05/05/2026
We are writing with deep disappointment to share that 7a*11d will not be hosting our International Festival of Performance Art this year. The majority of the festival’s funding was dependent on our Composite Activities grant application to the Canada Council for the Arts. Although the deadline for the application was in November 2025, we were notified only March 20 that our application was refused on a technicality.
This came as a shock.
The 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art has a long (29 year) track record of funding by the Council in a variety of programs. The rejection of our application was poorly managed, with program eligibility requirements changing amidst a portal relaunch at the CCA, and a failure on the part of the grant officers to account for the circumstances that skewed our eligibility. The negligence was compounded by the fact that we were not notified of any issues with our application until 5 months after the grant deadline. The CCA’s protocols should be that grants are reviewed for eligibility within a few weeks of the grant deadline, so that applicants can plan their way forward.
Our eligibility depended on having received two composite grants over the last 5 years, and given our 2022 and 2024 festivals were successfully funded with composite grants of this kind, we reasonably assumed we met the criteria. However, our 2022 funding was the result of a 2019 grant application. This funding was deferred because of the COVID19 pandemic.The fact that these circumstances were overlooked by the CCA is negligence. We did the responsible thing by deferring our festival from 2020 to 2022. We wanted our artists to make the live works that we invited them to present and we wanted to do so safely. Following safety protocols standard in 2022, we held a live festival and realized the vision we proposed and were awarded to realize.
Both in preparing our grant application last year and in trying to get an answer for this disappointing result, getting information directly from the CCA has been impossible.The CCA website no longer lists what grant officers are responsible for individual programs, and the telephone voice mailbox for individual programs is not available. The disqualification letter was sent as an automated message without signature or return email. The notice that we were not eligible to apply came 5 months after the program deadline, making it impossible to regroup and pivot.
We feel we have been left in the dark.
The delayed notification of the loss of this continued source of funding also means that our chances of accessing operational funding from the Toronto Arts Council have been ruined, and the deadlines for other granting possibilities have passed. No longer being eligible for composite funding diminishes our ability to engage in long-term planning and the development of cohesive multi-year programming. The mishandling of our application has caused potentially debilitating setbacks in our activity and threatens our success going forward.
Understandably, we are broken-hearted, and admittedly angry with how this played out. If we had been notified of our disqualification earlier, we could have appealed the back-dating of eligibility, and/or made other arrangements to regroup.
While this is certainly disappointing to us, this also serves as a major blow to performance communities across Canada. Performance remains a medium that is often misunderstood, overlooked, and bereft of financial support. Performance art is an art form for feminist and q***r practices; for art by Indigenous and racialized people; for artists with different abilities, and those who are migrants and refugees. Since 1997, 7a*11d has provided a top-tier, well-supported, and impeccable curatorial platform for performance practice, its practitioners, and the community at large.
As a completely volunteer collective, we do this work for the passion of it. This commitment is especially meaningful within a cultural landscape where such practices are often under-recognized. The cancellation of this year’s festival, and its uncertainty going forward jeopardizes future community building, professional development, and material and practice support from an organization that has been operating for close to 30 years.
Moving forward, our plan is to reapply for funding to present the festival next year with our currently planned roster of local, national and international, emerging and senior artists, who all remain committed to presenting their work in the context of the 7a*11d Festival. We have curated incredible artists with diverse practices from around the world. We feel both inspired and motivated to present them in Toronto, and are committed to upholding our invitations to these artists. As an organization with a long-standing track record and a clear commitment to our community, we believe our work warrants a process that affords us the clarity and consideration necessary to respond thoughtfully and sustain what we have built.
If you would like to show your support for 7a*11d, we invite you to sign this letter https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VrReN8Np-OHtVxE0GjY89I0S6UsRJxiilCbLf6dNAoc/edit acknowledging the negligence of the Canada Council for the Arts. We appreciate the solidarity.
Sincerely,
the 7a*11d Toronto Performance Art Collective
Kiera Boult, Paul Couillard, Vanessa Godden, Francisco-Fernando Granados, Johanna Householder, James Knott, Shalon T. Webber-Heffernan
You can view our public letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cdsT5F5Nr3eG0XKK4pCJmGfVXbawQhzlbS7egcts1gY/edit?usp=sharing If you'd like to sign in solidarity, please fill out this form and your name will be included to the list of signees.
