An offsite event at Arraymusic on Tuesday, November 14, which featured research by scholar and journalist Nehal El-Hadi and artwork by sound and installation artist Zoma Tochi Maduekwe. We were pleased to host this event as part of our parallel program in conjunction with our exhibition, Tim Whiten Elemental: Fire, guest curated by Liz Ikiriko.

El-Hadi presented on her comprehensive and fundamental research on sand, for which she reveals the element’s economic, material, and poetic properties. Through El-Hadi’s research, sand becomes an explicit element, presenting an opportunity to examine Whiten’s conceptual use of glass as material. Zoma set the stage for this connection through a sonic installation that builds an emcompassing and responsive soundscape that reflects on the exhibition Elemental: Fire. The evening concluded with a guided discussion between El-Hadi, Zoma, and Ikiriko that explores the interconnectedness of sand, sound, and fire.

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Nehal El-Hadi is a journalist, researcher and editor whose work explores the relationships between the body, place, and technology. Nehal is the Science+Technology Editor at The Conversation Canada and Editor-in-Chief of Studio Magazine. She completed a Ph.D. in Planning at the University of Toronto, where she examined the relationships between user-generated content and everyday public urban life. She holds a residency at The Theatre Centre, where she is developing a public space performance looking at the impacts of surveillance. El-Hadi’s research on human-sand relations has been presented on the CBC radio program Ideas reciting her lecture, “Poetics, Politics, and Paradoxes of Sand.”

Zoma Tochi Maduekwe is a sound and installation artist, curator, and new media instructor. She uses experimental technology practices to create personal, intuitive, and didactic experiences with sound production and performance. She explores the digital and electronic tools used to create and experience sonic artwork, conducts research in music technology, and designs and builds interfaces for digital media production. Zoma currently teaches graphic design and new media at OCAD University and TMU. She is also a curator at Arraymusic, where she curates experimental sound art series and concerts.