A darkened studio at A/V Nights 1 — two performers at a table of gear beside a wall-sized green geometric projection, the audience watching in silhouette.

Case study · Curation & production · London, Ontario

A/V Nights

A room where the region's audiovisual artists finally met each other.

A/V Nights is an immersive art showcase we founded and produce in London, Ontario — live audiovisual performance alongside installations, experimental film, and artist talks, staged in rooms that were never meant to be venues.

Night 1 landed at XUUX Artists Studio on September 13, 2025, co-presented with Nuit Blanche London. Seven artists ran across three streams in one room: live A/V sets from Sunntack, Drummachinemike with Anthony Gomez, and Matt Thibideau with Alejandro Franco Briones; installations by the Frames Film Series and Edward Platero; and presentations from Elburz Sorkhabi of The Immersive & Interactive HQ and the London Society of Architects. Sixty tickets sold and about eighty people came.

Night 2 moved to Honey Dip and DoughEV on May 2, 2026, and was staged as a fundraiser for Forest City Gallery with lighting and production support from Other World Productions. Mothers Against Drum Machines, Turbo Tambourine, and Cailen and the Electric Bride played to live audio-reactive visuals by Toronto’s fongkikid. Downstairs, a programme of experimental film curated by Lianne Zannier screened between sets while Gary Kirkham’s “Polyrhythmic Illumination” ran all night. The evening opened with an artist Q&A. Eighty tickets sold, about a hundred people came, and the proceeds went to the gallery.

The reason to do this is the room, not the line-up. London has audiovisual artists, electronic musicians, and immersive-media people who mostly work alone, and it has audiences who are curious about that work but have no vocabulary for it. Putting both in the same space — with the talks and the Q&A there so nobody has to already be an insider — is the entire idea. The open call for Night 2 brought in more submissions than there were slots, which is the clearest evidence we have that the room was needed.

Across two nights the series paid fourteen artists, drew roughly 180 people, and worked with seven partner organizations. CBC covered Night 2 with a television segment and a London Morning radio feature. A/V Nights was made possible by the London Arts Council’s Community Arts Investment Program and the City of London, with additional support from the Cambia Development Foundation.

How it works

  1. Programme three things at once

    Every night pairs live audiovisual performance with installations you can walk up to and talks from people working in the field. Night 1 ran all three in a single room.

  2. Make the room a venue

    Neither space was built for this. An artists' studio and a bakery-café got sound, projection and — for Night 2, with Other World Productions — a full lighting rig, so artists arrive to a room already set up for what they make.

  3. Pay the artists, keep the door open

    Fourteen artists were paid across the two nights, tickets stayed at $10–15, and an open call chose the Night 2 line-up. The talks and the opening Q&A are there so nobody has to already be an insider.

A performer working a bank of synthesizers in front of a magenta and violet projection that fills the wall behind them.Visitors standing around a light-edged plinth holding one of the installations, drinks in hand, mid-conversation.Two artists bent over their gear at A/V Nights 2, red and white visuals filling the wall behind them and a fan of magenta and cyan light thrown across the ceiling.The opening artist Q&A at A/V Nights 2 — artists seated in front of a projected black-and-white film in a brick room, the audience packed in close around them.A performer in a white dress and a wire flower crown singing into a microphone while playing violin under stage light.Hands on a modular synthesizer, a dense tangle of patch cables lit from within on a dark table.

Credits

  • Founded, curated & produced by — Alex MacLean
  • Co-presenters, Night 1 — Nuit Blanche London & the London Society of Architects
  • Recap film, Night 1 — Shot & edited by Jeff Chambers
  • Beneficiary & partner, Night 2 — Forest City Gallery
  • Lighting & production, Night 2 — Other World Productions
  • Venues — XUUX Artists Studio · Honey Dip + DoughEV
  • Supported by — London Arts Council (Community Arts Investment Program)
  • Supported by — City of London
  • Supported by — Cambia Development Foundation

Next project: The Portal of Positive Energy →

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