Ontario Culture Days returns with over 1,000 free events happening across the province from September 19 to October 12, 2025.

As part of the Ontario Culture Days 2025 Creatives in Residence series, eight multidisciplinary artists from across Ontario will debut new works exploring themes such as ritual, dreams, ecological interdependence, migration, and cultural histories through diverse mediums and evocative visual language. This collection of artists come together under the banner The Shape of Memory.

Hye’s Creatives in Residence Picks

Oluseye’s “CROWN ACT”

CROWN ACT responds to southwest Ontario’s history as part of the Underground Railroad, the network of escape routes through which enslaved African Americans found freedom. Oluseye draws inspiration from the braided hairstyles of enslaved people, which often contained hidden maps, knowledge legible only to the enslaved, not their captors. This new work not only honours the history of the Underground Railroad in Niagara but also creates a living, shared experience of resilience, memory, and liberation.

Participants will help assemble the installation like a jigsaw puzzle, then be invited to walk its path. At the centre, a single cowrie shell, a symbol with deep spiritual and cultural resonance, will await discovery.

Eunice Luk’s “Small Things (that run the world)”

As part of Small Things (that run the world), Luk will collect plant debris from local gardens to incorporate into a group of large ‘critter’ sculptures. The installation on the grounds of the Niagara Pumphouse encourages contemplation of our place in the ecological web and the subtle connections that shape our world.

Luk will lead participants in a series of workshops to create milkweed seed balls using soil, seeds of native Ontario plant species and organic materials. Through facilitating the making and caring of this gardening technique, participants connect with themselves, each other and the organic world around them.

Natalie Laura King’s “As the Flowers Return”

As the flower returns invites pedestrians and visitors to walk among spirits, plants, and animals native to this shoreline, and to contribute to these images themselves. Natalie Laura King will lead a collaborative drawing installation on Toronto’s waterfront.

On-site, visitors will be invited to contribute to portions of the drawing. Each section will be guided by the energy of what grows here — what has always been here.

Now in its 16th year and part of the national Culture Days initiative, the festival highlights the arts, culture, and heritage that make Ontario unique. From interactive art experiences and live performances to heritage tours and exhibitions, communities of all sizes will come alive this fall with opportunities to engage, explore, and celebrate.

For Culture Days events near you, please visit culturedays.ca.