February 20th, 2026
Join us for a day of panels and workshops!
The Graduate Gallery will be open all day, don’t forget to check out our exhibition.
9:30 - 10:00 AM
10:00 - 10:15 AM
10:15 - 11:30 AM
Room 115
Technology/Current Realities
panel
ANNA MATVEENA – Subverting Soviet Realism through parody
JORDAN CROWDER – The Loss of the Body in the Server-City: Disability, Friction, and the Rooftop as Site of Resistance
YASER IBRAHIM – making technology less addictive so we can be human again
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM
Room 120
Collage as (Dis)Pleasure
workshop with Omer Tamir
Collage as (Dis)Pleasure invites people to engage in intuitive creation.
"For a long time, I have used collage as a tool to create with pleasure, with play, with curiosity. In graduate school, there are often assumptions that our art and practice must be serious. I see many of my peers striving for perfection, which can sometimes bring a lot for dis-pleasure into the process. Collage can act as a powerful tool for artists and creators to work without the limitations and expectations imposed on them (whether by others or, more often, themselves)."
No prior experience is needed to participate! Materials will be provided; however, participants are encouraged to bring their own collage supplies, if they would like to.
Instruction and guidance will be provided from 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM, but materials will be left out for the rest of the day. Folks can come and go as they like.
2:00 - 3:15 PM
Room 115
Reimagining/Unlearning
panel
BRIAN MALOTT – teaching/sharing knowledge for systemic change, co-creation, imagineering
MADELINE WILMINK – pesticides, metal, insects vs. humanity & our position in ecology
FOAD TAFAKORI – exhaustion & endurance through analog filmmaking
3:30 - 4:45 PM
205 Richmond St. W.,
1st floor
Room 115
Room 115
Welcome
Register for the day and then enjoy some coffee and snacks
Opening Remarks
Join us for the kick-off to the conference!
Documenting (Dis)Pleasure: Participatory Method through Sensory Memories
workshop with Jingshu Yao
The workshop will start with a participatory activity, where participants are invited to pick from one of the five sensory experiences (smell, touch, vision, sound, and taste). Then they are given time to reflect and write down a personal memory that they associate with the sensory experience.
Jingshu Yao will provide a short presentation on how sensory memory is used at museums and archives to improve inclusivity, accessibility, and document difficult heritage. As a final reflection, participants are encouraged to brainstorm a way to incorporate sensory memory into their own professional practices.
February 21st, 2026
Day two of experimenting through (Dis)Pleasure!
More workshops, speakers, and a closing reception in the Graduate Gallery
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
205 Richmond St. W.,
1st floor
Welcome
Grab a coffee and snacks and settle in for the first workshop
12:00 - 1:30 PM
Room 120
Workshop Three – Finding Your Whimsy in a Critical World
workshop with Kayla Eli
Finding Your Whimsy in a Critical World invites participants to explore the productive tension between fulfillment and frustration through the intimate, tactile practice of zine-making and analogue collage. The session centers how creative processes can generate both discomfort and satisfaction, and how these opposing states fuel insight. Participants will leave with their final product, an artifact of experimentation and a record of process, revealing in its own way how (dis)pleasure shapes creative thought.
No prior experience is needed to participate!
Materials will be provided however, participants are encouraged to bring their own zine-making supplies, if they would like to.
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Room 115
Workshop Four – Growing Roots: Musical Materialisms of Diasporic Filipino Kulintang
workshop with Kat Estacio
Growing Roots: Musical Materialisms of Diasporic Filipino Kulintang is a hands-on kulintang playshop. Here, participants will:
Join kat estacio to learn about their music practice, their band Pantayo, a queer Filipinx band based in Toronto
Learn about Kuliversity, a leaning platform which increases access to Filipino Kulintang music leaning, historical and contemporary kulintang practices, the political and social contexts, and cultural significance of kulintang music
Hands-on play and learning
Due to limited space, you must register in advance for this workshop!
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Graduate Gallery
Exhibition
drop-in
Check out our exhibition in the Graduate Gallery! The curatorial team will be onsite to answer any questions and chat about the work.
3:00 - 4:15 PM
Room 115
Aesthetics/Expanding Worldviews
panel
JENNIE LAU
ELLA BIGRAS
4:30 - 6:30 PM
Graduate Gallery
Closing Reception
Join us to celebrate the 2026 OCADU Graduate Conference!