For those who didn’t catch Rest-Oration, the conversation series looking at the pedagogical—and revolutionary—role of rest, pause, refusal, slowness, care, and “doing nothing” within contemporary artists’ time-based works and the parallel social justice implications of integrating slow philosophies in the post-secondary studio art classroom, you can get a preview of my lovely discussion with Coral Short and twinkle that happened on June 17th at 4th Space (Concordia University) in Montreal. So grateful for these moments of deep reflection with each guest (Salima Punjani, Po B. K. Lomami and both Coral and twinkle) and to be able to be in slow conversation. Watch here.
A slow conversation between Victoria Stanton and Salima Punjani looking at the pedagogical—and revolutionary—role of rest, pause, refusal, slowness, care, and “doing nothing” within contemporary artists’ time-based works and the parallel social justice implications of integrating slow philosophies in the post-secondary studio art classroom.
Audience members will be part of research-in-action, while also invited to enjoy the discussion and participate in a Q&A.
This event is part of Stanton’s research for her PhD in Art Education at Concordia University and will be recorded for research purposes.
JUNE 6, 2025 Time: 5 to 7pm Location: Produit Rien, 6909 rue Marconi, Montreal (Métro Jean-Talon) Admission: Free
The event will be taking place in English. The venue is on the ground floor with three steps and can be made accessible with an added ramp for any guests requiring this.
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Bio of Presenting Guest:
Salima Punjani is a multisensory artist grounded in relational aesthetics. A common thread through all of her work is the creation of environments that allow for receptivity of connection. She is particularly interested in how multiple senses can be used to expand the possibilities for people to feel welcome in art spaces as well as to create artful experiences of empathy, intimacy, and connection. Her recent work explores themes such as isolation and resocialization processes related to COVID-19, rest as resistance to systemic injustice and how medical data can be subverted into finding human connection rather than pathologies.
A slow conversation between Victoria Stanton and Po B. K. Lomami looking at the pedagogical—and revolutionary—role of rest, pause, refusal, slowness, care, and “doing nothing” within contemporary artists’ time-based works and the parallel social justice implications of integrating slow philosophies in the post-secondary studio art classroom.
Audience members will be part of research-in-action, while also invited to enjoy the discussion and participate in a Q&A.
This event is part of Stanton’s research for her PhD in Art Education at Concordia University and will be recorded for research purposes.
JUNE 13, 2025 Time: 5 to 7pm Location: Produit Rien, 6909 rue Marconi, Montreal (Métro Jean-Talon) Admission: Free
The event will be taking place in English. The venue is on the ground floor with three steps and can be made accessible with an added ramp for any guests requiring this.
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Bio of Presenting Guest:
Po B. K. Lomami is an indisciplinary interventionist, artist, and educator. They are a Congodescendant (DRC) from Belgium based in Tiohtià:ke-Mooniyang-Montreal since 2017. Their art questions individuals, institutions, and themselves through affection, force, the absurd, and the quotidian. Exploring super-performance and failure, their projects revolve around the displacement of work, the becoming of their subjectivity, and the design of possible collective futures with crip, queer and Afrofeminist perspectives. Their work has been presented in Belgium, Sweden, New York and Canada, and their texts have been featured in French, Quebec and African books and journals.
A slow conversation between Victoria Stanton, Coral Short and twinkle looking at the pedagogical—and revolutionary—role of rest, pause, refusal, slowness, care, and “doing nothing” within contemporary artists’ time-based works and the parallel social justice implications of integrating slow philosophies in the post-secondary studio art classroom.
Audience members will be part of research-in-action, while also invited to enjoy the discussion and participate in a Q&A.
This event is part of Stanton’s research for her PhD in Art Education at Concordia University and will be recorded for research purposes.
JUNE 17, 2025 Time: 2 to 4pm Location: 4TH SPACE, Concordia University, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., Montreal (Métro Guy-Concordia) Admission: Free
The event will be taking place in English. The venue is on the ground floor with three steps and can be made accessible with an added ramp for any guests requiring this.
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Bios of Presenting Guests:
Coral Short (they/them) is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and queer community leader creating spaces for slow healing in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and beyond. Born in 1973 on lək̓ʷəŋən territories, their life journey weaves together artistic creation, activism, and community building.Through eco-somatic nature immersion and somatic workshops, Coral guides participants toward embodied rest and nervous system regulation. Their trauma-informed approach centers marginalized communities, honoring diverse bodily experiences. Coral’s practice nurtures both personal liberation and community resilience, creating compassionate containers where healing unfolds across individual and collective dimensions.
Ryan ‘twinkle’ Backer is an activist, writer, and educator living in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang, colonially known as Montréal, Québec. twinkle is perpetually fascinated by time and our relationship to it, and they work to raise awareness of the universal nature of aging, and undoing ageism within an intersectional context. They’re a white, witchy, non-binary ‘old person in training’ and co-creator of the Old School Hub for age equity & ageism awareness. When they’re not working, they like to deepen their meditation practice, strengthen and uplift the queer community which surrounds them, and explore nature with their adventure cat, Fitz.
The Sanctimonious Sect of Nothing Is Sacred 