Featuring artists performing at the free Pique #21 festival, Topique features discussions, workshops and artist talks that explore music industry futures and relational arts practices
On September 26, 2026, 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.
Featuring artists and thinkers from across Pique #21’s program, these six sessions move between conversation, reflection, and practical experimentation. Together, they invite participants to consider how art is made, circulated, remembered, and sustained—and how artists can cultivate more direct, intentional, and community-rooted relationships with their work and one another.
PROGRAM
World Building as Relational Practice — Interdisciplinary media artist, DJ, curator, and cultural producer Nancy Lee expands on her world building practice as seen in OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity and Union presentations at Pique #21.
In Conversation: Sook-Yin Lee — Interviewed by DJ and media artist Kwende Kefentse, Sook-Yin Lee reflects on building a multidisciplinary creative practice and wearing different hats throughout their career.
DIY Distribution + Direct-2-Fan Engagement — This workshop led by Brandon Stosuy examines how artists and organizers can build more direct, intentional, and sustainable relationships with the people who support their work.
Archive, Memory, and Ownership — Artists and curators examine how platform-based access to media erodes cultural memory, and why preserving independent archives matters.
Post-Show Talkback: askiy collective — Join askiy collective for an intimate Q&A following the world premiere presentation of I̱hollo Taloowa' (Love Songs) by renowned Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha' Tate.
16mm Direct Animation Drop-In –– Work directly on 16mm film and push back against the pressure to consume, scroll, and decode images instantly. No camera. No experience. Just celluloid, marks, and light.
SPEAKERS
askiy collective — Indigenous ensemble dedicated to performing, composing, and commissioning music by Indigenous composers
Brandon Stosuy — co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Creative Independent and author of several books on creativity
DJ Haram — Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist, producer, DJ, poet, and member of experimental duo 700 Bliss
Melissa Vincent — music journalist, researcher, and doctoral candidate in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics
Melody McKiver — Anishinaabe violist, percussionist, composer, and Assistant Professor of Indigenous Music at the University of Manitoba
Carmel Farahbakhsh — Kjipuktuk-based community educator, multidisciplinary artist, youth worker, and co-director of EVERYSEEKER
Nancy Lee 李南屏 — Taiwanese-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist, DJ, curator, and cultural producer working across immersive and expanded media
Sook-Yin Lee — award-winning filmmaker, musician, broadcaster, actor, composer, and multidisciplinary artist
Kwende Kefentse — Ottawa-based cultural innovator, researcher, DJ, and urbanist exploring the relationship between music, culture, and place
Nicole Blundell — Franco-Ontarian experimental filmmaker working with hand-processed 16mm film and direct animation
PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN ADMISSION
Admission to Topique is pay-what-you-can online or at the door. Sessions are open to all ages and skill-levels, with accessibility information available on the Pique website.
EVENT DETAILS
What: Topique symposium
When: September 26, 2026
Where: As part of Pique #21 at Arts Court (67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, ON)
Program and registration: thisispique.com/topique
MEDIA KIT
View the Topique media kit for participating speakers’ press images, Topique digital assets, photos from past editions, and more.
ABOUT TOPIQUE
Launched as part of Pique in 2022, Topique is a forum for the exchange of knowledge, skills and forward-thinking ideas at Pique. With a focus on accessibility and community, Topique nurtures collaborative futures in the arts sector.
ABOUT PIQUE
Launched in 2021, Pique is a forward-thinking, artist-driven event series featuring eclectic musical, visual, and multimedia artists, produced by Debaser, taking over the Arts Court building in downtown Ottawa for a pay-what-you-can and all-ages celebration of music, art, and more.
ABOUT DEBASER
Since establishing in 2013, Debaser has become one of Ottawa’s leading independent and underground music presenters, best known for its experimental music curation and inclusive events. Debaser is a non-profit organization that exists to support underrepresented, equity-deserving, and outsider art and artists; catalyze artist-driven and collaborative projects; and create inclusive and responsive community spaces that cultivate shared understanding, joy, and social impact.
PARTNERS AND FUNDERS
Topique is made possible with support from Ontario Creates and FACTOR.
Pique is presented in partnership with Arts Court and its resident organizations –– SAW, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa Dance Directive, Ottawa Fringe, Digital Arts Resource Centre, Artengine, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canadian Film Institute, Produced by Youth–– as well as Downtown Rideau, Dominion City Brewing Company, Goldblatt Partners, Voix Visuelle, The Embassy of Finland, Exclaim!, FEST, and is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, Ontario Arts Council, City of Ottawa Nightlife Office, Ontario Creates, FACTOR, and the City of Ottawa.
PRESS CONTACT
Rachel Weldon
Director, Debaser
+1-819-593-7081
hello@debaser.ca