglise Saint Nicolas for the Centre d'art contemporaine de Base Normandie, Caen. Earlier solo exhibitions with the art centre included "Paramita" in the exhibition, "Ohrenlust", 1997. In the nineties, Maestro's work was featured for the exhibition, "Perspectives", at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

Selected Group Exhibition

* ''Shrines'' (2023), Silverlens, New York, USA * ''The Spectre Of Comparison'' (2019), Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, Manila, Philippines * ''Points of Ellipsis..''. (2011), Osage Gallery, Hong Kong

Participation in International Biennales

Singapore Biennale The Singapore Biennale is a large-scale biennial contemporary art exhibition in Singapore, serving as the country’s major platform for international dialogue in contemporary art. It seeks to present and reflect the vigour of artistic practices in ...

(2019) * Maestro represented the Philippines at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

with artist

Manuel Ocampo Manuel Ocampo (born 1965) is a Filipino artist. His work fuses sacred Baroque religious iconography with secular political narrative. His works draw upon a wide range of art historical references, contain cartoonish elements, and draw inspiratio ...

(2017) *

Busan Biennale The Busan Biennale is a biannual international contemporary art show held in Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a popu ...

, Busan, Korea (2004) * Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai, China (2001) * The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia (1999) * The 11th

Biennale of Sydney The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...

(1998) * The Fifth

Istanbul Biennial The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Istanbul Biennial p ...

(1997) * The Segunda and the Quinta Bienal dela Habana (

Havana Biennial The Bienal de La Habana was a traditional Latin, Caribbean event, originated in Havana, Havana, Cuba, that aims to raise awareness to promote contemporary art and giving priority to Latin Americans, Latin-American and Caribbean artists. The eve ...

) (1986,1994) * The Canadian Biennial of Contemporary Art (1989)

Awards

Among her many awards is the Segunda Bienal de la Habana in Cuba in 1985, the Hnatyshyn Award for artistic excellence and outstanding achievement by a Canadian artist in the visual arts in 2012. In 2018, she received an Honorary Doctorate

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from

NSCAD University NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The unive ...

Publications

''Lani Maestro: Sing Mother (twilight eats you)' by Susan Gibson Garvey (2007) Dalhousie Art Gallery ''je suis toi'' by Catherine Grout (2006) Wharf, Centre d'art contemporain de Basse-Normandie ''Lani Maestro "her rain'' by Erin Moure (2011) Centre A - Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art/ Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art (Winnipeg). ''Lani Maestro: Chambres de quiétude/ Quiet Rooms by Rene Baert (2001)'' Gallerie De L'UQAM ''Paramita'' by Masashi Ogura (2001) Centre d'Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie (Hérouville St-Clair, France) ''Cradle/Ugoy: Lani Maestro'' by Carolyn Forchê, Rina Carvajal, Stephen Horne (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maestro, Lani 1957 births Living people Canadian people of Filipino descent 21st-century Canadian artists Filipino women artists 21st-century Canadian women artists