In the final episode of our Endless Becomings series, Strictly Creative's host Garmamie speaks with Elisa Jiménez Robles, co-curator of the exhibition.

Endless Becomings brings together eleven visionary artists shaping the future of contemporary art, united by a commitment to continuous transformation — across identity, memory, resistance, displacement, care, and change. The exhibition runs until March 15, 2026 — go see it.

Exhibition details:

ENDLESS BECOMINGS: EXPLORATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ART

September 20, 2025 – March 15, 2026

Spencerville Gallery | Level 3

Curators: Elisa Jiménez Robles (Co-Curator), Shems Benmosbah (Co-Curator)

Artists: Aylin Abbasi, Annie Bérubé, Armand Diansambu, Elaine Diguer, Sophie El-Assaad, Emily Escoffery, Lea Hamilton, Sarah Hughes, Éric Mailloux, Shiva Nasiri, Leigha Stiles

Previous interviews (listen next):

• Leigha Stiles

• Armand Diansambu

Dans cet épisode de Strictly Creative, Garmamie s’entretient avec Armand Diansambu, artiste multidisciplinaire et chercheur bantou, dont le travail est présenté à la Galerie d’art d’Ottawa dans le cadre de l’exposition Redevenirs : Explorations en art contemporain.

L’entrevue aborde son parcours créatif, sa pratique artistique et les thèmes qui traversent son travail, notamment l’identité, la mémoire ancestrale et les héritages postcoloniaux.

📌 Entrevue menée en français.

🔗 En savoir plus sur l’artiste : armanddiansambu.com

🔗 Détails sur l’exposition à la Galerie d’art d’Ottawa : https://oaggao.ca/fr/a-laffiche/exposition/redevenirs-explorations-en-art-contemporain/

In this episode of Strictly Creative, judoka and filmmaker Luke Thomson talks about how a tendon injury became the starting point for his first documentary. Unable to compete at the Quebec Open and Canada Cup in Montréal, he stayed mat-side with a camera instead of a judogi.

Luke filmed fights and interviewed 27 people from the Canadian judo community—athletes, Olympians, coaches, and staff—including Christa Deguchi, Jessica Klimkait, Antoine Valois-Fortier, and Janusz Pawlowski. To all of them, he asked one simple question: “What does judo mean to you?”

Their answers go beyond results and medals, into stories about routine, sacrifice, family, identity, and how judo can shape an entire life. In this conversation, we walk through how the project came together and what Luke learned by listening to the people who live this sport every day.

Watch the full documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7f5VosP7iU

In this episode of Strictly Creative, Garmamie visits the Ottawa Art Gallery with multidisciplinary artist Leigha Stiles, whose work is featured in the exhibition Endless Becomings: Explorations in Contemporary Art. Leigha walks us through three of her pieces — Melancholy, SAD, and I can’t do this anymore — and shares the deeply personal experiences behind them.

Recorded inside the Spencerville Gallery of the Ottawa Art Gallery, this conversation dives into mental health, wearable sculpture, memory, softness and weight, movement, and unfinished stories.

Endless Becomings runs from September 20, 2025 to March 15, 2026 at the Ottawa Art Gallery — and admission is free.

In this episode of Strictly Creative, Garmamie attends a special event at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa celebrating CKCU-FM’s upcoming 50th anniversary — a live broadcast that captures the heart of community radio.

The event featured two of CKCU’s longest-running programs, Canadian Spaces and The Back 40, performed live from Peter A. Herrndorf Place with local musicians and an in-person audience.

Garmamie speaks with Michael Houston (aka "Tic"), host of Wednesday Special Blend, about CKCU’s rich history and how it’s evolved through the decades.

Then, Lia Kiessling, CKCU’s Station Director, shares how the station continues to shape Ottawa’s creative community and the enduring power of local storytelling.

🎙️ Strictly Creative — conversations with artists, creators, and storytellers shaping our cultural landscape.

Five years ago, Jamie Hahn closed Arcana Martial Arts, a well-known combat sports gym in Ottawa, Canada. Not long after, he and his family left Canada and moved to Colón Island in Bocas del Toro, Panama, trading cold winters for life on a small island.

In this follow-up to our 2020 conversation “Closing the Gym – Arcana Martial Arts’ Jamie Hahn”, Jamie talks about what it was like to start over in a new country and build Bluff Muay Thai, his new combat sports gym.

We talk about the move, the ups and downs of change, rebuilding community, and what it really takes to create something new far from home.

In this episode of Strictly Creative, we speak with actor Cassel Miles, co-creator and performer of Josiah — the powerful one-person play that brings to life the story of Josiah Henson, a man who escaped slavery and helped build an Underground Railroad community in Canada.

Henson’s journey from bondage in Kentucky to freedom in Ontario in 1830 is one of courage, faith, and leadership. 

Cassel shares his creative path from dancer to actor, his rediscovery of artistic passion, and the deep emotional connection that led him to tell Henson’s story on stage. It’s a conversation about purpose, resilience, and the power of storytelling to reclaim forgotten history.

Josiah was originally co-created by Cassel Miles and Charles Robertson, and written by Charles Robertson.

Steve Zytveld is an ordained deacon serving as a community chaplain in Ottawa’s West End, where he walks alongside people from all backgrounds facing real challenges in daily life. His ministry has also taken him into parish and hospital settings, giving him a unique perspective on compassion, presence, and resilience.

In this follow-up interview, recorded in the summer of 2025, Steve reflects on : his journey, what it means to listen and why simply showing up and taking that first step can make the greatest difference.

This episode is about vocation, community, and the transformative power of being present for one another.

In this episode of Strictly Creative, we sit down with Captain — a community leader, hip-hop artist, filmmaker, and cultural entrepreneur who has been shaping Ottawa’s creative scene for over two decades. From founding Soul City, a one-stop urban shop and cultural hub since 1999, to co-founding The Origin Arts and Community Center, Captain has consistently built platforms for artists, storytellers, and businesses to thrive.

We explore his journey from MC and poet to filmmaker and festival organizer, his role in documenting Black culture through Northern Touch Films, and his ongoing mission to empower the next generation of artists through music, film, and grassroots activism. Captain’s story is one of creativity, resilience, and giving back to the community.

Join us for a conversation with Stephen 'Buddha' Leafloor, a legendary Canadian B-boy Elder, street dancer, youth outreach worker, and social worker. In this interview, we discuss the exciting debut of breaking at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Stephen's impactful social work using hip-hop culture.

FLASHTalks with Buddha (Episode 30)

BluePrintForLife: Social Work Through Hip Hop!