Oughtism

Oughtism: A multimodal seminar series on neurodivergent ways of living in the world. Contributors: Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown Ahern, Steven Eastwood, Chris Gehman, Janet Harbord, Leon J. Hilton, Chris Martin, Aby Watson, M. Remi Yergeau

Hosted by Christine Shaw and Steven Eastwood / Presented by the Blackwood Gallery / Supported by the UTM/JHI Annual Seminar. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Oughtism is a seminar series which expands the Blackwood Gallery’s 2025­–26 exploration of neurodivergent doing, feeling and being, and sets out to conjure linguistic and embodied possibilities for being that resist neurotypical logic. The title is inspired by Báyò Akómoláfe, who writes:

“Oughtism is my name for the ways we are trained, habituated, conditioned, and rewarded to think along dominant lines of production. How we “ought” to behave… In these moments of wars, angry lines, and angrier flames, may we be visited by outstretched arms and offending requests to toss away the crippling fixation with neurotypical goals. And may we find the minor gesture lurking between the pieces, in breath-snatching shapes that flash up through the blinding obvious.” [1]

The Oughtism symposium asks: what does it mean to trust one’s own movement, feeling, and perception, when dominant narratives privilege certain ways of sensing, knowing, and being?

Oughtism sits in response to the Blackwood exhibition STIM CINEMA, and will unfold through a series of lectures, film screenings, experiential learning exercises, and collaborative workshops. 

We begin on Thursday, February 5 with a screening of The Stimming Pool, an experimental—at times fantastical—hybrid feature film, co-created by the Neurocultures Collective, a group of five neurodiverse artists (Georgia Bradburn, Benjamin Brown, Sam Chown Ahern, Robin Elliot-Knowles, Lucy Walker) and Steven Eastwood, who invite you into a neurodiverse world within the undulating logic of neurotypical environments. The screening will be followed by a conversation with collective members Georgia Bradburn & Sam Chown Ahern, and Steven Eastwood on their unique, accessible film production methods, facilitated by Chris Gehman.

The symposium continues the next day with Janet Harbord who will give a talk on her new book Autism and The Empathy Epidemic which digs up and examines an earlier definition of 'empathy', and argues that autism, like cinema, models an ethical apprehension of the more-than-human world. M. Remi Yergeau will give a talk on perseveration (a bodymind’s compulsion to ruminate and rehearse) and the potential it holds for providing an unruly, indecorous framework for creativity and cripping the world. We will then take an out-loud reading tour of Spreads from the Multiverse, a four-part lightbox installation on the UTM campus presenting select works from the Multiverse, a literary series featuring a chorus of neurodivergent, autistic, neuroqueer, nonspeaking, and disabled cultures. The day will conclude with a co-creation as stimming workshop with Neurocultures Collective members Georgia Bradburn & Sam Chown Ahern, and Steven Eastwood, to focus on liberated methods of artmaking that provide opportunities for neurodivergent agency and sensory joy.  

On February 7, Chris Martin will give a talk on autistic languaging as a uniquely restorative force, a wild ecosystem of expression that allows words to replenish and reroot themselves, and will conclude by engaging us in some of our own collective languaging. Leon J. Hilton will give a talk on cartographic reclamation and neurodivergent ways of inhabiting a more capacious and imaginative world which is at the centre of his new book Counter-cartographies: Neurodivergence and the Errancies of Performance. Aby Watson will conclude Oughtism with a stimprovisation workshop and jam, a sensory-seeking improvisation through practices of movement (stimdance), object (stimplements), and voice (sensinging). Along the way we’ll tour STIM CINEMA in the Blackwood’s galleries, explore the UTM campus, and nourish our bodies and minds.

All events will prioritise access and inclusion, and quiet spaces for reflection and processing will be made available. For program descriptions, contributor bios, and access information, visit the Blackwood website. Free to attend. Register on Eventbrite

[1] Báyò Akómoláfe, “Oughtism,” May 7, 2024.

Events
The Stimming Pool: Film Screening and Talk: February 5, 7–9pm
Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown Ahern, and Steven Eastwood; moderated by Chris Gehman. CAMH Auditorium, McCain Complex Care & Recovery Building Entrance, 1025 Queen Street West, 2nd floor, Toronto.

Meet and Greet Tour of STIM CINEMA: February 6, 10–11am
Snack and hot beverages provided. Blackwood Gallery, Kaneff Centre room 140, UTM Campus.

How Like a Camera: February 6, 11am–12pm
Talk by Janet Harbord. Kaneff Centre room L1220, UTM Campus.

Composing Perseveration / Perseverative Composing: February 6, 1:15–2:15pm
Talk by M. Remi Yergeau. Kaneff Centre room L1220, UTM Campus.

Co-Creation as Stimming Workshop: February 6, 3:30–5pm
Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown Ahern, and Steven Eastwood. e/gallery and Circuit Break Area, CCIT Building, ground floor, UTM Campus.

Meet and Greet Tour of STIM CINEMA: February 7, 10–11am
Snack and hot beverages provided. Blackwood Gallery, Kaneff Centre room 140, UTM Campus.

Languaging at the Periphery: February 7, 11am–12:30pm
Workshop with Chris Martin. Spigel Hall, Davis Building room 1104, UTM Campus.

Counter-Cartographies: Neurodivergence and the Errancies of Performance: February 7, 1:30–2:30pm
Talk by Leon J. Hilton. Spigel Hall, Davis Building room 1104, UTM Campus.

Stimprovisation: February 7, 3–4:45pm
Workshop with Dr. Aby Watson. Dance Studio, Davis Building room 0128, UTM Campus.

Acknowledgments
The Blackwood gratefully acknowledges the support of the 2025–26 UTM/JHI Annual Seminar, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada Council for the Arts, and Ontario Arts Council. Support for the exhibition STIM CINEMA was provided by the Jackman Humanities Institute Program for the Arts.

The screening of The Stimming Pool is presented in collaboration with Vtape. Proudly sponsored by U of T affinity partners, Manulife and TD Insurance. Discover the benefits of affinity products!