Topique creates space for forward-thinking artist-driven dialogue at Pique #21
Topique returns as Pique’s knowledge forum, enriching the free Pique #21 festival with a focused program of artist talks, discussions, workshops, and post-performance exchanges. Taking place at the Arts Court, the gathering brings together artists, cultural workers, and audiences to explore the ideas and practices animating this edition’s multidisciplinary program.
Rooted in artist-led knowledge sharing and critical exchange, this year’s program considers how creative practices can build relationships, preserve cultural memory, and resist the limitations of conventional industry and media systems. Sessions span world building and relational art, multidisciplinary career paths, DIY distribution and direct-to-fan engagement, independent archives, Indigenous composition, and hands-on analogue filmmaking.
Admission to all Topique sessions is pay-what-you-can online or at the door. Each session is subject to the capacity of the venue it is held in, and a pass does not guarantee admission or a seat in all sessions. Please plan to arrive early to ensure admission.
REGISTER
World Building as Relational Practice
Join interdisciplinary media artist, DJ, curator, and cultural producer Nancy Lee at Artengine on September 23 for an intimate artist talk exploring the ideas, contexts, and practices behind the works presented during Pique. Nancy will share more about OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity, situating the performance within the ideas, influences, and processes that shape it. This conversation provides an opportunity to encounter the work through Nancy’s own reflections before experiencing the performance at Pique later that week.
The talk will also expand into Nancy’s curatorial practice, including their work with CURRENT and Chapel Sound, and their ongoing commitment to creating space for queer and underrepresented artists. Through a combination of presentation, artist talk, interview, and Q&A, Nancy will connect with audiences in an intimate and intentional way, opening up conversations around performance, curation, community, and the possibilities of cross-genre artistic practice.
Speakers: Nancy Lee
Co-presented by: Artengine, Digital Arts Resource Centre, Goldblatt Partners
When: September 23 | 17:30-19:30
Where: Artengine
In Conversation:
Sook-Yin Lee
The conversation will also explore which aspects of their practice have come to the forefront at different moments in life, what they're leaning into today, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Offering both personal reflection and practical insight, this session will be especially valuable for emerging artists charting their own multidisciplinarypaths
Speakers: Sook-Yin Lee, Kwende Kefentse
When: September 26 | 16:15-16:56
Where: LabO Classroom
DIY Distribution +
Direct-2-Fan
Engagement
In this workshop, Brandon Stosuy, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Creative Independent and former Director of Editorial Operations at Pitchfork, will explore DIY distribution strategies and frameworks that artists can use to take control over how their work circulates. Drawing from his experience in the field, Brandon will share practical approaches, tools, and recommendations for artists looking to develop more direct pathways to their audiences beyond the platforms and systems that often mediate those relationships.
Speaker: Brandon Stosuy
When: September 26 | 17:00-18:00
Where: LabO Classroom
Archive, Memory, and Ownership
As streaming platforms and algorithmic recommendation systems increasingly shape how we discover, consume, and remember music, what happens to our collective cultural memory? In an era of diminishing physical media, uncertain digital permanence, and subscription-based access, this conversation explores questions of ownership, preservation, and memory. What role do music curators, presenters, festival organizers, DJs, and selectors play as cultural workers and stewards of sonic histories? How can they actively preserve musical knowledge and community memory when so much of our listening is mediated by corporate platforms?
This session will examine the accessibility and limitations of streaming services, questioning where algorithmic convenience expands access and where it encourages passiveness. Together, we'll consider practical approaches to building personal and community archives, preserving embodied cultural experiences, and maintaining ownership over our artistic and musical histories. From collecting physical media to digitizing local archives, the discussion will explore why preserving independent cultural records matters, and how we can cultivate more intentional relationships with the music we encounter rather than allowing platform algorithms to determine the boundaries of our taste and memory.
Speakers: Carmel Farahbakhsh, DJ Haram, Melody McKiver
Moderated by: Melissa Vincent
When: September 26 | 18:15-19:15
Where: LabO Classroom
Post-Show Talkback:
askiy collective
Following their performance of contemporary Indigenous works, Virginia Jessica Sparvier-Wells, Beverley McKiver, and Kathryn Patricia Cobbler will come together with audiences for a conversation about the music, their creative processes, and the practices that shape their work.
This intimate post-performance discussion offers an opportunity to learn more about the works presented, hear directly from the artists about their approaches to performing and composing Indigenous music, and ask questions about the evening’s repertoire and performance.
Speakers: askiy collective
When: September 26 | 21:00-21:30
Where: LabO Theater
16mm Direct Animation Drop-In
Scratch it. Paint it. Disrupt it.
What happens when we stop consuming images and start making them?
What happens when we stop consuming images and start making them?
In this hands-on drop-in workshop, work directly onto 16mm film using scratches, paint, marks, and other interventions to create moving images without a camera. No experience necessary. just celluloid, light, and a willingness to experiment.
If you choose, leave your film strip behind to become part of a collective 16mm work bearing witness to Pique #21; a shared act of cinematic resistance, one frame at a time.
Speakers: Nicole Blundell
When: September 26 | 19:00-22:00
Where: Atelier
Registration: pay-what-you-can
Admission to Topique is pay-what-you-can online or at the door. Sessions are open to all ages and skill-levels.