Newsletter for November 2025 (Vol.20; Iss. 11)
Produced by New Adventures in Sound Art
www.naisa.ca

1) SOUNDplay Festival September 20, 2025 – January 6, 2026
2) SOUNDplay Festival Exhibition
3) You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death
4) NAISA 2025 Award Winners
5) Deep Wireless Festival January 8 – March 30, 2026
6) Online Recent Highlights

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1) SOUNDplay Festival

September 20, 2025 – January 5, 2026
All events at the NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, unless otherwise stated
Full information can be found at soundplay.ca

New Adventures in Sound Art’s (NAISA) is proud to present the 24th edition of its SOUNDplay Festival, NAISA’s annual fall festival that encourages new avenues of exploration between sound and new media. Special highlights for this year included a performance by Rani Jambak from Indonesia, the Ice Voices installation by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant and the streaming of You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death, PART 6 – Earth (2025).

“This year’s edition of SOUNDplay expands on the theme There is Art in Our Nature by responding to the impact of climate change on water. The artists in SOUNDplay creatively probe and respond to this issue in very different ways by drawing attention to hidden layers of their local reality, allowing audiences to experience it through visual and sonic expression.” – Darren Copeland, Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art

Ice Voices by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant

2) SOUNDplay Festival Exhibitions

Ice Voices by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant
September 26, 2025 – January 5, 2026
Open Thursday to Monday, 10am – 4pm
Admission by Donation

Ice Voices is an interactive sound-photo installation by climate artivist Joan Sullivan and composer Robin Servant that invites visitors to listen to what the disappearing ice is trying to tell us and to use their sense of touch and vision to explore further. Underwater recordings of ice “voices” play in the artwork which can be both fascinating and destabilizing. They pull listeners into their evocative vortex, coaxing them to listen more intently to the non-human world.

Voice of the Water by Eric Powell
*New* Permanent Installation ongoing
Pay By Donation

Voice of the Water is an interactive rotary telephone-based listening station. Using sounds collected from inside the lakes and rivers around South River, Voice of the Water encourages listeners to connect with the local waterways as they explore the boundaries and overlaps between planes of existence. The Artist’s goal is to create a venue for contemplation, catharsis, and a deeper engagement with the surrounding environment. Visit here for more information including media stories and explore the project sound map.

3) You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death PART 6 – Earth, 2025

December 12, 2025, noon – 12 midnight
In-person at USask Galleries, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Online Livestream on NAISA Radio and other streaming partners
Visit the project website for full details.

“EARTH (Okâwîmâw Askiy – ᐅᑳᐧᒫᐊᐧᐢᑭᕀ)” is a 12-hour event that is the sixth in a series of twelve annual events taking place on December 12 from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Each year the event moves through each word of the 12-word phrase, You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death, to activate the word of the year in myriad ways. This year’s edition is curated by jake moore and Christof Migone. Featured artists include Christina Battle, Joshua Bonnetta, Tanya Doody, Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri (Jackson 2bears), Michaela Grill / Karl Lemieux, Jessica Karuhanga, Masha Kouznetsova, Cassie Packham, Danielle Petti, Laura St Pierre, Aurora Wolfe, Worried Earth, and many more.

4) NAISA 2025 Award Winners

The James Bailey Award

Jane Tingley was awarded the James Bailey Award for her piece Foresta Inclusive – (ex)tending towards. Information about her work can be found on the awards page. The award exemplifies an inventive and adventurous spirit and pushes the boundaries of Transmission Art. This award was established by NAISA in 2022 with a gift by Kevin Austin and is named in honour of James Bailey who is an improviser and electroacoustic musician pushing the boundaries of radio and transmission art.

The Andra McCartney Mentorship Award

Stéphanie Dupuis was awarded the Andra McCartney award, a mentorship residency for a female-identifying Northern Ontario artist who submitted a work or proposal to NAISA. Stéphanie Dupuis is an emerging Franco-Ontarian contemporary artist based in West Nipissing who studied at Concordia University in 2019. Information about Stephanie’s work Frozen Whispers can be found on the awards page. This award was established by NAISA in 2022 with a gift by Kevin Austin and is named in honour of Andra McCartney (1955-2019), who was a leading voice in the field of acoustic ecology research and the study of gender in electroacoustic music studies.

5) Deep Wireless Festival of Radio & Transmission Art

January 8 – March 30, 2026
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River unless otherwise indicated
naisa.ca/festivals/deep-wireless

Deep Wireless Festival of Radio & Transmission Art returns in January for the 25th annual edition with transmission art installations, broadcast performances and online listening curated on the theme “Sound Culture.” Featured will be an exhibition of Anju Singh’s installation Mechanical Hymns which transforms an industrial sewing machine into a sound instrument. Cathartic drones and singing blend with the drone sounds of the machinery to invite the listener to interrogate assumptions about what noise, quiet and silence are meant to represent.

6) SOUNDplay 2025 Online Highlights

The following are interviews and highlights of NAISA’s recent presentations:

• Substack Video Story on Ice Voices (with transcription) by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant
• Kincia Aia, September 20 performance by Rani Jambak
• Radio interview on Making Waves with Rani Jambak and apè aliermo on the Kancia Aia project.

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New Adventures in Sound Art is a non-profit organization that presents performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of sound art. NAISA is partially funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. NAISA would also like to thank Reuten Construction, Charles Street Video, and Warbler’s Roost for their sponsorship of its SOUNDplay 2025.

NAISA North Media Arts Centre is Accessible

Inquiries & general information:
Nadene Thériault-Copeland, Executive Director
New Adventures in Sound Art
313 Highway 124, South River, ON P0A 1X0
705-386-0880