LuminoCity

The same podcast you know and love is back as LuminoCity! In the first episode of season 5, Rebecca Singh leads the hosts in a reflection of land acknowledgements and what they mean to them, followed by an interview with Luminato Festival’s new Artistic Director Olivia Ansell, hosted by Christine Malec.

Music by Ty Simon.

One of the most intriguing, high-energy performances in Toronto’s early summer season was R.A.V.E., produced by Outside the March in association with Luminato Festival Toronto. As an immersive, participatory experience merging narrative and dance, staged in an unused office building, accessibility was a concern for producers and festival goers alike. To provide notes and recommendations, Radio Lumi’s JJ Hunt and Ramya Amuthan were called in to join the party and check out the show!

To learn more from R.A.V.E. creator, co-director, and lead performer Me Time, check out her in-depth interview with Christine Malec in episode 417.

This year Luminato is heading underground with a series of murals, paintings, and photographs adorning the walls of Toronto subway stations. SPACED, curated by Branded Purple, celebrates the notion that art can be found in every corner of our lives. As strong believers in that philosophy — and avid transit users! — hosts Christine Malec and JJ Hunt spend a day on the TTC, checking out SPACED artwork and describing the visuals of the popup subway station galleries.

Standalone visual descriptions of the artworks in SPACED are available on location via QR code, or by following the links below. Thanks to Superior Description Services for sharing their work with Radio Lumi!

Verbal Description of Spadina Station: https://www.notion.so/SPACED-Spadina-Station-4dd7510f87fc4fc69953e816986704a7?pvs=21

Verbal Description of Finch Station: https://www.notion.so/SPACED-Finch-Station-3e97383ddaa44440a01fab62eb439efc?pvs=21

Verbal Description of Kennedy Station: https://www.notion.so/SPACED-Kennedy-Station-09e670e4c74f4285b0b82c6509970166?pvs=21

Verbal Description of York University Station: https://www.notion.so/SPACED-York-University-Station-b329eb20c32248abbb3aae55cc71784c?pvs=21

Radio Lumi goes back on location to David Pecaut square for an amazing display of acrobatic skill and circus swagger with the internationally acclaimed 360 Allstars. To help describe the troupe’s outrageous BMX, breakdancing, and basketball tricks to host Christine Malec, JJ Hunt gets a big assist from guest describer Janis Mayers. Buckle up for a wildly energetic crowd-pleaser! the show featured in this episode was a showcase production of 360 all-stars, recorded on June 15th, 2024 in Toronto 

In I Am From Reykjavik, artist Sonia Hughes invites us to forge meaningful connections in unexpected places, and examine our relationship with time and space, by building and dismantling a small home in public places. To capture the day-long, lived performance, host JJ Hunt followed Sonia and the Luminato crew to Toronto’s Withrow Park on a recent Saturday morning. Listen in as he records sounds of the park, chronicles Sonia’s construction project, and describes her visits from picnickers, dog walkers, curious kids, and farmer’s market shoppers.

On Friday June 7, Luminato in the Square at David Pecault Square swung into action with the opening night of nine days of music, art, food, crafts, and that urban festival feel. JJ Hunt was on hand to describe the scene, with Christine Malec joining in from her home studio. Listen in for performances from the main stage by Elder Duke and Jeremy Dutcher!

Recorded live at the Art Gallery of Ontario on June 5th, 2024, this on location episode documents and describes Miles Greenberg’s RESPAWN, co-commissioned and co-presented by the AGO and Luminato Festival Toronto.

With a microphone in hand, describer and host JJ Hunt captures the chest-rumbling thrums and excited audience chatter that accompany Greenberg’s nine hour fight with an imaginary foe, located behind a robot-mounted camera.

Special thanks to Bojana Stancic and Lamesha Ruddock. 

Miles Greenberg is a sculptor and performance artist based out of New York. His Luminato performance, RESPAWN, where he features as the primary performer, is a strikingly lengthy 7 hour durational performance piece inspired by first person shooter video games. Only wielding a sword, he defends himself from a moving camera on a crane. Listen to learn about the deeper meaning behind this piece. 

Rebecca Singh shares a detailed description of the venue and Christine Malec sits down for an interview with Miles himself.

In this episode host, Theodore Walker Robinson Theodore interviews the world class Ivory Coast choreographer Oulouy about his career and the story of the dance crew Supa Rich kids ahead of their presentation of Afrikan Party at the Luminato Festival Toronto.

Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha Womack 
The Dreamer and the Dream: Afrofuturism and Black Religious Thought by Roger A. Sneed Queer Times, Black Futures by Kara Keeling Jackie Ormes: 
The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein 
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village by Samuel R. Delany Conversations with Octavia Butler edited by Conseula Francis Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fict ion by André M. Carrington Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures edited by Kevin M. Strait and Kinshasha Holman Conwill

Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist by Slyvester Okwunodu Ogbechie 
Charting the Afrofuturist Imaginary in African American Art: The Black Female Fantastic by Elizabeth Carmel Hamilton
The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design edited by Reynaldo Anderson and Clinton R. Fluker In the Black Fantastic by Ekow Eshun 
The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection edited by Anne H. Berry, Kareem Collie, Penina Acayo Laker, Lesley-Ann Noel, Jennifer Rittner, and Kelly Walters

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler 
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler 
The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany
 “Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem” by Jackie Ormes Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger series by Jackie Ormes Mind of my Mind by Octavia E. Butler 
City of A Thousand Suns by Samuel R. Delany
Watchmen comic book series 
The Walking Dead comic book series

Christine and JJ sit down to interview Duane Bobbsemple. Duane is creating installations to be displayed in Toronto's subway stations as part of this year's Luminato Festival. The trio reflect on the power, importance, and possibilities of the shared spaces we so often take for granted.