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July 2019

PRESSING THE ISSUE Part 1: On Critical Arts Publishing in Canada
Small World Music 180 Shaw St, Toronto, ON, Toronto
Join us July 8th, 2019 starting at 7pm at Small World Music Centre, Suite 101 of Artscape Youngplace; reception to follow in gallery at Critical Distance, Suite 302. We are thrilled to host a conversation with founders and co-founders of indie critical arts publishing projects in Canada including; Cecilia Berkovic (EMILIA-AMALIA), and Ben Donoghue (MICE Magazine), Merray Gerges (CRIT paper), Steffanie Ling (Charcuterie, Bartleby Review, STILLS), and Vanessa Runions (Carbon Paper). This panel will be moderated by Maxine Proctor. There will be refreshments and all are welcome. This is a FREE event but please RSVP to rsvp@criticaldistance.ca. There will be non-alcoholic drinks available. LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION Small World Music and Critical Distance Centre for Curators Suite 101 and 302 (respectively) at Artscape Youngplace 180 Shaw Street (between Dundas and Queen…Find out more
August 2019

HAPPY HOUR WITH THE HIV HOWLER
Small World Music 180 Shaw St, Toronto, ON, Toronto
HAPPY HOUR WITH THE HIV HOWLER Join us for a presentation by Anthea Black and Jessica Whitbread, founders of The HIV Howler: Transmitting Art and Activism in conversation with Danielle St. Amour (SBC galerie d’art contemporain – Gallery of Contemporary Art). Refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Location is Artscape Youngplace, exact space TBD. Building is wheelchair accessible.This is a FREE event but please RSVP to rsvp@criticaldistance.ca to help us to plan space and refreshments. The HIV Howler: Transmitting Art and Activism is a limited edition art newspaper focusing on global grassroots HIV art and cultural production. Artists, writers and activists play a fundamental role in shaping broader societal understandings of HIV and working from within communities that are…Find out more

PRESSING THE ISSUE Part 2: Critical Arts Publishing in Canada Continued
Small World Music 180 Shaw St, Toronto, ON, Toronto
We are excited to continue the conversation on the state of independent critical arts publishing across Canada with a panel involving Anthea Black and Jessica Lynn Whitbread from The HIV Howler, Adrienne Crossman from Off Centre, Lauren Lavery from Peripheral Review, and Niki Little from imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, moderated by Maxine Proctor. There will be refreshments and all are welcome. Location is Artscape Youngplace, on the first floor at Unit 101, Small World Music Centre. Building is wheelchair accessible. This is a FREE event but please RSVP to rsvp@criticaldistance.ca as this helps us plan for enough space and refreshments. This event follows Happy Hour with The HIV Howler, a presentation by Anthea Black and Jessica Whitbread in conversation with Danielle St. Amour (SBC galerie d’art contemporain – Gallery of Contemporary Art).   BIOGRAPHIES Anthea Black is a Canadian artist,…Find out more
October 2019

Indigeneity, Neurodiversity and the Arts
Small World Music 180 Shaw St, Toronto, ON, Toronto
INDIGENEITY, NEURODIVERSITY, AND THE ARTS A conversation with Vanessa Dion Fletcher and Dolleen Tisawii’ashii Manning DOLLEEN TISAWII’ASHII MANNING is a member of Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation, currently residing in Toronto. She is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar, with a PhD in Theory and Criticism (Western University) and an MFA in Contemporary Art (Simon Fraser University). Manning is an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Education and Pedagogy at York University, on leave while completing her SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Michigan State University (Philosophy, 2018-2020). Manning’s research takes up Anishinaabe imaging practices, epistemological sovereignty, and the debilitating impact of settler colonial logics. VANESSA DION FLETCHER is a Lenape and Potawatomi neurodiverse artist. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute…Find out more
November 2019

The Culture of Crip Aesthetics
Critical Distance Suite 122 at 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Panel discussion with Sean Lee, Elizabeth Sweeney, Andy Slater, Wy Joung Kou and Aislinn Thomas Moderated by Emily CookFind out more
March 2020

Eleana Antonaki In Conversation with ma ma
Small World Music 180 Shaw St, Toronto, ON, Toronto

Join us for a conversation with Brooklyn-based artist Eleana Antonaki and curators ma ma (Magdalyn Asimakis and Heather Rigg) held in conjunction with the exhibition A Big Heritage with A Glorious Past at Critical Distance. Antonaki, Asimakis, and Rigg will discuss Antonaki’s work within the exhibition and her practice more broadly, alongside questions of politically motivated migration, ideas of home and temporary housing, and archaeology.

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April 2020

In Conversation: Charlotte Zhang & Friends of Chinatown Toronto

To bring about a skill-sharing dialogue between artist and organizer, Charlotte Zhang will moderate a Q&A with Toronto-based community group, Friends of Chinatown TO (FOCT). Zhang will inquire into FOCT’s first-steps to organizing in a working class community, formulating demands, and strategizing around campaigns. With the tools and skills cultural workers have at our disposal, how do we direct our participation, privilege, and artistic strategies towards developing tactics and resisting neoliberal entanglements?

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September 2020

PDA: Crip Culture and Digital Experiments

Artists, activists, and others in disability communities have been adapting online tools and platforms for work and play since well before the pandemic forced able-bodied people online. What creative solutions and experiments in the digital sphere have been happening within disability communities? What have we learned so far from the efforts to come together and adapt tools that were not designed with disability in mind? Join us as we discuss the particular joys and challenges of creative access in an online world, with reflections from Jessa Agilo, Aimi Hamraie, and Yo-Yo Lin. This conversation is moderated by Lindsay Fisher, Founder and Director of Creative Users Projects.

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October 2020

PDA Case Study: A distinct aggregation / A dynamic equivalent / A generous ethic of invention

In August 2019, artists Aislinn Thomas and Shannon Finnegan published a broadsheet and accessible PDF for A distinct aggregation / A dynamic equivalent / A generous ethic of invention: Six writers respond to six sculptures through the Walter Phillips Gallery at the Banff Centre. Also presented as a series of sound works, the project invited writers and poets across Canada to produce creative audio descriptions for a range of public sculptures installed throughout the Banff Centre.

For this case study session, Thomas and Finnegan will be in discussion, reflecting on the project and the challenges and opportunities of creative audio description in both accessible publishing and gallery/museum practices. They will be joined by Ramya Amuthan, host and producer at Accessible Media Inc, for further reflection.

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November 2020

Discussion: Archive Means and Mediums with Reel Asian

Reel Asian Film Festival
Reel Ideas Symposium: Archive Means and Mediums

Why do we need community archives, and what are the stakes of digitized archiving within the contexts of intentional erasure or a lack of historical records? This panel reflects on the necessity and challenges of archives and archival work, inviting members of community archive initiatives to discuss their work and process.

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