Christopher Kulendran Thomas will be in Winnipeg to present an artist talk as part of the Visiting Speaker Series for Thumbs That Type and Swipe: The DIS Edutainment Network (Session I of Plug In ICA’s 2018 Summer Institute).* Thomas will speak about his long-term artwork / real-estate technology startup, New Elam, as well as speculate on the possibility for economic reform to grow from current systems, rather than in opposition to them.

Thomas is a multi-media artist and curator based in London and Berlin. His work has been presented the 7th Bi-City Biennale in Shenzhen (2017); the 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016); and the 9th Berlin Biennale (2016). In addition Thomas has shown extensively in Europe and internationally, including the 3rd Dhaka Art Summit (2016); A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam (2017); Tensta Konsthall, Tensta (2017); New Galerie, Paris (2017). He has a forthcoming exhibition at Spike Island, Bristol (2018) and is currently exhibiting as part of the exhibition I was raised on the Internet at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Thomas’s curatorial credits include Synchronise. Accelerate. Disperse., presented in Geneva in 2014 and London in 2013. He received his MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2012.

For a full list of the DIS: Session I, Visiting and Video Speakers: https://plugin.org/exhibitions/summer-institute-dis-edutainment-network/

* For Session I of our 2018 Summer Institute Program we are extremely pleased to have DIS collective member, Marco Roso as our lead faculty (June 25-July 7, 2018).  Framed by our summer exhibition of the same name, DIS’s seminar Thumbs That Type and Swipe: The DIS Edutainment Network circles around a series of exhibitions organized by DIS and framed by dis.art, a new streaming edutainment platform. Through direct engagement with the artists of dis.art, the session will contemplate a series of linked concerns, including: the nature of belonging in a rootless-seeming, networked world; the changing relationship to the ways one owns, lends or gives time through occupations, bodies, or other forms of value-creation. Some of the topics DIS will cover: Money: what is it?; information consumption; the future of citizenship; reparations; love and humor.

Plug In ICA extends our gratitude to our artists, generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers. With special thanks to our Director’s Circle. You make a difference!

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. Plug ICA gratefully acknowledges the RBC

Foundation and the Johnston Group for their support of our 2018/2019 Summer Institute Program as well as the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain as cultural partners in the presentation of Session I of our Summer Institute.

Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all. Enable us to continue presenting excellent programs! Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/supportor by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org

For media inquiries please contact: Sarah Nesbitt: sarah@plugin.org or (204)942-1043.