A woman with long dark hair singing into a microphone in a dimly lit, red-hued club or concert venue, surrounded by a few people.
A person sitting on a concrete ledge inside an unfinished building with two small windows, a pile of bare branches on the floor, and exposed wooden beams.
A woman in a black dress and burgundy high heels sitting on a vintage sofa. She wears large earrings and a lacy burgundy eye mask, holds a card in one hand, and adjusts her mask with the other. Red curtains are behind her.
A woman holding a microphone laughs while looking at a man with glasses, who is smiling and looking at his phone, in a dimly lit room with purple lighting.
A person in camouflage clothing and a white cap is riding a bicycle indoors while another person with headphones, operating a laptop, monitors the activity.
A woman with long dark hair pointing at a man with short hair and a beard, who is thinking with his finger on his lips in a dark room with a patterned curtain, a person in the background working with electronic equipment, and another person facing aw
A person in a wolf costume at a dimly lit indoor event or party, with other people blurred in the background.
A person with dark hair wearing a patterned shirt is holding up a wooden panel with the word "HOLD ME" spray-painted in red, dripping paint.
A woman with curly dark hair wearing glasses, pink earrings, a black turtleneck, and blue overalls, standing against a gray concrete wall and holding a book in her right hand.
Three women in black clothing standing in a forest with tall trees and orange leaves, looking into large round mirrors suspended between trees, reflecting the forest background.
Three people gathered around a table, examining a colorful textile with organic shapes and patterns, in a room with large windows and indoor plants.
A group of five people standing and watching in a spacious room with high ceilings, white walls, and large windows. There are chairs and tables in the background, and various equipment and supplies are scattered around.
Adrian sitting outdoors, wearing a white cap, black jacket, and black pants. Background features a metal screen covered with dried vines.
A person kneeling on a beach taking a photo of a burning white paper. The person is holding a smartphone and equipment connected with a cable, wearing a white hoodie and black cap, at night.
Blurred image of a woman wearing traditional colorful attire, dancing or moving against a patterned background.
A young man with dark hair and a mustache making a peace sign with his left hand in an indoor setting with warm lighting.
A woman with long orange hair standing outdoors at night surrounded by trees and bushes, illuminated by bright light from a large vertical LED panel on her right, with a metal pole with a small shelf and a reflective object on top to her left.
Audience seated and watching a presentation in a dimly lit room with black curtains.
A young woman sitting on a chair with her legs extended, laughing joyfully. She has face gems, is wearing a beige long-sleeve shirt with a cream crocheted vest, and olive pants with yellow knee pads. The setting appears to be indoors with a dark floo
Two musicians perform at a dark, red-lit venue, one with tattoos and short hair, using electronic music equipment.
A group of people gathered in a cozy living space, with a woman standing and speaking to the group, while others sit and stand around listening. The room has a kitchen in the background and a variety of objects on the tables.
Three people working at a DJ booth, two of them dressed in black, one with a hoodie, with large speakers on each side of them, viewed through a gap in a golden railing.
Live musical performance featuring two women sitting at a Yamaha keyboard on a dimly lit stage, with a person blurred in the foreground and a backdrop of starry lights.
Two people are in a room with a large window, with the person on the left sitting on a chair and the person on the right moving a chair. There is a table with audio equipment and microphones, and curtains are drawn across the window.
People laughing and dancing together inside a glass greenhouse or atrium.

About UKAI Projects

Work is global. Toronto is home.

We are a Canadian non-profit and collective dedicated to cultural research, material & systems prototyping, and artistic interventions that open curiosity to emerging challenges and volatilities.

Our work is internationally recognized, having worked with partners across Canada, in Egypt, Mexico, Malawi, China, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Taiwan.

Culture for what’s coming.

At UKAI Projects, we design critical responses to the present moment as well as coming futures. Our cultural research, collaborations, and productions captivate people because we create invigorating, meaningful context to engage with and encounter the changing world.

Research is our groundwork—our conceptual pulse—that guides our prototypes and artistic interventions. But the intervening art and prototypes give us everything research can’t. Our work is not one without the other: we do both and neither are optional. Adequately doing culture for what’s coming requires reaching into the wisdom of every framework available.

Autonomy & prototyping futures.

We show possible futures so that we might find ways of stepping into them. Between climate damage, societal change, economic anxiety, and erupting conflict—just to name a few—we live in polarizing times where people and communities scramble for diminishing attention and resources. We want other choices. Our work then is to occupy technologies, spaces, and narratives to turn them towards other values. As a result, we then turn over new possibilities once plainly hidden through familiar routine, unchecked rules, or assumed knowledge.

We can only go to where we’re looking. So if it’s new choices and futures we’re hoping for, we look and create broadly now. 

Resonant networks of exchange.

Our work is possible and innumerably enriched by the exchange of every person crossing our paths. We connect and lean on an ever-growing network of people across the world and from all walks of life—artists, researchers, writers, designers, dancers, poets, musicians, organizers, supporters, partners, corporate workers, technologists, public sector workers, students, activists, funders, party-goers, performers, technicians, engineers, administrators, scientists, educators, consultants, healers, knowledge keepers, volunteers, planners, and on and on.  

We believe in the necessity of polyphony, and our relationships mirror the same. When threads get long, lost, or irrevocably tangled, it is always people that bring resonance in disorder. And our network is more than safe grounding: we know every connection we make and made through us is an exchange that pays forward in time. We don’t know which ideas, paths, and projects that will be born out of the links, whether by us or the wider community. But we do know it’s closer to more futures, more possibilities, different choices.

Community Insights

A security badge with a black silhouette of a person's head and shoulders, and a green check mark.
Black and white photo of a smiling woman with braided hair, wearing a black shirt with white design.
A person with long dark hair, glasses, and headphones, holding a finger to his nose, sitting in front of a microphone.

The Shipwreck project successfully activated our space located on the outskirts of the city of 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

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

What sets UKAI apart from others in the AI conversation, is the integrity by which they focus on open access and cultural creation. The former serves to bring a wide and diverse group of people in, encourage AI literacy, and create long-term resources for others to continue learning from. The latter keeps us engaged in the conversation, and shifts the underlying philosophy from one of scarcity of knowledge, to relative and relational abundance. UKAI doesn’t just make gatherings and hold conversations, it builds cultural change.

—

Milton Lim (CA)

Artist-in-Resident, Ferment AI

Core Team

Portrait of a young man with glasses, looking slightly upward, in low lighting with a dark background.

Benjamin Lappalainen
XR Development Lead

A woman with long dark hair looking to her left, wearing a maroon button-up shirt, standing in front of a green and dark background.

Luisa Ji
Director, Studio Programming

A young woman with long, curly black hair and medium skin tone standing indoors near a large window with metal framing. She is wearing a white t-shirt and looking at the camera with a neutral expression. There are indoor plants and brick walls in the background.

Husna Farooqui
Communications Lead

Advisory and Governance

  • Jerrold McGrath

    FOUNDER, DIRECTOR (2017-25)

  • Simón Rojas

  • Albéric Maillet

  • Michael F Bergmann

  • Jutta Brendemuhl

  • Tristan Sauer

  • Kasey Dunn

A person in a goat costume with a furry headpiece, surrounded by a dimly lit crowd at a club or party.
A glowing red cube with a reflective surface sits on forest floor surrounded by ferns and undergrowth in a dense woodland.
Interior of an art exhibition space with abstract sculptures, balloon installation, and modern artwork on the walls, illuminated with mixed lighting.
One person with long hair standing in a forest with autumn leaves, looking into three large oval mirrors that reflect the trees and sky, with a red tint overlay.
A blurred image of a woman wearing traditional orange and yellow clothing, dancing with an outstretched arm, with a patterned backdrop and another person in the background.
A digital art installation featuring two black-and-white photographs of a child and a puppet on adjacent screens, surrounded by a red-lit room with balcony windows.
People dancing in a dark, foggy venue with red lighting, some wearing glasses, and a person with long hair in the foreground.
An art installation with blue LED lights on white walls, a projection of a river scene on a semi-transparent screen, and geometric textured panels, creating a futuristic atmosphere.
A person working on video editing with multiple screens, a tablet, and a laptop on a desk in an office or studio setting.
Two people examining a large pile of dried tree branches and twigs in an indoor space with concrete walls, with a lighted branch art installation behind them.
A person wearing a goat mask with fur details, illuminated by red light, with a glowing yellow light in the foreground.
A scientist in blue gloves handling a white, textured sample inside a metal container connected to a CryoTherm system, with a bio-freeze device and laboratory equipment in the background.
Two people bending over a robot that looks like a furry creature with horns, in an industrial space with high windows and other people in the background.
A group of people at a dinner party in a dimly lit space, serving food from a table, with a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.
A woman with long red hair is standing outdoors at night surrounded by dense foliage, wearing a black quilted jacket, black pants, and gray shoes, illuminated by a vertical bright light source.
Two people sitting on the floor in a concrete room, watching a projection of abstract geometric shapes on the wall, with headphones and a small audio device.
A person silhouette holding glowing, wavy light streaks in dark surroundings, creating a figure-eight or infinity shape.
An art installation featuring tall, vertical wooden structures with plants growing out of them, arranged on a black platform in a gallery space.
Three people working together in an industrial warehouse, assembling or installing a large red neon sign, one person standing on a ladder, two others on the ground.
A group of people hiking through a dense, green forest during daytime, with trees and sunlight filtering through the leaves.
A man sitting on the sandy beach at night, holding a smartphone, photographing or recording a small, white, rectangular object on the ground connected to a device, with a burning white cloth or paper suspended on wires in front of him.
People at a dimly lit social gathering with warm lighting, a large window, and a table with food or presents.
An art installation in a gallery with a large vertical screen displaying a dark, forest-like image. A smaller screen on the floor shows a nature scene, and a speaker is placed nearby.
A person in a cozy sweater sitting at a cluttered table illuminated by a glowing orange orb lamp, with origami figures and a microphone in front. The scene has warm, red-orange lighting and a string of small lights in the background.
A researcher working at a desk with three computer monitors, analyzing microscopic images of a material with a pattern of holes, in a laboratory setting.
Hand wearing rings with glowing jellyfish in a dark environment.