Inspired by Toronto’s renowned, historic Bohemian Embassy, meet a new generation of artists inspiring Canada’s ever-evolving literary scene at The New Embassy: a digital mini-series of spoken word, poetry, prose, theatrical readings, music and dance.

Award-winning author, performer and queer healer Kai Cheng Thom brings ritual-performance, spoken word and movement together for a transformative mosaic of introspective art. Dancer and choreographer Sze-Yang Ade-Lam will join soul-folk singer-songwriter Janice Jo Lee for a special performance, followed by a poem reading and dance by Ade-Lam. Multimedia artist Kim Ninkuru will present a spoken word piece exploring rage, love, desire, beauty and pain in relation to her own body, mind and soul. Award-winning Mauritian-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist Kama La Mackerel will give a ritual-performance adaptation of their poem “My Body Is the Ocean”, exploring the relationship between the “island-body” and the ancestral memory of the ocean.

This event will take place virtually. This event will be available to watch from Thursday, July 7 to Wednesday, July 13 as part of a special release to celebrate Canadian artists.

This event was produced in adherence to regional public health guidelines to create a safe workplace for artists and collaborators. The site safety protocol included—but was not limited to—vaccination screenings, frequent sanitization of the workspace, and physical distancing with the exception of artists working in a recognized bubble to allow for close proximity.

Curated by Kai Cheng Thom
Produced by Toronto International Festival of Authors
The New Embassy event series is funded in part by the Canada Council for the Arts through the Digital NOW program.