Erica May Wood is a Canadian theatre artist, who works in participatory settings and in arts for social change with youth and marginalised community members. Her work is collective based in non-theatre environments. Her recent online collaborative arts project connected over 50 world-renowned artists, healers and thinkers in a collective response to the idea of ageing.

Simon Sharkey Director and CEO of The Necessary Space is best known as one of the founding directors of the National Theatre of Scotland where he pioneered the “Theatre Without Walls” model and methodology across Scotland and internationally. He is responsible for several ground-breaking initiatives in participatory arts across Scotland and the rest of the world. He directed several large scale site-specific, genre defying works in Scotland and globally.

Dr. Duke Redbird, elder, poet, activist, educator, and artist.

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With a legacy stretching back to the 1960s, he is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada, and has practiced a number of art disciplines including poetry, painting, theatre, and film. He was a trailblazer throughout the 60’s & 70’s giving voice to Indigenous people at major institutions and folk festivals across the country. From 1994-2009, he was an arts & entertainment reporter for CITY TV in Toronto.

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He holds a Master’s degree from York University and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University in 2013.

Duke Redbird is also featured on Native North America which received a Grammy Award nomination for best historical album in December 2015. Duke recently recorded his poem The Power of the Land with The Sultans of String.

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In 2020, Duke was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Toronto based performing arts organization JAYU in recognition of his influence through his art on Human Rights.

Duke delivered a keynote address to MIT on the growing influence of Indigenous Thinking and Practices on the world of technology and higher learning in November 2020.

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He occupies the position as Elder with the following organizations: Myseum Toronto, The Toronto Biennial, Summer Works, the Toronto Arts Council’s Banff Leaders Lab, and is Artist in Residence with the Urban Indigenous Education Centre at the Toronto District School Board.

Pawel Pokutycki is an interaction designer and researcher working for the AR+RFID Lab of the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague and a lecturer at the Interactive/Media/Design department. He has developed and led community arts project in South America, and across the world, and will act as a design/media consultant for the process as it evolves.

Fraser MacLeod is a Glasgow based theatre artist and project manager. He designs, delivers and directs professional participatory experiences for children, young people, families and communities – ranging from one-off workshops to large scale theatrical events and projects nationally and internationally. Fraser is a founding Co-Director of Sanctuary Queer Arts and Associate Artist with the Tron Theatre, Licketyspit Theatre Company and Performance Collective Stranraer.

Ben Clement is a  Toronto born actor and artist educator.  Ben has a passion for working with children in arts education as well as advocating for disability arts.  He has been in many musicals such as Sweeney Todd, Les Mis and Curtains with No Strings Theatre Company and appeared in the 2019 Porch View Dances. He has volunteered at Young People’s Theatre and for the inclusive children’s musical theatre program at the MNJCC. He has planned and taught a weekly drama game session for L’Arche Toronto-Sol Express for adults with intellectual disabilities.  He  is building  a new  monthly cabaret type drop-in program with the same organization.

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Ben was part of the artist educator team (along with Erica May Wood) for Art and Sex Education: an OAC-funded development project that researched impact of the arts on making sex education more accessible for youth living with disabilities. Ben is thrilled to be part of this great new project based on ‘Conference of the Birds’.