Julie Nagam
ThisGen 2021: Cultural Leadership - Masterclass Teacher
Dr. Julie Nagam is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg and Canada Research Chair in Collaboration, Public Art, Interactive + Digital Media. She is the Director of the Aabijijiwan New Media Lab and the Co-Director of the Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre. The centre and lab boast over 4000 square feet that houses four digital media labs each with a specific production focus – sound, projection, virtual reality (VR), animation and video – and a collaborative interactive studio space for engagement between these mediums, as well as a collaborative space for workshops, intergenerational gatherings, dialogues, and work with older media. Dr. Nagam was the inaugural Artistic Director for 2020 and 2022 for Nuit Blanche Toronto, the largest public exhibition in North America with over 175 BIPOC artists and over 200 projects, a 3-day symposium with performances, workshops, and podcasts. In 2020, she shifted and led the first virtual Nuit that included a 15-year archive, an edited publication, a six-hour livestream, podcasts, webinars, the largest AR/VR works for a festival.
Dr. Nagam’s SSHRC research includes digital makerspaces + incubators, mentorship, digital media + design, international collaborations and place-based knowledge. She is currently the Principal Director of the multi-million-dollar Partnership Grant, The Space Between Us (2021–2028). Which is focused on international partnerships and research through collaboration, knowledge exchange, public art, interactive digital technologies, and engagement with place.
As a scholar and artist, she is interested in revealing the ontology of land, which contains memory, knowledge and living histories. Her artistic work has been exhibited internationally, including in Brazil, France, New Zealand, and England, which includes solo and group exhibitions. She was the Concordia University and Massey University (NZ) Scholar in Residence for 2018/19, and will be the Terra Foundation Visiting Scholar at the University of Sydney (AUS).