Biographies

Featured Artist: Lou Sheppard

Lou Sheppard works in interdisciplinary audio, performance and installation based practices. He has performed and exhibited across Canada, notably at The Art Gallery of York University, The Confederation Centre for the Arts, and at Plug-In ICA, and as part of the first Toronto Biennial, as well as internationally, at Kumu Kunstimuuseum in Estonia, in the Antarctic Biennial, and at Titanik Gallery in Finland. Lou has participated in numerous residencies, including the International Studio Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, NY., La Cité des Arts in Paris, and as participant and faculty at The Banff Centre. He has been longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2018, 2020 and 2021, and was the winner of the Emerging Atlantic Artist Award in 2017. Lou is a settler on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq in Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia.

Featured Artist: Léuli Eshrāghi

Léuli Eshrāghi (Tagata Sāmoa) prioritizes sensual and spoken languages as well as artistic, ceremonial and political practices. Eshrāghi has presented major works at Romssa Dáiddasiida | Tromsø Kunstforening, Tate Modern, the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and Galerie de l’Université de Montréal, among others. They have notably exhibited as part of the biennials, The National 4: Australian Art Now (2023), MOMENTA Biennale de l’image: Sensing Nature (2021), 22nd Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN (2020), and Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber (2019). Their work is held in the Galerie de l’Université de Montréal, the Royal Bank of Canada and Frac des Pays de la Loire collections, and in private collections.

Featured Artist: Theo Cuthand

Theo Cuthand was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1978, and grew up in Saskatoon. Since 1995 he has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, Queer identity and love, and Indigeneity, which have screened in festivals internationally, including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Mix Brasil Festival of Sexual Diversity in Sao Paolo, ImagineNATIVE in Toronto, Ann Arbour Film Festival, Images in Toronto, Berlinale in Berlin, New York Film Festival, Outfest, and European Media Art Festival in Osnabrück. His work has also exhibited at galleries including the Remai in Saskatoon, The National Gallery in Ottawa, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, MoMA in New York, and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Film and Video at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2005, and his Masters of Arts in Media Production at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2015. He has made commissioned work for Urban Shaman and Videopool in Winnipeg, Cinema Politica in Montreal, VIMAF in Vancouver, and Bawaadan Collective in Canada. In 2020 he completed working on a 2D video game called A Bipolar Journey based on his experience learning and dealing with his bipolar disorder. In 2023 he finished his second video game Carmilla the Lonely, a lesbian vampire game about ethics. He was the Indigenous Artist in Residence at University of Western Ontario for 2024-2025 where he began work on a video game called Repatriate Me. He has also written three feature screenplays and has performed at Live at The End Of The Century in Vancouver, Queer City Cinema’s Performatorium in Regina, and 7a*11d in Toronto. He is a Whitney Biennial 2019 artist. He recently shot a short drama called POOR. He is the Queer/Trans Artist In Residence at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity at the University of Toronto where his current project is a documentary trilogy called Unsettled Climate, about transgender people who have been displaced or had to move because of climate change related disasters. He is a trans man who uses he/him pronouns. Cuthand is of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada.

Featured Artist: Elian Mikkola

Elian Mikkola is a Finnish Moving Image Artist (of Karelian descent), currently based between Montréal (Tiohtià:ke) and Treaty 4, Saskatchewan, Canada. Mikkola is interested in the enigmatic areas between movement and light. Their work constantly transitions between different mediums, exploring themes such as trans futurism, counter-archiving, and spatial dependencies. Mikkola’s current interest lies in cross-disciplinary listening and collaboration. They have attended several artist residencies internationally and, over the past decade, showcased their performance and moving-image work at festivals including International Film Festival Rotterdam, Oberhausen, Queer City Cinema and the BFI London Film Festival. Mikkola has conducted extensive research on eco-processed film since 2017. They have taught ecoprocessing by facilitating workshops with arts and community organizations and academic settings in Canada and Europe.

Executive and Artistic Director - City Cinema Film Festival, Performatorium Festival of Queer Performance and Qaleidoscope Tours: Gary Varro

Born and based in Treaty 4 (Regina, Saskatchewan) Gary Varro (he/him) is a an artist whose practice encompasses visual art, performance art and curation. He has also worked as an Art Director and Production Designer in the Film Industry for many years. In 1996, Gary established Queer City Cinema (QCC), a Regina-based festival that programs film and performance art in a combined festivals annually - Performatorium: Festival of Queer Performance and Queer City Cinema: Film Festival. Other endeavours with QCC have included national and international tours of film programs and performance art, and special projects such as Camp, Trash, Filth: John Waters Visits Regina in 2017. Additional curation had included annual film and performance art programs for Pitos Waskochepayis, a 2Spirit /Queer Film and Media Festival in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and MIX NYC - New York Queer Experimental Film Festival. Gary has exhibited his installation and performance artwork locally, nationally, and internationally within the last twenty years. Academic pursuits include a Bachelors Degree in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, a diploma from Design Section at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, and Theatre Design and Visual Art programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Gary has been nominated for several awards including the 2021 Saskatchewan Arts Awards - Artistic Excellence 2021; The Lieutenant Governor’s Arts Awards 2021 - Leadership - Organization Award; Queen City Pride Awards 2018 - Creative Spirit Award; City of Regina - The Mayor's Arts & Business Awards 2014 - Excellence in Arts Management and Service. Gary was included in the list of Super Queeroes in 2019.