Panels, Workshops & Performances: View the Full Schedule for the Gathering Divergence Spring 2026

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On a red and purple background, on the left CPAMO’s logo and in the middle text: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026 . On the right a drawing of women’s face

 The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

May 12, 14 and 15, 2026

Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre

877 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 3M2

This three-day hybrid festival and conference centers Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf, disabled, Mad, women, and other historically marginalized artists and arts communities.

Featuring performances, literary readings, visual arts exhibitions, panels, workshops, and creative investigations across diverse artistic practices, Gathering Divergence is grounded in cross-sectoral understandings of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Pluralism (EDIP). The festival explores transformative change in the arts through critical reflection, collaboration, and visionary practice.

Panels

  • Building a Diverse Canadian Cultural Arts Management Ecology
  • Access Panel: Strategies for Increasing Access in the Arts in partnership with Tangled Arts
  • Can Your Work Tour? Building an IBPOC Touring Network and Supporting Artists to be Tour Ready
  • From EDI to What? The Changing Landscape of Equity and Inclusion in the Arts
  • Steelpan – The Versityle Musical Instrument!

Workshops: 

  • Worldbuilding The Collective Dream
  • A Time Was Had!: Navigating the Urgency and Impact of Black Out Nights

Artist performances: Deborah Dinshaw, Ana Luísa Ramos, Nekeisha Garrick / Uche, charles c smith, Nathaniel Hanula-James, Juan Jaramillo, Prathyusha Dwibhashi, Victoria Miller, Yukiko Tsutsui, Donné Roberts, and Vismaya Sreekumar.

Plus:

  • Key note by Katelyn Brennan
  • Key note by Pamela Sugiman
  • Land Acknowledgment by Katelyn Brennan

Visual Arts exhibition featuring work by Anupa Khemadasa, Kelita Braithwaite, Sara Oveissi, and Yafang Shi

More details coming soon!

View the Schedule

 

Join us online or in person

 

🎟 Tickets: $20 General | $15 Artist / Arts Worker / Accessibility

If ticket prices are a barrier to attending, please email info@cpamo.org to request a complimentary ticket.

Accessibility: 

Online:  Otter closed captions will be available. ASL will be provided for the  Access Panel: Strategies for Increasing Access in the Arts panel. 

In person: the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre: all spaces are accessible to most; many are barrier-free. For more information: https://jackmanperformance.ca/how-to-find-us/

We aim to host a fragrance-free event. Please do not wear perfume, cologne, or other scented products.

Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.