Topique returns with 5 illuminating sessions focused on ballroom culture and technique, DIY electronic arts, and artistic solidarity and resistance.

SUBR صبر is a duo (Lougien Dawoudiah and Nicholas LePage) that creates abstracted soundscapes rooted in Palestinian traditional sounds and field recordings. The soundscapes are built by layering multiple speakers that correspond to reconfigured music controllers.

Victoria Shen is a sound artist based in San Francisco. Shen's sound practice is concerned with the spatiality/physicality of sound and its relationship to the human body. Her personal identity; her body; is the space her work utilizes to restructure sonic meaning…She pioneered the use of Needle Nails, acrylic nails with embedded turntable styluses, which allow her to play up to 5 tracks of a record simultaneously. These sculptural elements invite the viewer to unpack one’s relationship with material possibilities for creating sound.

The change of season once again brings an exciting music and arts convergence at Pique’s fall edition, happening on September 28, 2024 at the Arts Court. The 14th edition of Ottawa’s signature underground art party, Pique brings together groundbreaking music, visual, and interdisciplinary artists for a building-wide festival at the Arts Court in downtown Ottawa.

Since its launch, tickets to Pique have remained pay-what-you-can (PWYC). Paying above the minimum price – when you can, if you can – maintains equity and sustainability at Pique.

Local independent arts leaders Debaser, The Framework, Produced By Youth, and The Moving Art Gallery have joined forces to present WARP: a microgrant and mentorship program. The first-ever WARP cohort will take place both online and in-person from October 19 to November 23, 2024. 

The musical programming for The Seeds We Carry is a cross-continental and pan-diasporan exploration of Black music and movement-making as manifestations of Black resistance, Black survival, and ultimately Black aliveness. Showcasing forms of Black creativity birthed in the Caribbean and North America and whose roots can be traced to the African continent, this musical programming seeks to celebrate the temporal and spatial linkages that exist between Afro-descendant communities and that have traced the evolution and expansion of the Black diaspora around the world over the past four centuries.

We are pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Dominion City Brewing Company to enhance sustainability efforts at Pique. The collaboration introduces a reusable eco-cup initiative, featuring a unique design by Ottawa artist Najeeba Ahmed, the graphic designer responsible for Pique’s striking visual identity. Design to be revealed!

In preparation for their upcoming exhibition ᐱᓯᑳᐧᑎᐢᑫᐧᐤ: Her Mouth is Medicine at Pique, emerging Indigenous curator Harley Wegner sat down with rope practitioner Cherry Nuit, to discuss BDSM practices and decolonization in the context of Indigenous art spaces.

Explore movement and sound-making at three FREE workshops taking place at Pique summer edition!

Announcing Art Market vendors at Pique summer edition! Coming to the Daly Ave block between Nicholas and Waller, just outside the Arts Court on June 8, come peruse the wares of more than 25 local makers and vendors.

Drone Day is coming. Are you ready? Sound-makers of all kinds are invited to participate in two open activities. No pre-registration required, and admission is pay-what-you-can!

Following a national call for submissions, Harley Wegner (Red River Métis) and Eva Grant (Interior Salish) have been selected to curate exhibitions for the Pique summer and fall editions on June 8 and September 28, 2024, respectively. The curators will also present a critical discourse related their curatorial projects, which will be published by the ICCA later this year.

The summer edition of Pique, the seasonal festival series that takes over the downtown Arts Court building complex, is always the largest and most dynamic of the year, and the 2024 summer edition is no exception. Held indoors and outdoors, Pique takes over three floors, nine stages and exhibition spaces, and half of Daly Avenue. The festival showcases innovative and underground music and art for all ages, and admission is pay-what-you-can. 

Calling all artists, crafters, chefs, bakers and makers! Submissions for Piques annual outdoor art market are open! Happening June 8 on Daly Ave outside the Arts Court.

Debaser is seeking new board members who share our passion for boundary-pushing creative music and art, and our commitment to fostering safer and more inclusive cultural spaces. We are looking for individuals who are passionate about music and art presentation, enthusiastic (to learn) about governance and policy, dedicated to diversity and inclusion, and interested in supporting the growth of a developing arts organization.

We invite artists and sound-makers of all kinds to join us in celebrating this international day of drone!  Deadline to apply is April 7, 2024.

In Elusive Illusion: A Study of the African Nude, Zineb Allaoui and LuCille Giwa-Amu contend with both racial and gendered values and morals placed upon them as African artists in Canada. Exhibition curator Sandra Ngenge Dusabe presents a critical essay focused on these themes and the artists’ work.