Past Festivals
Over its first eight festivals, Cluster has presented more than 250 artists from around the world, commissioning 13 large-scale artworks and over 60 smaller-scale artworks.
Marking our collective shift after two years in the digital realm, Cluster is presenting
work for a new era. For 2022 Cluster is changing. New and improved temperatures, partnerships and bold
works in exciting places. Six pieces of public art, four live, interdisciplinary concerts and an
appearance by the illusive RITUAL. This is a festival of reconnection and tangible interaction.
— Cluster co-directors Ashley Au & Eliot Britton
June 1–30, 2022
The Forks / St. Boniface Cathedral Grounds / Assiniboine Park / Assiniboine Forest / Upper Fort
Garry
Get outside, touch grass and experience a vivid collection of Polycoro fueled augmented reality sculptures. Giant Bison Roaming the city? Ethereal, impossible topiaries resonate as you approach? These immersive works realized by Amy G. Brandon were conjured from the wild imaginings of a diverse cohort of composers. Mason Victoria, Haiying (Jace) Gao, Julian Beutel, Gordon Fitzell, Eliot Britton. Adrian C.N. Berry. These three dimensional, spatialized sound sculptures are accessible by mobile device and are projected into physical space. Walk, run, ride and listen to these imaginative additions to the Winnipeg cityscape.
Thursday, June 2, 2022
Doors/Show: 7:30/8:00pm
Featuring newly commissioned works, readings and live musicians, DIAMETRICS sees artists from
across disciplines build, dismantle and play. Composer and violist, Melody McKiver performing
new works for viola and electronics based on a poem by Chimwemwe Undi. adrian c. n. berry and
Jaime Black bring us a performance piece that blends verse, music, projection and textiles.
These performances will be joined by readings of bold new works from participants of
Contemporary Verse 2’s BIPOC Writers Intensive.
June 3–30, 2022
Performance June 10, 2022 | 8:30pm
VideoPool Media Arts Centre
100
Arthur Street
Gold Cove ∈ RITUAL is a multi-channel video installation featuring the latest audio-visual
collaboration between AI entity RITUAL & art-pop performer Gold Cove. Blurring the disciplinary
lines between music video production, ethnofiction, and cinematic storytelling, Gold Cove ∈
RITUAL is a glimpse into the future of cultural work through the eyes of surveillance
capitalism. From whimsical visions of AI fueled desire to technicolor, this project presents a
vibrant collage-based animation and rhythmic visual poetry constructed from videos found from
deep within the Internet.
GOLD COVE ∈ RITUAL is co-presented by Cluster and VideoPool Media Arts Centre in their Poolside
Gallery. This is a project by Adrian c.n. Berry
Friday, June 3, 2022
Doors/Show: 7:00/7:30pm
Winnipeg Art Gallery Rooftop
300
Memorial Blvd
queer futures transforms the Winnipeg Art Gallery rooftop into a lush, otherworldly landscape in
where artist Heath V. Salazar’s alter ego, Gay Jesus, takes the stage.
THE ONE AND HOLY GAY JESUS is a drag king serving a mouth-watering communion of Latinx wine and
non-binary bread. Born of virgin-ish loins and baptized in sex-appeal, he’s best known for his
multidisciplinary protest pieces decked out in draglesque.
This performance will be followed by a rooftop ball hosted by Canada’s Drag Race winner,
Priyanka. Presented with the support of Synonym Art Consultation, Downtown Winnipeg Biz and
Pride Winnipeg.
Friday, June 10, 2022
Early Set Doors/Show: 7:00/7:30pm
Late Set Doors/show: 9:00/9:30pm
The Output, VideoPool Media Arts Centre
100
Arthur Street
A deconstructed piano harp has been detuned to a pentatonic based on the natural harmonic series
and used as a sympathetic resonator for instrumentalists Nathan Krahn and Gage Salnikowski. The
harp acts as a third ethereal voice played without physical touch--a discrete though contingent
apparition of a final member in this work for trio.
The composition explores the physics of sound through mathematical relationships between sound
waves. Resonance occurs most in unisons, but also shared partials in both overtones and
undertones. Krahn and Salnikowski explore and experiment with these relationships using
structured improv and short fluxus games.
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Doors/Show: 9:30/10:00pm
Plug-In Institute of Contemporary Art
460
Portage Ave
Get drippy with internationally-acclaimed Toronto-based electronic music duo PHÉDRE. Their bass-heavy sets pay tribute to club, breakbeat, jungle and techno, bringing high-bpm rhythmic soundscapes, performed live using sequencers and synthesizers—a complete audio visual treatment for maximum euphoric vibe-action. This event curated by local tastemaker Brendan Grey brings us a rare offering connecting world class artists with local fringe treasures. Tell your friends, tell your lovers.
Eliot Britton
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 4:30pm
VideoPool Media Arts Centre
100
Arthur Street
Heath V. Salazar
Saturday, June 4, 2022, 2:30pm
Graffiti Gallery
109 Higgins Avenue
Amy Brandon / Julian Beutel / Eliot Britton / Gordon Fitzell / Jace Gao / Melody KcKiver / Chimwemwe Undi / Jaime Black / Adrian C.N. Berry / Marisolle Negash / Nathan Krahn / Gay Jesus / Priyanka / Jen Funk / Savant Flaneur / PHÉDRE / … and more
Presenting thought-provoking events and an annual core festival in Winnipeg, Cluster is a platform for artists to create, to experiment, and to collaborate. Cluster is propelled by strength found in numbers and the energy created by integrating diverse artistic communities – combining collective mentality with individual sensibility.
Over its first eight festivals, Cluster has presented more than 250 artists from around the world, commissioning 13 large-scale artworks and over 60 smaller-scale artworks.
View photos from Cluster Festivals past.
View programs from Cluster Festivals past.
Cluster is made up of a collaborative co-directorate, supported by a board of directors and seasonal volunteers.
plays matchmaker with artists and audiences across a multiverse of disciplines through the lens of collaborative community building.
focuses on technology and the integration of new media into music composition.
Daniel Britton • Gordon Fitzell • Leigh Anne Parry
Cluster: New Music + Integrated Arts Festival is operated out of Treaty 1 Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples as well as the homeland of the Métis Nation.