Step into a living archive of Punjabi expression at Rishta, a vibrant afternoon where poetry, music, memory, and community converge. Featuring voices from across generations, this event honours a rich literary legacy from Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji to emerging artists. Come be part of the story, a shared journey through centuries of poetic fire and the hearts that keep it burning.

An evening with Alam Khan is a soul-stirring journey through the sounds of Indian classical music, led by one of the most respected sarod players of our time. Alam Khan, son of the legendary Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan, is bringing his signature blend of emotional depth and masterful technique to Surrey—joined by the incredible Eman Hashimi on tabla.

Meet the artists! Join Alam Khan and tabla player Eman Hashimi for an intimate lecture-demonstration exploring Indian classical music and the rhythmic voice of the sarod.

Horizons is a luminous evening of music, poetry, and storytelling featuring award-winning artists who offer vision, sanctuary, and solidarity in fractured times. With performances by Vivek Shraya, Kimmortal, Mohanad El Eek, Brandon Wint with Feven Kidane, and Cecily Nicholson with Sejal Lal, this one-night gathering transcends genre—part concert, part invocation.

Join us for an evening of genre-defying music under the open sky. Featuring Sejal Lal, Jody Okabe, Ruby Singh’s kraKIN, and Surya Brass Band.

This urgent conversation, moderated by ISF Curator-in-Residence Am Johal, brings together renowned thinkers Glen Coulthard, Brenna Bhandar, and Alberto Toscano to explore the power of radical philosophy and theory—and what they offer to today’s political and conceptual struggles.

What does it mean to be an artist in this present hour? This annual roundtable invites racialized artists and cultural organizers to gather in honest conversation about resilience, solidarity, and the power of creative resistance. Part panel, part collective dialogue—this is a space to share, connect, and reimagine.

Vancouver, get ready to laugh your face off. Kiran Deol—comedian, actor, writer, and all-around badass—is bringing her signature blend of sharp wit and unfiltered honesty to the stage for a one-night-only comedy blowout. You’ve seen her on NBC’s Sunnyside, heard about her Emmy nomination and Oscar shortlist, and now you get to see her live, up close, and hilariously personal. This isn’t just stand-up—it’s comedy with guts.

Explore the healing potential of art, grief, and ritual in this long table Tiffin Talk with artists Varsha Gill and Shahir Krishna, joined by residency mentor Farheen Haq and moderator Pawan Deol. After the talk, enjoy a delicious warm lunch served in Indian-style tiffins and connect with fellow attendees.

Museums and galleries are usually the first spaces where audiences encounter art. What if your initial experience with an artwork is not by looking but listening?  Through readings and conversation, writer, curator and art historian Sadia Shirazi, along with Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill and Nadia Shihab invites us to explore provenance, language, and postcolonial/Indigenous cosmologies.

Followed by a warm meal in Indian-style tiffins. ASL and live captioning available.

An intimate gathering honouring ancestral lineages and matriarchal wisdom in Indigenous, Black, South Asian, and gender-expansive communities. With artists Justine Redila, Linsay Willier Kendall, and moderated by Suvi Bains, this gathering is a reflection and offering: a space to honor the ancestral lineages that birthed us, carried us, and continue to walk with us—followed by a warm meal in Indian-style tiffins.

Justine A. Chambers and Simran Sachar’s first choreographic collaboration is an act of devotion that collapses Waacking, choreographic scores, and gestures sourced from memories and images of their mothers dancing. Today is the evening to strike lightning is a poetic consideration of dances past in order to surface what has been submerged over time.

An evening with Minelle Mahtani, Adel Iskandar, Baljit Sangra and Nermin Gogalic. From journalism to film to writing, these voices explore how storytelling can open up space for new stories—especially in times of profound rupture.