Constellation Festival focuses on emerging artistic communities, November 12 to 15
The new fest is part of Chapel Sound Art Foundation’s Constellation Mentorship Program, which aims to train the next generation of diverse cultural producers
Left to right: Entrañas, Nancy Lee (photo by Alger Ji-Liang)
Chapel Sound Art Foundation presents the Constellation Festival from November 12 to 15 at The Polygon Gallery, Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, and Atelier254
WHEN WE INTERVIEWED Nancy Lee for the Stir Fall Arts Guide—available in print at JJ Bean locations and arts venues around the city or in digital form—they were stoked.
Part of what had the Chapel Sound Art Foundation cofounder feeling that way was anticipation for the inaugural Constellation Festival. The fest, which runs at various venues from November 12 to 15, has been curated by participants in Chapel Sound’s two-year cultural production mentorship program, which Lee has spearheaded.
“It’s going to be multidisciplinary,” Lee said of the festival. “It’s going to involve film, music, dance, visual art. I’m super excited to get the curators to collaborate together, because they’re all going to be working together. We’re hoping to create a narrative festival—to kind of have a narrative component to each day.”
Lee created the Constellation Mentorship Program to train the next generation of diverse cultural producers. Its participants are six emerging curators: Alger Ji-Liang (SILKWORMS), Yana Kalanzi (Neptune7), Veron Xio (Notebook Platform), Annie Ng (Fountains), Max Ammo (CADENA), and Sophia “Sosa” Laurio (Barangay Project).
Rizky Rahad
VORA
Per Chapel Sound’s website:
“Constellations’ curatorial ideas draw on roots as they form, take shape, intersect, and interconnect. Like the networks growing beneath our feet, artistic communities develop through exchange, adaptation, and mutual support. Across four days, the festival explores how these relationships sustain us—and what can emerge when we make room for symbiotic transformation.”
Here’s some of what’s on tap:
Constellation kicks off on November 12 at The Polygon Gallery with House of R3nc0ng: Queer Worldbuilding Amidst the Fire, an artist talk, screening, and conversation with Indonesian filmmaker Rizky Rahad. The documentary House of R3nc0ng follows trans women escaping Indonesian state surveillance and healing through performance. Running from 7 pm to 9 pm, the event is moderated by Love Intersections and co-presented with SILKWORMS.
On November 13, programming moves to the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre for an electronic music concert with live experimental audiovisual performances, copresented by Fountains and Notebook. Featured artists are Mira 新伝統, VORA, and Gamelan Bike Bike.
The following day, November 14, features an experimental movement battle with Barangay Project. Titled Changeling, it’s judged by Simran Sachar and Su-Feh Lee, followed by an evening of live audiovisual performances by Entrañas and Sewa Choki. The latter event is copresented by CADENA and Neptune7.
The festival concludes on November 15, from 6 pm to 10 pm, at Atelier254 with ROT IS A FORM OF REBELLION—Queer Cinema and the Politics of Decay, presented by Rizky Rahad and Alger Ji-Liang. Copresented by SILKWORMS and UNIT/PITT, the event examines how queer cinema engages with inherited social structures and considers alternative ways of being.
Find the full schedule and purchase tickets through Chapel Sound. 
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