Toronto Media Arts Centre

A place to create and experience video, film, games and digital culture in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood.

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Exhibitions & Festivals

Annette Mangaard

Water Fall: A Cinematic Installation

May 9–June 15

10am-5pm Mon-Sat. Closed May 20.

Free

Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield

Artificial Nature

May 17–26

10am-6pm daily

Free

TMAC

Doors Open Toronto

May 25–26

10am-5pm

free

Dames Making Games

Killing Cyberpunk

May 23–31

12pm-5pm daily

Free

Tess Payne

My Still Life: A Tableau

May 21–26

10am-6pm daily

Free

Patrick Cummins & Ivaan Kotulsky

ON-FOOT: West Queen West

May 20–30

10am-6pm weekdays

Free

Regent Park FIlm Festival

Home Made Visible

July 5–18

10am-6pm

free

View all exhibitions

Events & Workshops

Dames Making Games

Intro to Clip Studio & Krita

2019-06-11T18:30:00.000-04:00 2019-06-11T21:30:00.000-04:00 Thinking of making the switch from Photoshop to the more wallet-friendly illustration tool Clip Studio? Curious about alternative paint application Krita? This is the workshop for you! We’ll be focusing on getting your own computer set up, so bring it and a USB drive if you have one so we can easily share some files/presets with you. If you can, install the software ah Who this workshop is for: Illustrators, comic artists, game artists, and digital painters experienced with Photoshop who want to switch to fully-featured inexpensive or free and open source tools. Instructor: Gillian Blekkenhorst https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1558373414-187783957051323482c4do.jpg CONFIRMED
June 11, 6:30 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Dames Making Games

Love's Secret Domain

2019-06-13T19:00:00.000-04:00 2019-06-13T22:00:00.000-04:00 Love’s Secret Domain is an experimental live-action game with dance elements themed around the music of Coil. It follows the lives of a group of queer noise musicians and hangers-on as they contemplate love, death, and the crushing socioeconomic pressures of heteronormativity while approaching middle age. Players must be: * willing to touch other players’ hands * willing to dance Players need not be: * good at dancing * experienced in role-playing * knowledgeable about the oeuvre of Coil or any other musicians * the kind of people who use oeuvre in a sentence This is an alpha test of the game and seats are limited. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1558369370-coil.gif CONFIRMED
June 13, 7:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Dames Making Games + ACTRA Toronto

Hiring Professional Voice Performers for Your Game

2019-06-20T18:30:00.000-04:00 2019-06-20T20:00:00.000-04:00 **Interested in how you, as an indie creator, can engage professional voice performers?** ACTRA is the union representing performers in recorded media in Canada with 15,000 members in the GTA. In this info session, you will learn how to find and contract the perfect voice for your game! ### About Taisa Dekker In her role in industry relations for ACTRA Toronto, Taisa Dekker promotes engaging union performers to producers of various types of content - including video games. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1558021986-voice-actor.gif CONFIRMED
June 20, 6:30 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Pop Sandbox

ON-FOOT: West Queen West Tour Launch

2019-05-23T18:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-23T20:30:00.000-04:00 Join us to celebrate the launch of ON-FOOT, an immersive walking tour app with interactive media, AR, VR, and striking audio-visual. ### About this Event Pop Sandbox is pleased to announce the launch of ON-FOOT, a mobile app that offers immersive walking tours with rich interactive media, augmented and virtual reality, and striking audio-visual. To celebrate, please join us for a reception featuring the exhibition ON-FOOT: West Queen West, part of the CONTACT Photography Festival and Doors Open Toronto. Complimentary bites and bevvies provided. A free trial version of the West Queen West Tour will be available for download at this event. Please bring a charged phone (available on iOS and Android) and ear phones if interested. RSVP early. Space is limited. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557953015-mockupwestqueenwest1.jpg CONFIRMED
May 23, 6:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Dames Making Games + Digital Justice Lab

Tech Zines 101 Workshop

2019-05-23T17:30:00.000-04:00 2019-05-23T20:30:00.000-04:00 This workshop will guide in you in creating a zine, specifically focusing on tech related zines. From our experiences online, to the infrastructure around us this workshop will explore the ways we can use our creative energy to build stories, how-to’s, fun guides or just a stream of thoughts on paper. This is a beginner friendly workshop. If you have experiences creating zines come along as well, this can be your work time! Wait what is a zine? According to Wikipedia A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier. Food will be provided + another round of food for folks who are celebrating Ramadan. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557944300-img4387.gif CONFIRMED
May 23, 5:30 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Charles Street Video + Tess Payne

My Still Life Opening Reception

2019-05-21T19:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-21T22:00:00.000-04:00 Please join us to celebrate a new work by talented video artist Tess Payne, _My Still Life: A Tableau_, a reflection on aging, infrastructure and erasure. It's a visual, poetic (and even funny) look at 30 years of living and renting in Toronto's inner city. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557771318-tessconstruction.jpg CONFIRMED
May 21, 7:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Mayworks

All or None

2019-05-24T15:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-25T03:00:00.000-04:00 The act of sitting, pausing is a central fixture in the navigation of the fatigued body in spaces of capitalism; the body that must wait for energy to return before moving again, amidst an affluent and sterile re-sculpting of downtown public space that echos violent community displacement, where one must pay to sit, pay to transit, pay to pee, pay to pause. Named for Henry Bowditch’s cardiological phenomenon, all-or-none is a triptych of found & furnished space, reflecting that a heart beat is a set of three: beat-beat, pause, chair, chair, chess table. Every placed object has the potential to be re/moved; a reflection on the timed disappearance expected of bodies themselves. Come make up space with us. Often found marrying poetry with large-scale sculptural forms, Parkdale resident jes sasche addresses the negotiations of bodies moving in public/private space and the work of their care. Their large-scale video loop will play alongside all-or-none, a site specific installation of furniture found in Parkdale parking lots. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557758753-20190331-mayworks-webbanners-immaterial4-3.jpg CONFIRMED
May 24–25
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Voices of Today

National Youth Slam Festival

2019-08-20T11:00:00.000-04:00 2019-08-24T23:00:00.000-04:00 A multidisciplinary festival, with arts workshops and events that people can pop in and out of throughout the day, including things outside of the field of spoken word and poetry. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557543721-logo.png CONFIRMED
August 20–24
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Gamma Space Collaborative Studio + Our Networks

RE: Infrastructures

2019-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00 2019-09-22T18:00:00.000-04:00 Our Networks 2019 explores the collective care and maintenance of alternative networking practices—new protocols, peer-to-peer connections, offline-first computing, or community-based governance and ownership. Building on last year, where we asked how to move beyond solitary practices of do it yourself (DIY), in 2019 we explore what critical and creative practices offer RE: Infrastructures of alternatives. How can these emerging Infrastructures of Reproduction provide spaces to imagine radically different futures, resist easy co-option by the forces of late-stage capitalism, and work in solidarity as plural networks seeking emancipatory change? To answer this we draw on insights from organizers, technologists, artists, and scholars to ensure the focus is not only on the technical aspects of infrastructure, but also the social and cultural. Their diverse perspectives suggest ways we can make space for livelihoods, solidarity, and survival; draw on history and place to bring our fullest imaginations to this moment; and open ways to think these questions together as we build transitional forms. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1531104908-2018-07-0822-54-43.png CONFIRMED
September 20–22
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Alysia Myette

Fluid

2019-06-10T18:30:00.000-04:00 2019-06-10T21:30:00.000-04:00 *Fluid* is a documentary that explores how self-identifying queer artists self-fashion and engage in cultural production as a two-fold approach to queer worldmaking. Fluid captures the views of 6 local and practicing queer artists in Toronto. The documentary illuminates what factors affect the clothing choices of queer individuals and their impact on identity. Fluid is the product of a larger research project by Alysia Myette in partial fulfillment of her graduate degree in fashion studies at Ryerson University. This event, hosted by Anasimone George of SHADE, will feature a mocktail bar, holistic wellness snacks from The Wholesome Conscious and music by KENTRON. The screening will be followed by a short Q&A panel, moderated by Anisimone George, with the director Alysia Myette and documentary cast members Cameron, Babia and Gordon. Doors: 6:30 PM Screening Time: 7:30 PM In lieu of tickets sales, this documentary screening is a pay-what-you-can event with all proceeds donated to SOY (Support Our Youth) Toronto. This event is for all ages. The Toronto Media Arts Centre is an accessible space and has a wheelchair accessible entrance and elevator leading to the event space. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557542238-57442667101572853539413927737709472977518592o.jpg CONFIRMED
June 10, 6:30 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Pleasure Dome

Pleasure Dome AGM

2019-05-30T19:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-30T21:00:00.000-04:00 Members of PLEASURE DOME are invited to the 2019 AGM. > Your presence at the AGM is crucial to the democratic process of our non-profit artist-run organization; stand for election, or simply cast your vote! We are continually looking for ways to enhance the audience experience and welcome new ideas or suggestions for future programming and member interactions. For those in attendance, light refreshments will be served. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1557419436-chairs-class-classroom-1708912.gif CONFIRMED
May 30, 7:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Pin + Patch Show

Pin + Patch Show

2019-07-27T12:00:00.000-04:00 2019-07-27T18:00:00.000-04:00 The Pin + Patch Show is back for another show featuring dozens of pin and patch vendors from Toronto, across Canada, and around the world! As always, general admission is free! https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1553310868-3794421923277418639096777160481764069081088o.jpg CONFIRMED
July 27, 12:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Dames Making Games

Grant-Writing Info Session for Media Artists

2019-06-19T18:30:00.000-04:00 2019-06-19T20:30:00.000-04:00 **DMG is excited to welcome Peter Kingstone, Visual & Media Arts Program Manager at the Toronto Arts Council, back for a workshop and discussion about applying for project grants as a media artist (hey, that’s you!).** Peter will lead a discussion about the TAC grants that are available for artists, what you need to prepare to apply, and answer all of your questions about how to give your game the best shot with the jury – including hot tips on documentation and telling your story. About Peter Peter Kingstone is a Toronto-based visual artist and curator, working primarily in video and photography. As an independent artist, Peter’s installation pieces have been shown across Canada and internationally, and he was awarded the Untitled Artist Award in 2005 for his installation The Strange Case of peter K. (1974-2004). Peter holds a degree in Philosophy/Cultural Studies from Trent University in Peterborough and a Masters of Fine Art focusing on video and new media from York University in Toronto. Peter has presented at many conferences on the ideas around storytelling and social engagement. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1556912933-9147952204274732052do.jpg CONFIRMED
June 19, 6:30 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Dames Making Games

Writing Dialogue For Games

2019-05-29T18:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-29T21:30:00.000-04:00 **Interested in the function of dialogue in games? Want to craft more effective dialogue in your interactive projects? Curious about what it takes to prepare to engage voice actors?** In this workshop, you will learn the fundamentals of writing dialogue specifically for games. We will focus on different types of dialogue (ambient, interactive i.e. branching), the function of each, and examples of how to successfully craft purposeful and effective dialogue for your games. We will also delve into thinking about writing for voice actors (or not!), and how to craft usable documents for your team members (or for your own records). You do not need to be a writer to attend! This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in how dialogue functions in a game and how to get the most out of including dialogue in your game. Instructor: Kaitlin Tremblay Kaitlin is a narrative designer at Ubisoft Toronto, and was the lead writer on the narrative-driven game A Mortician’s Tale (Laundry Bear). They are the author of the book analyzing storytelling in the Borderlands franchise Ain’t No Place For A Hero: Borderlands (ECW Press, 2017). They’ve worked on many different games, including indie, mobile, VR, escape games, massively multiplayer ARGs, experimental, and AAA. Kaitlin is a co-director of DMG. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1556731737-maxresdefault.jpg CONFIRMED
May 29, 6:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Aura Freedom International

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

2019-05-29T19:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-29T22:00:00.000-04:00 An event to raise awareness of gender-based violence and human trafficking in Toronto through art, music, culture and food. What to expect: * Art & Music * Food & Wine * Social Justice and Gender Equality * Inspiring Torontonians making a difference "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" is a free experiential learning event to raise awareness of the root causes of sexual exploitation and human trafficking and honour survivors and their family members. The event will explore how marginalized communities in Toronto (women and girls; Indigenous, Black and LGBTQ2S youth; Newcomers, etc.) are more vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation and how communities can empower each other to break the cycle. Guests will also learn how Aura Freedom's Peer Prevention Project is addressing these issues. The interactive event will use art and music to communicate powerful messages to attendees and will be run by our youth team who have various lived experience. Survivors of sexual exploitation/human trafficking will be honoured at the event by their peers, raising awareness of just how prevalent exploitation is and creating community solidarity. Attendees will also learn what services are available to them in Toronto through our community partners and where/how they can safely seek help for situations of sexual violence/exploitation. *Supported by the Department of Justice Canada* https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1540408014-prism.png CONFIRMED
May 29, 7:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Gamma Space Collaborative Studio

Bit Bazaar × Toronto Tech Zine Fair

2019-06-22T12:00:00.000-04:00 2019-06-22T19:00:00.000-04:00 Toronto’s 🎮 video game flea market + 📚 zine fair + 🌮 snack fest is back for its 10th edition! Bit Bazaar is a free one-day fair showcasing Toronto’s indie game designers, comic artists, zine-makers and DIY creators – with tasty snacks & sips by members of our community. Meet the makers, hand them money, swap a zine – or just make some cool new friends! Toronto Tech Zines (TTZ) is a unique gathering space for everyone from artists to coders and illustrators to activists— anyone who wants to think about technology on paper. TTZ is a place for zines about internet infrastructure, love, surveillance, gentrification, dance, futurism, accessibility, games, race, food, geometry, indigineity, instagram, earth, and more. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1553183813-446430423618893dca615k.jpg CONFIRMED
June 22, 12:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Charles Street Video + Contact Photography Festival and John B. Aird Gallery

Netami Stuart in Conversation with Annette Mangaard

2019-05-23T18:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-23T20:00:00.000-04:00 A panel discussion concerning water, floodplains, wetlands, and the future of our city. With Netami Stuart (senior project manager, Waterfront Toronto), Annette Mangaard (artist/filmmaker), and other participants to be announced. Image: Annette Mangaard, *TICKLE COVE NEWFOUNDLAND #2*, 2019. Video still. Courtesy of the artist. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1555959533-04-annette-mangaardtickle-cove-newfoundland-2copy-1280x720.jpg CONFIRMED
May 23, 6:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Charles Street Video + Contact Photography Festival and John B. Aird Gallery

Artist Talk: Annette Mangaard

2019-05-30T18:00:00.000-04:00 2019-05-30T20:00:00.000-04:00 With an introduction by exhibition curator Carla Garnet. Holding a masters in interdisciplinary media, art and design, Annette Mangaard’s current research focuses on the interconnectedness between our health and our stewardship of the world’s natural resources with an emphasis on water. Carla Garnet is the director and curator of the John B. Aird Gallery and the JOUEZ curator for the annual BIG on Bloor Festival of Arts and Culture in Toronto. She has worked as the curator at the Art Gallery of Peterborough (2010-2013), as a guest curator at Gallery Stratford (2009-2010), as an independent curator (1997-2010), and was the founder and director of Garnet Press Gallery (1984-97). Garnet holds an associate diploma from the Ontario College of Art and Design and a masters degree in art history from York University. Image: Annette Mangaard, *MENINDEE LAKES AUSTRALIA #1*, 2019. Courtesy of the artist https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1555959303-01-annette-mangaardmenindee-lakes-australia-1copy-1280x960.jpg CONFIRMED
May 30, 6:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World

VRTO 2019

2019-06-01T10:00:00.000-04:00 2019-06-03T19:00:00.000-04:00 This year VRTO will feel like a mastermind symposium for the leaders and new stars to this powerful new medium. A recalibration after the 5 year wave unlike any other VR or AR conference. Does this mean we will launch banana splits out of a cannon? Probably not. But hey, you never know... VRTO - Virtual and Augmented Reality World Conference is a unique forum for philosophers, ontologists, creators, technologists, distributors and investors to come together under one roof and work towards developing a framework and process to contend with the insane pace of today’s technology. From media moguls to psychedelic researchers, from Stanford academics to Brooklyn social activists, VRTO introduces the media veterans to the fresh new minds and creates an environment where new pathways can be forged. These are the conversations you won't find anywhere else! Here's just a very early sneak peek at #VRTO2019 speakers (subject to change and some big announcements to follow): - Tipatat Chennavasin (The VR Fund) - Amelia Winger Bearskin (Studio Amelia) - Richard LeMarchand (USC Games, Naughty Dog Studios) - J Lee Williams (Occupied VR) - Laura Mingail (eOne Entertainment/Secret Location) - Lee Vermeulen (Alientrap Games) - Brave Williams (Husson University, New England) - Kent Bye (host of the Voices of VR Podcast) - Ian Kelso (Impossible Things - award-winning artistic AR developers) For more information about the show check out the website. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1553734300-2019-03-2720-51-24.png CONFIRMED
June 1–3
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
Charles Street Video + Regent Park Film Festival

Home Made Visible Opening Reception

2019-07-05T19:00:00.000-04:00 2019-07-05T22:00:00.000-04:00 https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1552569940-2019-03-1409-24-42.png CONFIRMED
July 5, 7:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON
BoardAgain Games

Queers & More Queers Game Night

2019-07-08T18:00:00.000-04:00 2019-07-08T21:00:00.000-04:00 A bi-monthly game night that welcomes trans, non-binary, femmes, women and any queer-identified folk. https://www.datocms-assets.com/5128/1552340487-5319236422273006641767504856804350380474368o.jpg CONFIRMED
July 8, 6:00 PM
Toronto Media Arts Centre
32 Lisgar Street
Toronto
ON

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