2021 FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Killa Atencio

Video Release | YouTube | 12pm

Killa Atencio resides in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia but is originally from Listuguj First Nation in Mi'gmaq Territory (Quebec, Canada). She shares her voice and culture in many ways – as a poet and spoken word artist, as a visual artist and entrepreneur, and through her work at LOVE Nova Scotia, to name a few. Along with her artistic expression, Killa enjoys work that contributes to youth and community development, Indigenous relations and education.

Wholesound

Personal Accountability Support for Discrimination Prevention

Workshop | ZOOM | 4pm ADT 

Facilitated by Kirsten Taylor and Nick Dourado of Wholesound, attendees will learn ways to identify the root causes of their biases. Identifying and acknowledging our fears and biases can prevent us from projecting them onto others, leading to discriminatory behaviours and choices.

Ardent Celebrations

DJ Ouri | zamzam club w/ Cher Hann

Event | ZOOM | 7 PM ADT

Gather your bubble, cast the screen or project it onto your wall, dance with us and celebrate the upcoming festival weekend, summer solstice, and full moon in cancer.

Elle Barbara’s TV Special

With your host Tranna Wintour

An original idea by Elle Barbara Queen Mother

Video Release | SUONI TV | 9PM ADT

In an alternate dimension, Elle Barbara is the star of her own TV channel. In a form that resembles a mix of talk and variety fare, Elle Barbara revives some of network television's dated tropes, though not without revising them. An exercise in performance art and cultural critique, the hour long piece spans a surreal and strange collection of interviews, live performances, infomercials, and culminates with the music video premiere of Elle Barbara's Black Space's Délice Créole. Elle Barbara's TV Special is something of a dada experiment in television programming set in a skewed mirror universe.

Artwork by Coco Khan @cocofeltworld

A Suoni Per Il Popolo and House of Barbara Production

Co-Presented with POP Montreal

Bucko Art Machine

Video Release | YouTube | 12pm

Chris Binkowski, also known as Bucko, is an emerging artist working primarily in electronic music performance. Central to Bucko’s work is the idea of music as a dynamic way to express oneself and connect with people. In his own words, Chris states “every time I perform music live it is an act of advocacy for inclusion and accessibility.”

Ikumagialiit

Aatooq - Full of Blood

Workshop | ZOOM | 2 pm ADT 

How do we co-create a land-based piece in a time of isolation, what does it mean to be co-creators.

Afara | Asoqmakaqn | Pon

Aiden Gillis | Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis | Zamani Millar

Event | ZOOM | 7pm ADT

Afara | Asoqmakaqn | Pon is a three-part piece that features multilayered explorations surrounding concepts of bridges in time, place, and connection through movement, sound, and painting. Artists Zamani, Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis, and Aiden Gillis draw inspiration from their own family histories as they connect and create together in Kjipuktuk, on Mi’kma’ki.

Thanya Iyer

Video Release | YouTube | 12pm

Thanya Iyer is an enigmatic songwriter who crafts sparkling experimental pop music. Her live trio wields acoustic and electronic instruments to flesh out these serene, spiritual compositions. Thanya and the band’s arrangements empower listeners to embrace mindfulness, aesthetic beauty and the interconnectedness of all things. They recently released their sophomore visual album “Kind” in the summer of 2020.

Lafawndah

Fantasy at a Distance

Workshop | ZOOM | 2 pm ADT 

A workshop about post covid musical performance aesthetics. The default look and feel of streaming has been a stripping away of fantasy and illusion, but how can we study key moments of performance documentation created under tightly constrained conditions to recover cinema magic for an era of new austerity.

With the support of the Cultural and Scientific Services of the Embassy of France in Canada.

Moor Mother ft. Tcheser Holmes and Luke Stewart

Video Release | YouTube | 4 PM ADT

Co-Presented with Suoni Per Il Popolo

Digital Inventions Archive

aRENYE | Asuquomo  | Ikumagialiit | Lafawndah | Maximata

Visuals by Brandon Hoax

Event | Zoom | 8 PM ADT

Beam into this fantastical portal and get lost in a cyber galaxy of genre-bending magic. This poly-dimensional showcase features the wonderful, the weird, the sublime, the exploratory, let it transport you. 

Co-presented with Eyelevel and Debaser

With the support of the Cultural and Scientific Services of the Embassy of France in Canada

Maria Chavez

Video Release | YouTube | 12pm

Born in Lima, Peru and based in NYC, Maria Chávez is best known as an abstract turntablist, sound artist and DJ. Coincidence, chance & failures are themes that unite her book objects, sound sculptures, installations & other works with her improvised solo turntable performance practice. Her latest album, “Maria Chavez PLAYS Stefan Goldmann’s Ghost hemiola” was nominated for a Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in Jan. of 2020.

aRENYE

Diversity of the Afrobeat Genre of Music

Workshop | ZOOM | 2:30pm ADT

With afrobeat on the rise and becoming a sound that is very appealing to the popular ears there is so much that is encapsulated.

Join aRENYE to break down the genre and talk more about diverse components that make up afrobeat.

EVERY STINKER

Video Release | YouTube | 4 PM ADT

WHAT IS THIS STINKY THING YOU MAY ASK? Everystinker is a brand new children’s video program designed to compliment this year’s festival, and brought to you by the makers of OBABY, team Khyber. From our kitchen to yours, join Hannah, Bria, and Calen as they follow your audio-visual recipes to cook some sweet, salty, spicy, and sour songs. Grab your pots, pans, spoons, and silliness and let’s stir up something ASMRemarkable.