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X-WR-CALNAME:Haptic Horizons Art Symposium
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Haptic Horizons Art Symposium
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TZID:America/Toronto
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T173000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T060832Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T175000Z
UID:1183-1772382600-1772386200@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Closing Reception
DESCRIPTION:Closing Reception\nExplore Hamilton’s VibraFusionLab at the symposium closing reception
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/closing-reception/
LOCATION:VibraFusionLab\, 126 James St N.\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 2K7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Reception
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Closing-Reception-at-VFL.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T160000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T060059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181629Z
UID:1178-1772375400-1772380800@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Workshop – Composing for Vibratory Media
DESCRIPTION:Composing for Vibratory Media Workshop\nExplore ways of composing for vibratory media in this artist-led workshop. Participants will have an opportunity to feel different compositional and technical approaches to low-frequency design\, including: \n– Spatializing vibrations across multiple haptic transducers \n– Transforming audio and music to enhance vibration \n– Synthesizing haptics using electronic music tools \n– Activating resonant materials \n⭐️ Please note – this is a practical session exploring compositional materials with haptic hardware. We will have a limited number of stations so participation may be limited or collaborative. Participants will need a laptop to use during the workshop. \n  \nWorkshop Facilitator Bios\n \nLaurel Lawson is a transdisciplinary artist whose work includes both traditional choreography and novel ways of creating and deploying art through technology and design. Laurel’s work draws from mythology\, Appalachian and Southern cultural practices\, and the liminal lived experience of queerness and disability. \nWorking nationally and internationally in art\, design\, access\, and technology\, Laurel is a founding artist of disability arts ensemble Kinetic Light. Their artist-engineer collaborative ensemble\, The Choreodaemonic Collective\, receives core support from the Ford Foundation and a Creative Capital Award. Laurel also consults for a number of regional\, national\, and international organizations as a strategist and facilitator and is a noted speaker in both arts and technology. \nInstagram: @worldsoflaurel \n  \n\n  \nColin Clark is an artist\, researcher\, and developer of community-led technologies. Since the 1990s\, he has contributed to the growth of inclusive design in Canada and internationally. He is co-founder of Lichen Community Systems\, a non-profit worker cooperative dedicated to the practice of community-led design. \nAs an artist\, Colin designs creative access technologies for live performance with the Kinetic Light Dance Company\, mediates motion-media-robotic data flows with the Choreodaemonics Collective\, improvises electronic music with Bitstance\, and develops open source software and hardware frameworks that are used by artists worldwide. \nWebsites: Colin Clark and Lichen Community Systems
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/composing-for-vibratory-media-workshop/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Composing-for-Vibratory-Media-Workshop.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T140000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T055800Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181541Z
UID:1175-1772368200-1772373600@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Workshop – The Un-magic Lab
DESCRIPTION:The Un-magic Lab Workshop\nIn this hands-on\, behind-the-scenes workshop\, Deirdre Logue invites participants into the living process of installing her work for Haptic Horizons. Un-magic Lab demystifies the exhibition as Logue walks through how the work comes together in real space/time\, what decisions are made\, what problems emerge\, and what the architecture itself has to offer. \nTogether\, participants will explore practical and conceptual strategies for working with multiplicity\, including how to hold many works in a single environment while still allowing each piece room to breathe. Logue will speak to the challenges and creative opportunities of working outside traditional institutional or gallery contexts\, sharing concrete approaches alongside the thinking that drives them. \nCentral to the workshop is Logue’s commitment to resisting master narratives. Many of the works discussed remain intentionally fragmentary or incomplete\, opening flexibility for future iterations as new information\, contexts\, and encounters emerge. Participants will be invited to consider how incompleteness can function as a generative artistic strategy. \nAttendees should come prepared to briefly introduce their own work or current questions so the session can be shaped responsively. Open to artists\, students\, and the curious\, Un-magic Lab offers practical tools\, candid insights\, and a generous sharing of the artist’s strategies in clear\, accessible language that reveals how the magic gets made. \n  \nWorkshop Facilitator Bio\n \nDeirdre Logue is a Canadian film and video artist and activist with over two decades of experience working with artist-run organizations dedicated to media arts exhibition and distribution. Her solo work\, grounded in performance for the camera\, focuses on the self as subject\, exploring anxiety\, queerness\, vibration and the limits of ability through single-channel works and multi-channel installation. Her compelling self-portraits investigate what it means to inhabit a queer body in an age of anxiety. \nLogue co-directs the Feminist Art Residency (FAR) alongside her partner and collaborator\, artist Allyson Mitchell\, somewhere in Ontario. Deirdre and Allyson also produced the iconic Killjoy’s Kastle: A Lesbian Feminist Haunted House between 2013 and 2019. She is currently undertaking a PHD at Queen’s University. \nWebsite: Deirdre Logue
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/the-un-magic-lab-workshop/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Un-magic-Lab-Workshop.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T230000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T055519Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260123T041130Z
UID:1170-1772312400-1772319600@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Evening Social
DESCRIPTION:Evening Social\nAttend an evening social soirée at the Spice Factory \n@TheSpiceFactoryHamilton
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/evening-social/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Social
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Spice-Factory-social.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T203000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T054622Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181735Z
UID:1162-1772307000-1772310600@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Performance by Ghost Rooster Collective
DESCRIPTION:Ghost Rooster Collective\nIntroduction by David Bobier\, followed by a Q&A session\nEnjoy a performance by Ghost Rooster Collective\, an interdisciplinary group of disabled artists committed to exploring accessibility as a creative framework. GRC draws from a wide range of artistic disciplines\, including dance\, choreography\, animation\, film\, puppetry\, podcasting\, and more. Their work is rooted in the lived experiences of disability and seeks to expand the representation of disabled artists in the arts. \n⭐️ Please note – this event will be located on the second floor of the Spice Factory \n  \nPerformers Bio\n \nGhost Rooster Collective is an Ottawa-based interdisciplinary arts group dedicated to creating immersive\, community-rooted\, and socially engaged work. Formed by a group of artists committed to experimentation\, access\, and collaborative creation\, the collective works across performance\, sound\, installation\, and participatory media. Their name reflects their ethos: vivid\, unexpected\, and resonant\, producing work that echoes across spaces both seen and unseen.  \nGhost Rooster Collective explores themes of belonging\, memory\, neurodiversity\, and embodied experience\, often integrating tactile\, sonic\, and multisensory elements to expand how audiences interact with art. Their projects emphasize collective authorship\, inviting participants and communities into the creative process through workshops\, performances\, and interactive environments.  \nThe collective is committed to accessibility and inclusive design\, prioritizing art experiences that engage sensory-diverse audiences. Known for their inventive approach and cross-disciplinary collaboration\, Ghost Rooster Collective continues to contribute a bold and distinctive voice to Ottawa’s contemporary arts landscape.  \nInstagram: @GhostRoosterLives\nFacebook: @GhostRoosterCollective\nWebsite: Ghost Rooster Collective
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/ghost-rooster-collective/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Social
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Ghost-Rooster-Collective.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T160000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T053611Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181441Z
UID:1157-1772290800-1772294400@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Experiments in Vibration and Form
DESCRIPTION:Experiments in Vibration and Form as Embodied Artistic Medium\nExplore pathways for creating in vibration\, space\, and form: we’ll share a few artistic concepts\, research\, and deployed prototypes from Kinetic Light’s practice. \nLaurel and Colin research and develop tools to understand vibration as an independent and inherently embodied medium: prioritizing artistic\, equitable content which centers skilled interpretation and sensory practices of disabled people. \n  \nSpeaker Bios\n \nLaurel Lawson is a transdisciplinary artist whose work includes both traditional choreography and novel ways of creating and deploying art through technology and design. Laurel’s work draws from mythology\, Appalachian and Southern cultural practices\, and the liminal lived experience of queerness and disability. \nWorking nationally and internationally in art\, design\, access\, and technology\, Laurel is a founding artist of disability arts ensemble Kinetic Light. Their artist-engineer collaborative ensemble\, The Choreodaemonic Collective\, receives core support from the Ford Foundation and a Creative Capital Award. Laurel also consults for a number of regional\, national\, and international organizations as a strategist and facilitator and is a noted speaker in both arts and technology. \nInstagram: @worldsoflaurel \n  \n\n  \nColin Clark is an artist\, researcher\, and developer of community-led technologies. Since the 1990s\, he has contributed to the growth of inclusive design in Canada and internationally. He is co-founder of Lichen Community Systems\, a non-profit worker cooperative dedicated to the practice of community-led design. \nAs an artist\, Colin designs creative access technologies for live performance with the Kinetic Light Dance Company\, mediates motion-media-robotic data flows with the Choreodaemonics Collective\, improvises electronic music with Bitstance\, and develops open source software and hardware frameworks that are used by artists worldwide. \nWebsites: Colin Clark and Lichen Community Systems
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/experiments-in-vibration-and-form/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Experiments-in-Vibration-and-Form.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T150000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260205T183506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T202003Z
UID:2327-1772287200-1772290800@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Enhancing EDM Dance Experience
DESCRIPTION:Enhancing EDM Dance Experience\nwith the Addition of Ultra-low Frequency Sound and Vibrotactile Stimulation\nThe LIVELab at McMaster University is a purpose-built\, 106-seat research concert hall designed to bridge the gap between rigorous scientific laboratory control and the ecological validity of a real-world performance. This unique facility features instantly reconfigurable acoustics and integrated biosensing systems that capture synchronized motion\, neural\, and physiological data from large groups of performers and audience members simultaneously.  One of our most important areas of research is studying how and why people move to music.\n\nThe sensation of groove is defined as the pleasurable desire to move to music. While traditionally viewed as an auditory phenomenon\, our research demonstrates that groove is a multimodal experience where the “feel” of the music is as critical as the sound. This talk explores how tactile and subsensory low-frequency stimulation drive motor behaviour and reward processing in the brain. In experiments using both special very low frequency subwoofers and vibrotactile backpacks (Subpac)\, we found that adding tactile stimulation to music significantly increases subjective ratings of groove and enjoyment\, and causes audience members to move significantly more at an EDM concert.\n\n  \nSpeaker Bio\nDr. Dan Bosnyak is a neuroscientist and the Technical Director of McMaster University’s LIVELab\, where he spearheads research into the physiological impact of live performance and the mechanics of human hearing. A key pillar of his work involves investigating hearing impairment and tinnitus\, specifically how neural plasticity can be harnessed to mitigate the effects of hearing loss through auditory training. \nDr. Bosnyak’s expertise in the LIVELab’s specialized acoustic environment has also led to groundbreaking studies on Very-Low Frequency (VLF) energy in electronic dance music (EDM). By utilizing high-density EEG and the lab’s sophisticated “active acoustics\,” he explores how sub-sensory bass frequencies—those felt by the body rather than heard by the ear—directly influence human motor systems and drive the urge to dance. His research bridges the gap between the physics of sound and the neurobiology of performance\, offering new insights into how both high-energy music environments and therapeutic auditory interventions reshape the human brain. \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/enhancing-edm-dance-experience/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enhancing-EDM-Dance-Experience-with-the-Addition-of-Ultra-low-Frequency-Sound-and-Vibrotactile-Stimulation.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T140000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T053448Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181407Z
UID:1155-1772283600-1772287200@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art
DESCRIPTION:Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art\nFollowed by a Q&A session\nThis presentation will offer an overview of Marcus and Christie’s work on “wave cultures”\, thinking about seven different wave forms or media and the way that contemporary visual artists have worked with them. The forms are: sound\, light\, water\, wind\, earth\, heat\, and gravity. They will explore what it means to render perceptible as art the waves that are found in each of these cases. What kinds of commonality and singularity can be observed across the different forms and media? Can we draw any conclusions concerning a “general theory of wave-based art”? \n  \n  \n\nSpeaker Bios\n  \n \nMarcus Boon is a writer and Professor of English at York University in Toronto. He is the author of The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs (Harvard UP\, 2002)\, In Praise of Copying (Harvard UP\, 2010) and The Politics of Vibration: Music as a Cosmopolitical Practice (Duke UP\, 2022) as well as co-author with Timothy Morton and Eric Cazdyn of Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism (U. Chicago\, 2015). He co-edited a collection of writings Practice in the Visual Arts with Gabriel Levine (MIT/Whitechapel\, 2018)\, and is the editor of John Giorno’s Subduing Demons in America: Selected Poems\, 1962-2007 (Soft Skull\, 2008). \nInstagram: @marcusboon3001\nWebsite: Marcus Boon \n  \n\n  \nChristie Pearson is the author of The Architecture of Bathing: Body\, Landscape\, Art (MIT Press\, 2020)\, a global history of public bathing cultures. Her buildings\, events and installations reimagine urban infrastructures as immersive practices and utopian bathing environments. She is a founding member of The Waves Collective for immersive vibratory environments; Wade Festival for installation and performance art in public pools; Urbanvessel Performance Collective; and the critical journal Scapegoat: Architecture/Landscape/Political Economy. \nInstagram: @christiemaepearson\nWebsite: Christie Pearson
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/seven-approaches-to-wave-based-art/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Seven-Approaches-to-Wave-Based-Art-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T130000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T053147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260124T043549Z
UID:1153-1772280000-1772283600@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Buffet Lunch
DESCRIPTION:Buffet Lunch\nEnjoy a Middle Eastern-style lunch catered by Hamilton’s Nabil’s Grill \n@NabilsGrill \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/lunch/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Social
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nabils-Grill-catering.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T160000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T033328Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181317Z
UID:1112-1772276400-1772294400@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Art Exhibition Open House – Sensorial Plurality
DESCRIPTION:Sensorial Plurality: positioning access as a generative force\nSensorial Plurality brings together works by artists who completed residencies at Centre[3] and VibraFusion Lab (VFL) in 2024. This exhibition reflects a sustained period of experimentation\, learning\, and exchange focused on haptic and multisensory practices as vital modes of artistic inquiry and access.  \nFeatured artists Ebony R. Gooden\, Willy Le Maitre\, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin\, Olivia Brouwer\, Salima Punjani\, and Kim Fullerton engage touch\, vibration\, sound\, light\, movement\, and material responsiveness as central components of their work. Through diverse approaches and lived experiences\, these artists challenge dominant visual-centric models of artmaking and exhibition\, instead foregrounding embodied knowledge\, sensory plurality\, and disability-led innovation.  \nSupported by the technical and conceptual frameworks of VFL\, the works in this exhibition explore how haptic technologies and tactile strategies can expand both artistic expression and audience engagement. They invite viewers to consider how access is not an afterthought\, but a generative force – one that reshapes form\, process\, and relationship. \n  \n  \nArtist Bios\nEbony R. Gooden is a filmmaker\, director\, and changemaker dedicated to reimagining accessibility through bold storytelling and immersive art. As the founder of Deafinitely Digital (to be renamed Silent Soul Studio)\, she creates platforms that amplify BIPOC Deaf voices across film\, theatre\, and digital media. Ebony currently serves as the Marketing Coordinator at Inside Out Theatre\, where she supports inclusive arts initiatives.  \nShe was featured in SHADES Season 2 by Humainologie and has developed short films through the CSIF and Storyhive programs. Her works have received support from the Calgary of the Arts\, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts\, including the production of a new short animation.  \nEbony has directed and produced numerous projects\, including Miscommunication In Our Language\, Expression Unmasked and His Hands\, His Art\, blending artistic vision with accessibility innovation. Her work challenges traditional forms and creates space for underrepresented communities to be seen\, heard\, and celebrated. \nInstagram: @BlackNotIvory\nFacebook: @EbonyRGooden\nTwitter: @EbonyRGooden  \nWebsite: Deafinitely Digital Inc.\nCV: Resume \n  \n\n\nWilly Le Maitre is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist whose work in immersive media engages participants in perceptual experiences conjured through generative imagery\, virtual and extended reality environments\, and experimental sound. For over two decades\, he has been recognized for a pioneering approach — creating artworks that challenge how audiences see\, hear\, and inhabit digital and physical space. Working at the intersection of art and technology\, his practice investigates the fluid boundaries between virtuality and embodiment\, deploying 3D imaging\, spatialized sound\, and sensory interventions to heighten perceptual awareness.  \nHis installations and media works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries\, festivals\, and research-driven art contexts. Le Maitre has collaborated with artists\, designers\, and scientists on projects that explore simulation\, cognition\, and the expanded field of sensory experience. Known for his inventive visual language and technical experimentation\, he continues to influence Canada’s media-arts landscape. At the Haptic Horizons Art Symposium\, he will share his insights into immersive environments\, perception\, and multisensory creative practice. \nWebsite: Willy Le Maitre \n  \n\n\nConnor Yuzwenko-Martin (he/him\, they/them) is a Deaf performance artist\, producer\, and playwright based in Edmonton\, Alberta. His work focuses on creating performance rooted in Deaf culture\, sign languages\, and inclusive practice. \nConnor is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Invisible Practice (TIP)\, a Deaf arts organization dedicated to developing Deaf-centric creativity through any genre and medium that Deaf artists choose to inhabit. His artistic practice challenges traditional performance structures and expands access in the arts toward meaningful inclusion. Recent major work includes two live productions\, After Faust and CARBON MOVEMENTS\, the latter of which is currently embarking on national tour. Other notable work includes a digitally edited and streamed performance piece\, also named The Invisible Practice\, which reflects his commitment to blending theatre\, language\, tactile embodiment\, and innovative accessibility techniques. \nBeyond his creative practice\, Connor is widely recognized for his leadership in accessibility and intersectional justice. His North Star is a vibrant arts ecology that embraces and uplifts Deaf creatives and audiences\, and where Deaf-centric stories emerge to be shared across the land. \n  \nInstagram: @the_invisible_practice & @temporalways \nWebsite: Invisible Practice \n  \n\n\nOlivia Brouwer is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cambridge\, Ontario\, whose work explores blindness\, perception\, and the complexities of visual culture. A graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College’s Art & Art History program\, she works across painting\, printmaking\, sculpture\, sound\, and multisensory installation. \nAs a partially blind artist\, Olivia draws on her lived experience to investigate how knowledge\, vision\, and meaning are constructed\, often inviting audiences to engage with her work through touch\, sound\, and embodied movement. Her practice combines organic and geometric abstraction\, referencing natural organisms\, spiritual symbolism\, and metaphors of sight and non-sight. \nOlivia has exhibited across Southern Ontario\, including at Tangled Art + Disability\, the Art Gallery of Mississauga\, Blackwood Gallery\, and Centre[3]. She has participated in multiple residencies and received support from the Ontario Arts Council\, the Canada Council for the Arts\, and the Waterloo Region Arts Fund. Her work contributes to advancing accessible\, sensory-diverse approaches within contemporary art.  \nInstagram: @olivetreeonthemount\nWebsite: Olivia Brouwer \n  \n\n\nSalima Punjani is a Montréal-based multisensory artist whose work explores connection\, care\, and sensory accessibility through immersive sound\, touch\, and interactive installation. With a background in social work\, her practice blends art and relational ethics\, transforming biological and everyday sensory data — such as heartbeats\, brainwaves\, or domestic soundscapes — into environments that invite rest\, empathy\, and shared experience. \nHer projects\, including Will You Pass the Salt? (PHI Foundation) and The Cost of Entry is a Heartbeat (Spatial Sound Institute\, Budapest)\, consider multiple sensory entry points for people to experience the work. Working across sound\, vibration\, soft sculptures\, multimedia and participatory storytelling\, Salima creates spaces that challenge traditional sensory hierarchies\, contributing to contemporary conversations on accessibility\, intimacy\, and multisensory artistic practice. \nInstagram: @picturesalima \n  \n\n\nKim Fullerton is a Toronto-based visual artist\, arts promoter\, and accessibility advocate whose career spans more than four decades in Canada’s contemporary art sector. Beginning her work as an artist and curator in the early 1980s\, Kim later founded Akimbo Art Promotions in 1998\, a groundbreaking national platform that supported artists\, galleries\, and cultural organizations by amplifying exhibitions\, events\, and emerging talent across the country. Through Akimbo\, she played a pivotal role in shaping how Canadian art is communicated\, promoted\, and experienced. \nSince stepping away from Akimbo in 2021\, Kim has returned to her own multidisciplinary practice\, creating work in drawing\, animation\, video\, and mixed media. Her lived experience as a wheelchair user deeply informs both her art and her advocacy\, positioning her as a prominent voice for accessibility\, disability justice\, and inclusive design within arts institutions. Kim’s leadership continues to influence conversations about equity and meaningful access across Canada’s cultural landscape.  \nInstagram: @kim_m_ful \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/open-house-sensorial-plurality/
LOCATION:Centre[3]\, 173 James St N.\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 2K9\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Art Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Opening-Reception-Centre3-Gallery.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T120000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T052533Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181230Z
UID:1147-1772276400-1772280000@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Artists' Panel Discussion – Beyond the Visual & Auditory
DESCRIPTION:Artists’ Panel Discussion –\nBeyond the Visual & Auditory: Artists Reflect on Haptic Technologies and Access\nFollowed by a Q&A session\nWith Haptic Horizons resident artists Ebony Gooden\, Willy Le Maitre\, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin\, Olivia Brouwer\, Salima Punjani\, and Kim Fullerton. Moderated by Centre[3]’s Executive Director\, Yvonne Felix. \n  \nPanel Member Bios\n  \nEbony R. Gooden is a filmmaker\, director\, and changemaker dedicated to reimagining accessibility through bold storytelling and immersive art. As the founder of Deafinitely Digital (to be renamed Silent Soul Studio)\, she creates platforms that amplify BIPOC Deaf voices across film\, theatre\, and digital media. Ebony currently serves as the Marketing Coordinator at Inside Out Theatre\, where she supports inclusive arts initiatives.  \nShe was featured in SHADES Season 2 by Humainologie and has developed short films through the CSIF and Storyhive programs. Her works have received support from the Calgary of the Arts\, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts\, including the production of a new short animation.  \nEbony has directed and produced numerous projects\, including Miscommunication In Our Language\, Expression Unmasked and His Hands\, His Art\, blending artistic vision with accessibility innovation. Her work challenges traditional forms and creates space for underrepresented communities to be seen\, heard\, and celebrated. \nInstagram: @BlackNotIvory\nFacebook: @EbonyRGooden\nTwitter: @EbonyRGooden  \nWebsite: Deafinitely Digital Inc.\nCV: Resume \n  \n\n\nWilly Le Maitre is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist whose work in immersive media engages participants in perceptual experiences conjured through generative imagery\, virtual and extended reality environments\, and experimental sound. For over two decades\, he has been recognized for a pioneering approach—creating artworks that challenge how audiences see\, hear\, and inhabit digital and physical space. Working at the intersection of art and technology\, his practice investigates the fluid boundaries between virtuality and embodiment\, deploying 3D imaging\, spatialized sound\, and sensory interventions to heighten perceptual awareness. \nHis installations and media works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries\, festivals\, and research-driven art contexts. Le Maitre has collaborated with artists\, designers\, and scientists on projects that explore simulation\, cognition\, and the expanded field of sensory experience. Known for his inventive visual language and technical experimentation\, he continues to influence Canada’s media-arts landscape. At the Haptic Horizon Arts Symposium\, he will share his insights into immersive environments\, perception\, and multisensory creative practice. \nInstagram: @really_le_maitre\nWebsite: Willy Le Maitre \n  \n\n\nConnor Yuzwenko-Martin (he/him\, they/them) is a Deaf performance artist\, producer\, and playwright based in Edmonton\, Alberta. His work focuses on creating performance rooted in Deaf culture\, sign languages\, and inclusive practice. \nConnor is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Invisible Practice (TIP)\, a Deaf arts organization dedicated to developing Deaf-centric creativity through any genre and medium that Deaf artists choose to inhabit. His artistic practice challenges traditional performance structures and expands access in the arts toward meaningful inclusion. Recent major work includes two live productions\, After Faust and CARBON MOVEMENTS\, the latter of which is currently embarking on national tour. Other notable work includes a digitally edited and streamed performance piece\, also named The Invisible Practice\, which reflects his commitment to blending theatre\, language\, tactile embodiment\, and innovative accessibility techniques. \nBeyond his creative practice\, Connor is widely recognized for his leadership in accessibility and intersectional justice. His North Star is a vibrant arts ecology that embraces and uplifts Deaf creatives and audiences\, and where Deaf-centric stories emerge to be shared across the land. \nInstagram: @the_invisible_practice & @temporalways \nWebsite: Invisible Practice \n  \n\n\nOlivia Brouwer is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cambridge\, Ontario\, whose work explores blindness\, perception\, and the complexities of visual culture. A graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College’s Art & Art History program\, she works across painting\, printmaking\, sculpture\, sound\, and multisensory installation. \nAs a partially blind artist\, Olivia draws on her lived experience to investigate how knowledge\, vision\, and meaning are constructed\, often inviting audiences to engage with her work through touch\, sound\, and embodied movement. Her practice combines organic and geometric abstraction\, referencing natural organisms\, spiritual symbolism\, and metaphors of sight and non-sight. \nOlivia has exhibited across Southern Ontario\, including at Tangled Art + Disability\, the Art Gallery of Mississauga\, Blackwood Gallery\, and Centre[3]. She has participated in multiple residencies and received support from the Ontario Arts Council\, the Canada Council for the Arts\, and the Waterloo Region Arts Fund. Her work contributes to advancing accessible\, sensory-diverse approaches within contemporary art.  \nInstagram: @olivetreeonthemount\nWebsite: Olivia Brouwer \n  \n\n\nSalima Punjani is a Montréal-based multisensory artist whose work explores connection\, care\, and sensory accessibility through immersive sound\, touch\, and interactive installation. With a background in social work\, her practice blends art and relational ethics\, transforming biological and everyday sensory data — such as heartbeats\, brainwaves\, or domestic soundscapes — into environments that invite rest\, empathy\, and shared experience. \nHer projects\, including Will You Pass the Salt? (PHI Foundation) and The Cost of Entry is a Heartbeat (Spatial Sound Institute\, Budapest)\, consider multiple sensory entry points for people to experience the work. Working across sound\, vibration\, soft sculptures\, multimedia and participatory storytelling\, Salima creates spaces that challenge traditional sensory hierarchies\, contributing to contemporary conversations on accessibility\, intimacy\, and multisensory artistic practice. \nInstagram: @picturesalima \n  \n\n\nKim Fullerton is a Toronto-based visual artist\, arts promoter\, and accessibility advocate whose career spans more than four decades in Canada’s contemporary art sector. Beginning her work as an artist and curator in the early 1980s\, Kim later founded Akimbo Art Promotions in 1998\, a groundbreaking national platform that supported artists\, galleries\, and cultural organizations by amplifying exhibitions\, events\, and emerging talent across the country. Through Akimbo\, she played a pivotal role in shaping how Canadian art is communicated\, promoted\, and experienced. \nSince stepping away from Akimbo in 2021\, Kim has returned to her own multidisciplinary practice\, creating work in drawing\, animation\, video\, and mixed media. Her lived experience as a wheelchair user deeply informs both her art and her advocacy\, positioning her as a prominent voice for accessibility\, disability justice\, and inclusive design within arts institutions. Kim’s leadership continues to influence conversations about equity and meaningful access across Canada’s cultural landscape.  \nInstagram: @kim_m_ful \n  \n\n  \nYvonne Felix is an artist\, access-informed professional\, and Executive Director of Centre[3] in Hamilton\, Ontario. She has over twenty years of experience working across the public\, nonprofit\, and creative sectors\, with a focus on arts leadership\, disability-informed practice\, and community-based cultural development.  \nAn award-winning multidisciplinary artist\, Yvonne’s work is rooted in public and community art\, with an intersection of technology and multimodal methods for audience engagement. Her practice is informed by her lived experience as a blind artist with partial sight and intersects with institutional leadership\, policy development\, and program design\, contributing to inclusive and sustainable approaches within contemporary arts and cultural organizations.  \nIn addition to her artistic work\, Yvonne is the founder of multiple programming initiatives across both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors\, focused on advancing equity\, access\, and long-term creative opportunities. As Executive Director of Centre[3]\, she leads the organization’s strategic transformation toward a multidisciplinary\, access-driven arts model\, supporting partnerships\, inclusive programming\, and artist-centred opportunities.  \nInstagram:@ryfstuff2lookat\nIMDB: Yvonne Felix\nWebsite: Yvonne Felix\, Public & Community Artist
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/artists-panel-discussion/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Artists-Panel-Discssion.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T102000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T110000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T051740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T181112Z
UID:1144-1772274000-1772276400@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Unscripted: How Disabled Creativity Reshapes Art and Community
DESCRIPTION:Unscripted: How Disabled Creativity Reshapes Art and Community\nFollowed by a Q&A session\nIn this presentation and Q&A session with Gift Tshuma (Moncton\, ON)\, Gift explores improvisation as both an artistic practice and a disability aesthetic. Drawing on his work as a vocalist\, technologist\, and accessibility advocate\, Gift examines how disabled artists don’t merely adapt to inaccessible systems — they expand what art\, technology\, and collaboration can become. Through stories of music-making\, sensory design\, and inclusive performance\, his talk reframes access not as accommodation\, but as a generative force shaping the future of creativity and community. \n  \n  \nSpeaker Bio\n \nGift Tshuma is a Moncton-based singer/songwriter/musician\, technologist\, and disability-rights advocate dedicated to transforming access to music and creative technology. Born in Zimbabwe\, he blends his musical practice with a commitment to inclusive design\, co-founding Blurring The Boundaries\, an organization that develops open-source\, accessible digital musical instruments built collaboratively with disabled musicians. Gift also led the United Tribulation Choir\, a multilingual ensemble that incorporated gospel\, R&B\, beatboxing\, and live looping to create community-driven performances. \nThrough his advocacy\, public speaking\, and creative leadership\, Gift challenges systemic barriers and promotes equity in the arts\, education\, and employment. His work positions accessibility not as an afterthought\, but as a catalyst for innovation\, expression\, and meaningful participation in the arts. \nLinkedIn: @GiftTshuma & @TshumaConsulting\nWebsite: Blurring The Boundaries \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/unscripted-how-disabled-creativity-reshapes-art-and-community/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Unscripted-How-Disabled-Creativity-Reshapes-Art-and-Community.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260228T102000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260205T182516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T182640Z
UID:2318-1772272800-1772274000@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Saturday Opening Ceremony
DESCRIPTION:Saturday Opening Ceremony\n10:00-10:10 AM – Welcome and land acknowledgement by emcee Gift Tshuma\n10:10-10:20 AM – Ceremony Opening by Indigenous Elder Marsha Ireland\n  \n  \nSpeaker Bios\n \nGift Tshuma is a Moncton-based singer/songwriter/musician\, technologist\, and disability-rights advocate dedicated to transforming access to music and creative technology. Born in Zimbabwe\, he blends his musical practice with a commitment to inclusive design\, co-founding Blurring The Boundaries\, an organization that develops open-source\, accessible digital musical instruments built collaboratively with disabled musicians. Gift also led the United Tribulation Choir\, a multilingual ensemble that incorporated gospel\, R&B\, beatboxing\, and live looping to create community-driven performances. \nThrough his advocacy\, public speaking\, and creative leadership\, Gift challenges systemic barriers and promotes equity in the arts\, education\, and employment. His work positions accessibility not as an afterthought\, but as a catalyst for innovation\, expression\, and meaningful participation in the arts. \nLinkedIn: @GiftTshuma & @TshumaConsulting\nWebsite: Blurring The Boundaries \n  \n  \n\n  \nMarsha Ireland is a proud member of the Oneida Nation and Turtle Clan\, a wife\, mother\, grandmother\, and great-grandmother\, who has dedicated her life to advocating for her community. With the guidance of the Creator\, she has developed Oneida Sign Language and travelled across Turtle Island to share it\, support Deaf First Nations\, and provide Land Acknowledgements in her language\, earning recognition as an educator and Elder.  \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/saturday-opening-ceremony/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Saturday-Opening-Ceremony-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T214000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T235900
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T050220Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T224203Z
UID:1140-1772228400-1772236740@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Haptic Dance Party
DESCRIPTION:Haptic Dance Party\nJoin DJ Zahra for an expressive celebration of sound and vibration! \n⭐️ Please note – this event will be located on the second floor of the Spice Factory \n  \n  \nDJ Bio\n \nZahra Habib is a worldbridger. Garnering recognition from around the globe as a DJ\, curator\, producer\, and broadcaster. On her radio show turned podcast\, Lunar Rotations\, she takes listeners on a journey through music\, lovingly delivering records spanning soul\, funk\, rare groove\, from all across the globe. Her love of all things music translates into a life of travelling\, record-digging\, performance\, production\, research\, and community building. She has shared the stage as a DJ and host with Cimafunk\, Ladysmith Black Mombazo\, Jully Black\, Soul In The Horn\, and is a Board Member of the iconic TD Sunfest World Music and Culture Festival based in London\, Ontario\, helping organically shape North America’s musical ecosystem. \nInstagram: @Zahra.Shakti & @lunar.rotations\nWebsite: Zahara Habib
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/haptic-dance-party/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Social
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Haptic-Dance-Party-with-DJ-Zahara-Habib.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T213000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T160000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T042527Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T183633Z
UID:1120-1772227800-1772380800@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Art Installation – What if an Hourglass Felt Like an Earthquake?
DESCRIPTION:What if an Hourglass Felt Like an Earthquake?\n9:30 PM Introduction by Deirdre Logue\, Artist\nWorks of vibration\, geography and everyday disorientations. \n  \n  \nArtist Bio\n \nDeirdre Logue is a Canadian film and video artist and activist with over two decades of experience working with artist-run organizations dedicated to media arts exhibition and distribution. Her solo work\, grounded in performance for the camera\, focuses on the self as subject\, exploring anxiety\, queerness\, vibration and the limits of ability through single-channel works and multi-channel installation. Her compelling self-portraits investigate what it means to inhabit a queer body in an age of anxiety. \nLogue co-directs the Feminist Art Residency (FAR) alongside her partner and collaborator\, artist Allyson Mitchell\, somewhere in Ontario. Deirdre and Allyson also produced the iconic Killjoy’s Kastle: A Lesbian Feminist Haunted House between 2013 and 2019. She is currently undertaking a PHD at Queen’s University. \nWebsite: Deirdre Logue
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/art-exhibition-what-if-an-hourglass-felt-like-an-earthquake/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Art Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/What-If-An-Hourglass-Felt-Like-An-Earthquake-art-installation.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T212000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260301T160000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T044549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T180804Z
UID:1129-1772227200-1772380800@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Art Installation – Entomophonia
DESCRIPTION:Entomophonia\n(vibro-tactile installation edition)\n9:20 PM Introduction by Leon Louder\, Artist\nCommissioned by the Montreal Insectarium for the 2023 MUTEK festival\, Entomophonia is an 11-track work composed entirely from insect song\, transforming the sounds of more than fifty species into expansive electronic compositions. Developed in partnership with VibraFusionLab\, this vibro-tactile edition reimagines the project as a multi-channel installation\, translating pulses\, chirps\, and buzzes into physical vibration across four speakers and haptic transducers. \n  \n  \nArtist Bio\n \nLeon Louder is a Montreal-based Canadian composer and experimental musician whose practice spans experimental electronic and electroacoustic music. His work engages unorthodox sound sources\, including homebuilt instruments and field recordings\, which he transforms through advanced sampling and real-time manipulation to create hyper-detailed\, immersive sound environments. Often shaped by serendipity\, dream-like juxtapositions\, and an ongoing exploration of the psychological dimensions of technology\, his compositions foreground texture\, rhythm\, and physical sensation as much as pitch or harmony. \nRecent projects include a 2023 commission for the Montreal Insectarium in collaboration with MUTEK\, as well as ongoing audiovisual\, tactile\, and vibro-tactile explorations that translate sound into embodied\, non-visual modes of experience. \nInstagram: @LeonLounder\nWebsite: Leon Lounder \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/art-installation-entomophonia/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Art Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Entomophonia.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T205000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T212000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T045752Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260305T043035Z
UID:1137-1772225400-1772227200@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Creating for Multiple Senses
DESCRIPTION:Creating for Multiple Senses \nThis talk explores the collaborative work of David and Jim in haptic technologies\, focusing on their development of the haptic wall and a series of multi-sensory objects created for Centre[3] as part of the Haptic Horizons project.  \nDrawing on years of practice at the intersection of art\, accessibility\, and technology\, they will discuss how haptics can create alternative modes of perception\, communication\, and engagement beyond the visual and auditory. Highlighting the conceptual and material processes behind these works\, including experimentation with vibration\, touch\, spatial feedback\, and embodied interaction\, David and Jim will reflect on how these tactile and multi-sensory elements support access for disabled audiences while also expanding creative possibilities for all users. Positioned within an arts-centred\, community-engaged context\, their presentation emphasizes haptic technologies not only as assistive tools\, but as powerful artistic mediums that reimagine how people experience\, navigate\, and connect within cultural spaces.  \n  \n  \nSpeaker Bios\n \nDavid Bobier is a distinguished media artist\, curator\, and researcher based in London\, Ontario. As a self-identified hard-of-hearing artist and parent to two Deaf children\, his lived experience deeply informs his creative and advocacy practice. Bobier has dedicated his career to rethinking how art can be made\, experienced\, and accessed by Deaf\, disabled\, and sensory-diverse communities. He is the founder and director of VibraFusionLab\, a multimedia\, multisensory studio that researches and develops vibrotactile technologies as creative media. Under his leadership\, VibraFusionLab has emerged as an international leader in accessible arts practices and inclusive design.  \nAs an artist\, Bobier has presented work in over 18 solo exhibitions and 30+ group shows across Canada\, the U.S.\, Europe\, and Central America. His practice explores vibration\, sound visualization\, sensory experience\, and the intersection of technology and disability culture. \nInstagram: @VibraFusionLab\nCanadian Journal of Disability Studies: read interview \n  \n\n  \nJim Ruxton is a Hamilton-based media artist\, engineer\, and innovator whose work bridges electronics\, installation\, performance\, and multisensory design. With a background in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa and arts training from OCAD University\, Ruxton blends technical precision with artistic experimentation. \nRuxton is the founder of Cinematronics\, a studio recognized for creating complex interactive systems\, kinetic sculptures\, lighting environments\, and special effects for film\, theatre\, dance\, and contemporary art. He is also the co-founder and former Program Director of Subtle Technologies\, a long-running festival dedicated to fostering dialogue between art\, science\, and technology. His collaborative approach has led him to work closely with artists\, performers\, and researchers across disciplines\, contributing to innovative projects that challenge conventional sensory experience. A recipient of multiple awards — including a Hamilton Arts Award and the Dora Mavor Moore Award — Ruxton continues to influence the field of media art through his commitment to experimentation\, accessibility\, and cross-disciplinary creative practice. 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/creating-for-multiple-senses/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Creating-for-Multiple-Senses.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T202000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T205000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T045218Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T180623Z
UID:1134-1772223600-1772225400@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:The Beacon Project
DESCRIPTION:The Beacon Project –\nAccessibility\, Haptics\, and Re-visioning the Arts Centre\nYvonne Felix introduces the Beacon Project\, a Canada Council–funded initiative that examines how haptic technologies and multi-sensory design can transform access to arts spaces and experiences. Framed as both a practical intervention and a conceptual approach\, the project asks how arts organizations can move beyond compliance-based accessibility toward environments that actively communicate\, guide\, and welcome diverse bodies and ways of sensing.  \nTheir talk outlines the project’s core goals: integrating haptic feedback\, tactile cues\, and non-visual signals to support navigation\, orientation\, and engagement within cultural spaces; centring the lived expertise of disabled artists and collaborators; and embedding accessibility directly into infrastructure rather than treating it as an add-on. Yvonne will speak to the project’s experimental nature\, emphasizing learning through prototyping\, testing\, and iteration. Crucially\, the Beacon Project has become a catalyst for broader organizational change. Yvonne will reflect on how this work helped pave the transition from Centre[3] to Centre[4] Arts\, informing new ways of thinking about program design\, capital planning\, digital strategy\, and community partnerships. Accessibility and haptics are framed not as niche innovations\, but as foundational approaches for building more inclusive\, responsive\, and future-facing arts institutions.  \n  \n  \nSpeaker Bio\n \nYvonne Felix is an artist\, access-informed professional\, and Executive Director of Centre[3] in Hamilton\, Ontario. She has over twenty years of experience working across the public\, nonprofit\, and creative sectors\, with a focus on arts leadership\, disability-informed practice\, and community-based cultural development.  \nAn award-winning multidisciplinary artist\, Yvonne’s work is rooted in public and community art\, with an intersection of technology and multimodal methods for audience engagement. Her practice is informed by her lived experience as a blind artist with partial sight and intersects with institutional leadership\, policy development\, and program design\, contributing to inclusive and sustainable approaches within contemporary arts and cultural organizations.  \nIn addition to her artistic work\, Yvonne is the founder of multiple programming initiatives across both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors\, focused on advancing equity\, access\, and long-term creative opportunities. As Executive Director of Centre[3]\, she leads the organization’s strategic transformation toward a multidisciplinary\, access-driven arts model\, supporting partnerships\, inclusive programming\, and artist-centred opportunities.  \nInstagram: @ryfstuff2lookat\nIMDB: Yvonne Felix\nWebsite: Yvonne Felix\, Public & Community Artist \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/the-beacon-project/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Beacon-Project-.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T195000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T202000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T044844Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T180509Z
UID:1131-1772221800-1772223600@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Haptic Scores
DESCRIPTION:Haptic Scores – Composing Art and Access Through Vibration\nFollowed by a Q&A session\nExplore vibrotactile art as both an aesthetic and an access practice — one that artists are increasingly using as the ground of new creative languages. This presentation will focus on how haptics expand our understanding of access in the arts by reconfiguring what it means to “be together” and to “be with art” through sound\, shape\, and touch. Who gets to control what is felt? How are intensity\, consent\, and rest designed into the experience? And what becomes possible when people can participate without being in the same room\, at the same time\, or in the same sensory register?   \n  \n  \nSpeaker Bio\nEliza Chandler is an Associate Professor in the School of Disability Studies and the Executive Director of the Office of Social Innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University. She teaches in the areas of disability arts\, critical access studies\, social movements\, and crip technoscience\, and she leads a research program that animates disability arts and its connections to disability rights and justice. Chandler regularly gives lectures on disability arts\, accessible curatorial practices\, and disability politics in Canada\, and she is a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars.\n \n  \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/haptic-scores/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Haptic-Scores-1-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T195000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260205T181052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T182537Z
UID:2308-1772220600-1772221800@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Friday Opening Ceremony
DESCRIPTION:Friday Opening Ceremony\n7:30-7:40 PM – Welcome and land acknowledgement by emcee Ben Akuoko\n7:40-7:50 PM – Ceremony Opening by Indigenous Elder Marsha Ireland\n  \n  \nSpeaker Bios\n \nBen Akuoko is a public speaker\, entertainer\, and multidisciplinary creative whose work lives at the intersection of art\, storytelling\, and social impact. Ben dabbles in acting and composing hip-hop\, R&B and Afrobeat music.  Ben uses creativity as a powerful tool to connect\, challenge\, and inspire diverse audiences. \nHolding a Master of Social Work\, Ben brings a unique blend of professional expertise and artistic expression to his practice\, weaving lived experience\, music\, and narrative into conversations around identity\, disability\, race\, and culture. As the founder of Brightside Scope\, Ben is known for delivering engaging\, thought-provoking discussions that center accessibility\, representation\, and seeing possibility where others see limits. \nWhether on stage\, behind a mic\, or in a community space\, Ben’s work invites people to reflect\, feel\, and ultimately see the bright side of things. \n  \n\n  \nMarsha Ireland is a proud member of the Oneida Nation and Turtle Clan\, a wife\, mother\, grandmother\, and great-grandmother\, who has dedicated her life to advocating for her community. With the guidance of the Creator\, she has developed Oneida Sign Language and travelled across Turtle Island to share it\, support Deaf First Nations\, and provide Land Acknowledgements in her language\, earning recognition as an educator and Elder. \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/friday-opening-ceremony/
LOCATION:Spice Factory\, 121 Hughson St. N\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 1G7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Friday-Opening-Ceremony-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T183000
DTSTAMP:20260727T045002
CREATED:20260116T031647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T180154Z
UID:1101-1772209800-1772217000@haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca
SUMMARY:Art Exhibition Opening Reception – Sensorial Plurality
DESCRIPTION:Sensorial Plurality: positioning access as a generative force\nwith 5:00 PM Opening Remarks by David Bobier\, Curator\n  \nSensorial Plurality brings together works by artists who completed residencies at Centre[3] and VibraFusion Lab (VFL) in 2024. This exhibition reflects a sustained period of experimentation\, learning\, and exchange focused on haptic and multisensory practices as vital modes of artistic inquiry and access.  \nFeatured artists Ebony R. Gooden\, Willy Le Maitre\, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin\, Olivia Brouwer\, Salima Punjani\, and Kim Fullerton engage touch\, vibration\, sound\, light\, movement\, and material responsiveness as central components of their work. Through diverse approaches and lived experiences\, these artists challenge dominant visual-centric models of artmaking and exhibition\, instead foregrounding embodied knowledge\, sensory plurality\, and disability-led innovation.  \nSupported by the technical and conceptual frameworks of VFL\, the works in this exhibition explore how haptic technologies and tactile strategies can expand both artistic expression and audience engagement. They invite viewers to consider how access is not an afterthought\, but a generative force – one that reshapes form\, process\, and relationship. \n  \n  \nArtist Bios\nEbony R. Gooden is a filmmaker\, director\, and changemaker dedicated to reimagining accessibility through bold storytelling and immersive art. As the founder of Deafinitely Digital (to be renamed Silent Soul Studio)\, she creates platforms that amplify BIPOC Deaf voices across film\, theatre\, and digital media. Ebony currently serves as the Marketing Coordinator at Inside Out Theatre\, where she supports inclusive arts initiatives.  \nShe was featured in SHADES Season 2 by Humainologie and has developed short films through the CSIF and Storyhive programs. Her works have received support from the Calgary of the Arts\, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts\, including the production of a new short animation.  \nEbony has directed and produced numerous projects\, including Miscommunication In Our Language\, Expression Unmasked and His Hands\, His Art\, blending artistic vision with accessibility innovation. Her work challenges traditional forms and creates space for underrepresented communities to be seen\, heard\, and celebrated. \nInstagram: @BlackNotIvory\nFacebook: @EbonyRGooden\nTwitter: @EbonyRGooden  \nWebsite: Deafinitely Digital Inc.\nCV: Resume \n  \n\n\nWilly Le Maitre is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist whose work in immersive media engages participants in perceptual experiences conjured through generative imagery\, virtual and extended reality environments\, and experimental sound. For over two decades\, he has been recognized for a pioneering approach — creating artworks that challenge how audiences see\, hear\, and inhabit digital and physical space. Working at the intersection of art and technology\, his practice investigates the fluid boundaries between virtuality and embodiment\, deploying 3D imaging\, spatialized sound\, and sensory interventions to heighten perceptual awareness.  \nHis installations and media works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries\, festivals\, and research-driven art contexts. Le Maitre has collaborated with artists\, designers\, and scientists on projects that explore simulation\, cognition\, and the expanded field of sensory experience. Known for his inventive visual language and technical experimentation\, he continues to influence Canada’s media-arts landscape. At the Haptic Horizons Art Symposium\, he will share his insights into immersive environments\, perception\, and multisensory creative practice. \nWebsite: Willy Le Maitre \n  \n\n\nConnor Yuzwenko-Martin (he/him\, they/them) is a Deaf performance artist\, producer\, and playwright based in Edmonton\, Alberta. His work focuses on creating performance rooted in Deaf culture\, sign languages\, and inclusive practice. \nConnor is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Invisible Practice (TIP)\, a Deaf arts organization dedicated to developing Deaf-centric creativity through any genre and medium that Deaf artists choose to inhabit. His artistic practice challenges traditional performance structures and expands access in the arts toward meaningful inclusion. Recent major work includes two live productions\, After Faust and CARBON MOVEMENTS\, the latter of which is currently embarking on national tour. Other notable work includes a digitally edited and streamed performance piece\, also named The Invisible Practice\, which reflects his commitment to blending theatre\, language\, tactile embodiment\, and innovative accessibility techniques. \nBeyond his creative practice\, Connor is widely recognized for his leadership in accessibility and intersectional justice. His North Star is a vibrant arts ecology that embraces and uplifts Deaf creatives and audiences\, and where Deaf-centric stories emerge to be shared across the land. \n  \nInstagram: @the_invisible_practice & @temporalways \nWebsite: Invisible Practice \n  \n\n\nOlivia Brouwer is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cambridge\, Ontario\, whose work explores blindness\, perception\, and the complexities of visual culture. A graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College’s Art & Art History program\, she works across painting\, printmaking\, sculpture\, sound\, and multisensory installation. \nAs a partially blind artist\, Olivia draws on her lived experience to investigate how knowledge\, vision\, and meaning are constructed\, often inviting audiences to engage with her work through touch\, sound\, and embodied movement. Her practice combines organic and geometric abstraction\, referencing natural organisms\, spiritual symbolism\, and metaphors of sight and non-sight. \nOlivia has exhibited across Southern Ontario\, including at Tangled Art + Disability\, the Art Gallery of Mississauga\, Blackwood Gallery\, and Centre[3]. She has participated in multiple residencies and received support from the Ontario Arts Council\, the Canada Council for the Arts\, and the Waterloo Region Arts Fund. Her work contributes to advancing accessible\, sensory-diverse approaches within contemporary art.  \nInstagram: @olivetreeonthemount\nWebsite: Olivia Brouwer \n  \n\n\nSalima Punjani is a Montréal-based multisensory artist whose work explores connection\, care\, and sensory accessibility through immersive sound\, touch\, and interactive installation. With a background in social work\, her practice blends art and relational ethics\, transforming biological and everyday sensory data — such as heartbeats\, brainwaves\, or domestic soundscapes — into environments that invite rest\, empathy\, and shared experience. \nHer projects\, including Will You Pass the Salt? (PHI Foundation) and The Cost of Entry is a Heartbeat (Spatial Sound Institute\, Budapest)\, consider multiple sensory entry points for people to experience the work. Working across sound\, vibration\, soft sculptures\, multimedia and participatory storytelling\, Salima creates spaces that challenge traditional sensory hierarchies\, contributing to contemporary conversations on accessibility\, intimacy\, and multisensory artistic practice. \nInstagram: @picturesalima \n  \n\n\nKim Fullerton is a Toronto-based visual artist\, arts promoter\, and accessibility advocate whose career spans more than four decades in Canada’s contemporary art sector. Beginning her work as an artist and curator in the early 1980s\, Kim later founded Akimbo Art Promotions in 1998\, a groundbreaking national platform that supported artists\, galleries\, and cultural organizations by amplifying exhibitions\, events\, and emerging talent across the country. Through Akimbo\, she played a pivotal role in shaping how Canadian art is communicated\, promoted\, and experienced. \nSince stepping away from Akimbo in 2021\, Kim has returned to her own multidisciplinary practice\, creating work in drawing\, animation\, video\, and mixed media. Her lived experience as a wheelchair user deeply informs both her art and her advocacy\, positioning her as a prominent voice for accessibility\, disability justice\, and inclusive design within arts institutions. Kim’s leadership continues to influence conversations about equity and meaningful access across Canada’s cultural landscape.  \nInstagram: @kim_m_ful \n 
URL:https://haptichorizonsartsymposium.ca/event/opening-reception-sensorial-plurality/
LOCATION:Centre[3]\, 173 James St N.\, Hamilton\, Ontario\, L8R 2K9\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Art Exhibition,Reception
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