“Hope has always been necessary, but I do wonder if we’ve ever really had it.” Set against the backdrop of COVID-19 in New York, and rooted in complicated family histories, Róisín’s address advocates for hope in spite of its many obstacles. In a heartfelt letter to the listener she shares resilience and capacity for hope, amid loss and cataclysm. “Artists-in-Presidents” is initiated by Constance Hockaday, curated by Christine Shaw, and commissioned by The Blackwood (University of Toronto Mississauga). Podcast production by Vocal Fry. Transmissions are released every Friday from August 6–December 17, 2021. To view the portrait gallery, access ASL videos and transcripts, and for additional information about the project, visit www.artistsinpresidents.com and www.blackwoodgallery.ca. Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is based in Brooklyn, New York. Róisín’s work exists at the intersections of her identity as a queer, Muslim, South Asian woman interested in spirituality, race and pop culture. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and Allure. She has also pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam and queer identities. She is the author of the poetry collection How To Cure A Ghost (2019) and the novel Like A Bird (2020). Her upcoming work is a book of non-fiction entitled, Who Is Wellness For?, to be released in spring 2022. Photo: Clémence Polès

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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