Reading about fire isn’t the same as being burned.

The world is changing. How do you make sense of these changes? How will you make a home in the world that's coming?

Through immersive and interactive installations, publishing, programming, and workshops, UKAI Projects imagines and produces "culture for what's coming".

We provide you and your audiences with direct encounters with climate change, artificial intelligence, authoritarianism, and more so that you can make sense of what's happening and commit to action going forward.

About UKAI ProjectsContact Us

What people say about us —

  • Rachana Joshi, artist, Nova Dance (CA)

    "Working with UKAI has been invaluable for the Reconnections - body/heart/mind project. This initiative began during the pandemic when Sukruti and I, representing Nova Dance, participated in UKAI project's Migrations Residency. During this time, we were connected to collaborators, engaged with the community, and held crucial discussions about digital spaces, algorithms, and how culturally sensitive organizations could pivot online. The prototype we developed for an online sanctuary for sharing and collaborating through mindful movement practices in Migrations laid the groundwork for the Reconnections project.The UKAI team continued to nurture this idea as we progressed towards creating a tangible website/app. From the application process to the final presentation, UKAI provided dedicated support."

  • Martynas Petreikis, SÍM Residency Director (IS)

    "The Shipwreck project successfully activated our space, transforming it into a vibrant hub of artistic and intellectual activity. The interactive nature of the installations and the open invitation for public participation drew in diverse audiences, including local residents, art enthusiasts, and international visitors. The project’s emphasis on dialogue and engagement allowed for a deeper connection with the artworks, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose."

  • Keith Taylor, Executive Director, DUCA Impact Lab (CA)

    "UKAI Projects offers a unique perspective on the links between the systems driving our current cultural challenges and our collective well-being. Our work together provided us with valuable insights, much of which still informs our work today."

We believe people need to inhabit changes if they’re going to do anything about them—to be responsible we need to make sense of things for ourselves.

UKAI creates interactive and immersive encounters with large-scale changes.

Move through discomfort:

Our encounters involve discomfort but participants are supported to hold that discomfort and make sense of it. When we avoid uncomfortable experiences, we avoid having to respond.

Moving beyond ideologies:

When we rely on ideologies to make our decisions, we are skipping a step. We’ve decided what something means before we have the experience. UKAI's encounters provide the experience AND the space to make meaning.

Move into new approaches:

The thinking that got us here isn't the thinking that will get us out of it. Direct encounters provide the raw material to prototype new approaches.

If you are a purpose-driven organization and sometimes struggle to get people to move past abstract interest in an issue to concrete action, maybe we can help.

Work with us

Work with UKAI Projects

Cultures evolve to meet the needs of the people in them and the demands of the world around them. What kind of culture(s) will we need in order to live in a world altered by smart machines, rising temperatures, and volatile governments?


We will work with you to:

  • Create experiences that allow people to step into issues that matter rather than thinking about them abstractly or through a polarized lens
  • Prototype new ways of responding through culture
  • Publishing and other media production to amplify approaches that increase the solutions we can draw on going forward
Book a 15-minute ConversationPropose a Commission

We are not passive recipients of culture. We make it.

Direct encounters, rather than abstract and ideological ones, are necessary if we hope to make a home in this changing world.

Work with UKAI Projects

Hear from our collaborators—

  • Maitri Platform

    As a founding member of the Maitri Platform, I had a chance to work with UKAI in Maitri's earliest days. The COVID-19 pandemic had just been declared and we were all disoriented and unsure about what was to come. Like the rest of us, the team at UKAI had no idea either. But, UKAI did have great ideas about how we might organize ourselves as a global community. Their approach helped us sense check, and find a tentative path forward. Maitri wouldn't be what it is today without UKAI. In the years since, UKAI has stimulated our community to think about head-splitting problems related to algorithmic culture and also raised funds for our humanitarian efforts. We are proud to count UKAI among the organizations that have made the Maitri Platform fertile ground for exploration, discovery, and development of new approaches to humanity's challenges.

    —

    Hannah Bamwerinde (UG)

    Founder Adventures With Locals Women and Community Development Through Sustainable Tourism

  • SÍM Residency, Iceland

    The "Shipwreck" project successfully activated our space located on the outskirts of the city Reykjavík and in an area without a recent history of high-profile exhibitions, transforming it into a vibrant hub of artistic and intellectual activity. The interactive nature of the installations and the open invitation for public participation drew in diverse audiences, including local residents, art enthusiasts, and international visitors. The project’s emphasis on dialogue and engagement allowed for a deeper connection with the artworks, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

    "Shipwreck" attracted significant attention from leaders in the local arts scene, who were keen to witness this model of immersive and collaborative art-making in action. This was complemented by coverage on Iceland’s national radio and in print. The project’s unique approach and the quality of the artworks exhibited garnered visits from prominent curators, gallery owners, and cultural policymakers. Their engagement not only validated the project's impact but also highlighted its potential as a model for future art initiatives.

    —

    Martynas Petreikis (IS)

    SÍM Residency Director

    Samband íslenskramyndlistarmanna SÍM | The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists

Our collaborators and partners include—

Visit our chaotic archive

  • SíM Residency (IS)

  • Goethe-Institut (CA)

  • Applied AI Institute at Concordia University

  • MUTEK Montreal (CA)

  • Ferme Lanthorn (CA)

  • Place-des-artistes de Farrellton

  • Hebbel am ufer (DE)

  • STO Union

  • Canada Council for the Arts

  • Toronto Arts Council

  • Canadian Heritage

  • Arts Council Korea

1 12
Visit our chaotic archive

Publications

Contact form