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5:30 PM-8:00 PM
Artist Talk: Gali Blay & Leila Zelli
Artist Talk|Collective Forms of Care
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Goethe-Institut Montreal, Montreal
- Part of series: Collective Forms of Care
Leila Zelli (from Iran, now living in Montréal, Canada) and Gali Blay (from Israel, now living in Berlin, Germany) are two critical artists and filmmakers who decided to resist the narrative of fear and rivalry created by the governments of Israel and Iran by creating the short animated film About Dam and Hofit, which is being presented as part of the exhibition Collective Forms of Care in Montréal.
Although aware of the risks and challenges involved in a potential collaboration between an Iranian and an Israeli artist, they agreed in April 2019 to cross borders and leave behind the political rules with which they had grown up. This collaboration between an Israeli and an Iranian artist can have an immense impact and serve as an example for the future. The friendship between the two artists demonstrates a form of change that can emerge from ordinary people and does not necessarily depend on political circumstances.
The script for the short animated film About Dam and Hofit was inspired by the artists’ daily conversations, the questions they dared to ask one another, and the trust they built through their friendship. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, these meetings took place online over a period of two years.
This event is presented as part of the exhibition Collective Practices of Care, curated by Erandy Vergara Vargas. The exhibition brings together four works by artists from Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, displayed on our windows and library from 15 June to 6 September 2026. The works offer a constructive reflection on a hostile world, as well as an exploration of acts of solidarity and practices of care aimed at building communities.
Erandy Vergara
Erandy Vergara
Curator
Erandy Vergara-Vargas (MX/CA) curates, teaches and writes on contemporary and media arts. She is Assistant Professor in the École des médias, UQAM. Her main research interests include climate responsibility, equity, internet cultures, human-machine interactions, and widespread bias in algorithms. She earned a MA at Concordia University and a PhD in Art History at McGill University. Recent shows includeThrough Secrets: The Art of Creating Spaces Between the Lines(Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges, 2022-23); Eco(Systems) ofHope(MTL Connect exhibition at Anteism Books, 2022) andEva and Franco Mattes: What Has Been Seen(Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain, 2020).
Gali Blay and Leila Zelli
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Gali Blay
Artist
Gali Blay is an animation filmmaker based in Berlin, Germany, with nearly 15 years of experience crafting intricate visual narratives that blur the lines between fiction and reality.
Her work explores the intersection of art, politics, and storytelling, often using handcrafted miniatures, sets, and props to bring complex themes to life. She is currently developing the animated series Electric Water, a project inspired by true events that unfolds across two worlds—above and below the surface—where human drama and deep-sea mystery collide.
Notably, Blay was part of the miniature set-making teams for Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Asteroid City. Alongside collaborations with artists such as Leila Zelli (About Dam and Hofit, 2022), her films investigate human connection, conflict, and hope. Her work has screened internationally at festivals like Spark Animation (Canada), PÖFF Shorts (Estonia), and Athens Animfest (Greece), where it received a distinction in the experimental competition.
Her projects have also been exhibited in galleries and design events worldwide, including Jerusalem Design Week, Salone del Mobile (Milan), Wall Street Gallery (Eindhoven), and Fresh Paint (Tel Aviv).
Blay holds a BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and an MFA (cum laude) in Social Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Born in New York and raised in Israel, she now creates her artistic worlds from her studio in Berlin.
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Leila Zelli
Artist
Leila Zelli
Born in Tehran (Iran), Leila Zelli lives and works in Montréal. She holds an MFA (2020) and a BFA (2016) in Visual and Media Arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Zelli is interested in the relationship that we have with the ideas of “others” and “elsewhere” and more specifically within this geopolitical space often referred to by the questionable term “Middle East.” She creates in situ installations using existing images, videos and texts often found on the Internet. The resulting visual and sound experiences create an opportunity to reflect on the state of the world, the relationship with the Other and the actual effect of our actions on humanity.
Her work has been shown, among others, at Musée d’art de Joliette at Toronto Biennial of art (2024), at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, at Dazibao (2023), the Pierre-François Ouellette Gallery (2023-2021), the Bradley Ertaskiran Gallery (2020), at the Conseil des arts de Montréal (2019-2020) and at Galerie de l’UQAM (2024, 2020, 2019, 2015). Her works are part of MAC Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts collection, The Musée Pointe-à-Callière, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec’s Prêt d’oeuvres d’art collection, theMusée d’art de Joliette collection, the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul collection, the collection of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the collection of Hydro Québec, the collection of Desjardins and the collection of Galerie de l’UQÀM.
She is the laureate of the 2023 Prix Lynne-Cohen and the 2021 laureate of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. She is represented by Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.
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1626 boul. St-Laurent
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