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The lineup for the eighth edition of the the Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA) has been announced. Running June 4 to 7 in Kingston, this year’s program amplifies diverse Canadian voices, showcasing performances that reflect the changing social and political landscape. FOLDA’s eighth edition continues its ����ֱ�� of uniting audiences through innovative, thought-provoking live performances that challenge conventions and spark conversation.

This year’s show features both in-person and online performances including a live concept album, a performance where story, video games, and AI collide, performances from Kingston’s Deaf Spirit Theatre, and a radical rethinking of the StartUp Industry Series where we ask the question: how we can create Art for Better Times.

The show is being produced again this year by , Canada’s first live digital performance company. (DAN School of Drama and Music) is Director of Artistic Research at SpiderWebShow Performance and co-curator of FOLDA.

“You can expect a welcoming environment with audiences that are interested in seeing something new,” says Professor Wheeler, when asked about the eighth edition of FOLDA. “Sometimes these are initial concepts that are just getting off the ground (ALPHA performances) some are more developed and ready for more rigorous audience engagement (BETA performances) and some pieces are pretty much finished (GO performances).”

This year’s five unique performances include:

• by Marcel Stewart reclaims family and history after generations of displacement through spoken word and projected visuals in an immersive concept album exploring Caribbean migration, identity, kinship, and home. Venue: The Broom Factory, 305 Rideau Street.
• by Kingston-based PeerLess Productions showcases the talents and identities of a group of creators and performers who have mixed abilities, in defiance of how they are more often seen and underestimated. Venue: Power Corporation of Canada Studio Theatre, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 390 King Street West.
• , by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn and Sam Ferguson, is a live video game played by the audience to untangle one father and daughter’s journey through living—and dying—in our increasingly technological world. 2021 examines the place between memory and simulation. Venue: Theological Hall, 85 Stuart Street.
• , created by Kingston’s Deaf Spirit Theatre, is entertaining showcase featuring comedy skits, dancing, visual vernacular, monologues, and ABC storytelling (a form of ASL performance art that consists of telling a story using the handshapes of the ASL fingerspelled alphabet in sequence). Venue: Film Production Studio, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 390 King Street West.
• , by UK artist Iman Datoo, a playful interactive art exhibit that shifts from matters of economics (management of the house, oikonomikos) to ways of finding kinship between one ecosystem and another. Presented in partnership with the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Venue: The AGNES Garages, 207 Stuart Street.

“FOLDA is a festival designed for live performances that engage emerging ideas and technologies,” Professor Wheeler says. “These pieces often require an audience to test how their novel concept works.  They can't be made alone in a rehearsal hall or a lab. They require periodic engagement with their users (also known as audiences). An iterative presentation structure allows us to meet that need. FOLDA makes it fun for everyone.”

He adds he’s always a bit surprised that SpiderWebShow has been transformed by FOLDA.

“We have published an online magazine, contributed to technology development, and we have made four of our own performances. But FOLDA is now the single largest activity we have. We have been sustained by the growing support and partnerships we have at Queen's - when we began it was largely supported by The DAN School of Drama and Music, but we now have partnerships with The Isabel, The Agnes Etherington art Centre, Ingenuity Labs, and the Department of Film and Media.  It takes a village to raise a sustainable art festival.”

To learn more about the event, . Tickets can be purchased or at the door.