The StartUp

The StartUp 2025- Art for Better Times

The StartUp is a four-day series of conversations that runs June 4-7, 2025 in Kingston. This year, we’re making space for what seems most important. The 2025 StartUp will be a space for artists, technologists, scholars, and audiences to, consider the context of what author and UBC Professor Naomi Klein called, End Times Fascism in The Guardian:

“If we are to meet our critical moment in history, we need to reckon with the reality that we are not up against adversaries we have seen before. We are up against end times fascism…. we counter their apocalyptic narratives with a far better story about how to survive the hard times ahead without leaving anyone behind. A story capable of draining end times fascism of its gothic power and galvanizing a movement ready to put it all on the line for our collective survival. A story not of end times, but of better times; not of separation and supremacy, but of interdependence and belonging; not of escaping, but staying put and staying faithful to the troubled earthly reality in which we are enmeshed and bound.”

JOIN THE STARTUP IF YOU ARE…

• Yearning for deep conversations about where we are as Canadian artists and where we could be going;
• Seeking to be expand your network of collaborators to include artists and technologists who value dialogue and collaboration; or
• Hoping to spark new avenues of creation and cultural production..

PASSES

The StartUp pass is $175 and includes tickets to all FOLDA shows.

ABOUT THIS YEARS FORMAT

In a time defined by urgency and polarization, we need spaces that resist spectacle and instead cultivate deep listening, reciprocity, and care. 

We’re structuring the 2025 StartUp around Breathing Circle Conversations, a participatory dialogue format designed to center reflection, exchange, and collective insight. 

In this format, a small circle of invited speakers begins the conversation, surrounded by a larger listening audience. Midway through, the circle expands as listeners are invited to step forward and join the dialogue, or continue holding space as witnesses. 

Each conversation is visually documented in real time, creating a shared record of the insights and connections that emerge.

Wednesday June 4

Morning: Arrive in Kingston, settle in, and prepare for the next four days. 

Afternoon: Conversation #1: The Canadian Context. What does it mean to be an artist in Canada at this critical moment in history? What is our role as citizens and imaginers? How can we combat and provide alternatives to the apocalyptic narratives driving this new brand of fascism taking root in North America?

Evening: Catch FOLDA’s kick-off performance, Windrush by Marcel Stewart, and stick around afterwards to help us celebrate the opening of the eighth Festival of Live Digital Art

Thursday, June 5

Morning: Conversation #2: The American Context. What is happening to artists and other vulnerable communities? How can we demonstrate solidarity and or provide assistance?  What strategies for resistance are successful?

Afternoon: Conversation #3: The International Context. How can Canada play a bigger role in international culture? How are we perceived from abroad? What relationships and types of work could prove fruitful?

Conversation #4: The Technological Context. Can digital tools be engaged for inclusive democratic outcomes.  Silicon Valley emerged with a ‘move fast and break things’ approach that has mixed (or even poor) results for individuals and societies. Can artists move slower and fix things using emerging technologies?

Evening: 2021 by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, and Sam Ferguson

Friday, June 6

Morning: Laser Talks: Short, focused presentations from artists/researchers engaged with emerging technologies and urgent issues.

Afternoon: Building Better Times: Open Space workshop building off the first two days to come up with some steps to move positive ideas forward. Think mini-unconference in a shiny robotics and computer science lab.

Evening Check out the opening of Kinnomics by Iman Datoo at the Agnes Etherington

Saturday June 7

Morning Gather in the beautiful second floor lobby of the Isabel Bader Centre with coffee and snacks for an informal talk about the future. 

Afternoon Join us for the final FOLDA performances of Reflections and Refractions by PeerLess Productions and The MaryRobin Show by Deaf Spirit Theatre

If you have any questions about the StartUP, please email info(at)spiderwebshow.ca