Has the world become more triggering—or are people too sensitive these days? Over the past ten years, cultural controversy over trigger warnings has skyrocketed. Understandings of who trigger warnings are for, as well as what they may make possible, have become as ubiquitous as they are inconsistent in scholarly literature and popular discourses. Do trigger warnings help people to learn about that which is distressing, harmful, and injurious in ways that do not retraumatize—or do they fore...

Aaron Richmond and Tamar Tembeck (Post doctorial researcher, Concordia University / Artistic Director, OBORO Gallery, Montreal, Canada)Navigation Without a Compass - Reflections on Curating the WAYFINDERS exhibitionWe wish to present some critical reflections on the exhibition WAYFINDERS, to be presented at the MAI in April 2026. WAYFINDERS explores how we orient ourselves in our bodies, within the universe, and amongst others. In a moment which is marked by social, politica...

See the Catalogue of Artworks in the Multisensory and Virtual Art Galleries for the abstract for this performance piece.

See the Catalogue of Artworks in the Multisensory and Virtual Art Galleries for the abstract for this performance piece.

Bea Dieker (Frankfurt, GermanyAppealing or Disgusting? Atmospheres: The Most Powerful Game ChangersWhat makes an apartment, a city, an employer, or a means of transportation appealing or unappealing? Are the factors aesthetic, or are they social? Material or immaterial? And isn’t all of this highly subjective? When people wait together for the bus in the rain, we see how weather, architecture, and personal interactions come together to create something entirely new: an at...

Ehsan Akbari (Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick, Canada)Sensing the Environmental through Art EducationIn this presentation, I will explore ways educators can integrate art and sensory education to sensitize learners to environmental issues. Bertling (2023) argued for the urgency of incorporating eco-pedagogy in art education to inspire a generation of ecologically aware citizens. Such teaching aims to nourish learners’ connection to the natural world, mak...

2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of the launch of The Senses and Society and coining of the term ‘sensory studies.’ Senses and Society was founded by Michael Bull and David Howes (who have alternated in the role of Managing Editor every 3-4 years) and Doug Kahn and Paul Gilroy. The term sensory studies was selected (over e.g. ‘sensography’) and used in the title of the inaugural article, ‘Introducing Sensory Studies,’ in order to serve as an umbrella term for the multiple sub...

In "Learning(with)plants" interactive workshop we will invite one guest plant to participate in our practice-based research space of sensing and healing with plants. We will reflect on vegetal intelligence and will question what plants can teach us and how they can participate in our mutual learning to respond to the challenges of the fast-changing world. We will be sharing stories, memories, experiences, feelings, diverse knowledges and we will be writing(with)plants by shapeshifting into a ...