New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization, formerly based in Toronto but now in South River ON, that presents performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. NAISA operates the NAISA North Media Arts Centre, located in the centre of the village of South River at 106 Ottawa Ave., a short distance from Algonquin Park, at the building formerly known as Renée’s Café and Bean There Café.
The NAISA North Media Arts Centre includes a large exhibition/performance space, a small café, and an artist residency space suitable for media art production/creation. The café offers fresh baked goodies by local baker Lois McLaren, homemade soup by Nadene Thériault-Copeland and serves Muskoka coffee by Muskoka Roastery Coffee Company.
NAISA’s annual events include: the Deep Wireless festival of Radio & Transmission Art, the Sound Travels Festival of Sound Art, the SOUNDplay festival and Springscapes.
The objectives of NAISA are to foster awareness and understanding locally, as well as nationally and internationally, in the cultural vitality of experimental sound art in its myriad forms of expression. This objective is achieved through the exploration of new sound technologies in conjunction with the creation of cultural events and artifacts.
Upcoming Events
January 6 to March 29, 2021
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 106 Ottawa Ave, South River
NAISA is proud to announce the 20th anniversary edition of the Deep Wireless Festival of Radio & Transmission Art both online and at the NAISA North Media Arts Centre in South River. Featured this year is Story Trees by Don Hill, an installation on exhibit both online and at the NAISA North Media Arts Centre. Also included will be more online events, including the annual Art’s Birthday celebrations on January 17th, an audio presentation by Janet Rogers on February 6th, and a NAISA 20th Anniversary celebration on March 12th with James Bailey, Anna Friz and Gregory Whitehead.
“We are proud to be celebrating NAISA’s 20th anniversary with the launch of the 20th edition of NAISA’s Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art which will initiate an extended celebration lasting over the course of a full year of programming. The creative connection between listener and broadcast will be underscored throughout Deep Wireless with a complement of voices from the past and present — from direct creative participation to listeners mixing stories via their changing facial expressions — as well as from within Northern Ontario and from around the world. As in the past, the Deep Wireless festival is an invitation to make radio creative and compelling.” – Darren Copeland, Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art.
By Don Hill
January 14 to March 29, 2021
Online at storytrees.ca
STORY TREES is an online interactive installation that serves as a tool for listening & learning -- how we listen -- to echoes from an era that is open to reinterpretation.
By Anna Friz, James Bailey, Victoria Fenner and Chris Brookes
March 12, 2021, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Free audio broadcast on NAISA Radio and Video Conference location issued with advance paid registration before March 11, 2021.
General $10, Students FREE
An online radio art performance marking the 20th Anniversary of New Adventures in Sound Art and the Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art. Featured are new radio art works by Anna Friz and James Bailey and radio art works from 2005 and 2011 respectively by Chris Brookes and Victoria Fenner. In between these works there will be reflections and discussions with the artists and others capturing highlights of NAISA’s history.