WINNIPEG EXPERTS

Freya Björg Olafson is an intermedia artist who works with video, audio, animation, motion capture, XR, painting, and performance. Their praxis engages with identity and the body, as informed by technology and the Internet. Her work has been exhibited and performed internationally at the Bauhaus Archiv (Berlin), SECCA - SouthEastern Center for Contemporary Art (North Carolina), LUDWIG museum (Budapest), and The National Arts Center (Ottawa). In spring 2020 Olafson was one of the longlist ‘Sobey Art Award’ recipients and in July 2021 was selected for the Lumen Prize for Art & Technology longlist. Olafson holds an MFA in New Media from the Transart Institute / Donau Universität and joined the Department of Dance at York University as an Assistant Professor in July 2017. As of July 2021 she is an Assistant Professor in Digital Media at the University of Manitoba School of Art.

Fabio Hofnik is a creative technologist, interactive storytelling enthusiast. He immigrated from Brazil in 2019 and is promoting virtual reality technology and content to Manitoba, working for local companies as business developer and producing a festival that is happening in 2022. Passionate about the merge of theatre, cinema, video games and digital art since his young ages.

Hugh Conacher is a lighting and multi-media designer, and a photographer, whose practice is based in live performance. He has collaborated with musicians, choreographers, directors, visual artists, and dance and theatre companies throughout Canada and around the world, in venues large and small. He approaches each project as an individual work of art.

Hugh’s multi-disciplinary process straddles the worlds of lighting design, new media technologies, projection and photography, blurring the lines between disciplines, using whichever media form best serves the vision of his current project.

Hugh serves on the boards of several arts organizations and has been the curator for the High Octane Gallery at the Gas Station Arts Centre in Winnipeg since 2002. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide.

Hugh has been a member of the Associated Designers of Canada since 1982 and is a member of l’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec.

Adrian is the co-founder of Complex Games, Winnipeg’s oldest independent video game studio. A 20 year veteran of the games industry, she has worked with companies like Disney, Hasbro, and Games Workshop to bring their properties to mobile platforms. Outside of work she explores how code can be beautiful, with a focus on live coding music and LED fashion. She is also passionate about STEAM education and outreach, teaching workshops, providing consulting and creative solutions, and volunteering her time as an educator and mentor both privately, and with New Media Manitoba, Creative Mantioba, Wayfinders, Video Pool, the Manitoba Association of Playwrights, and the Winnipeg Public Library.

Lesley is the CEO and co-founder of Flipside XR. Their flagship product, Flipside Studio, is virtual production software for real-time performance and motion capture streaming. Their mission is to enable vTubers, animators, and creators to bring their ideas to life using virtual reality and immersive tech. Lesley has directed over a dozen VR apps and experiences and he presented at Oculus Connect, the VR developer conference held by Facebook. The team at Flipside XR has worked with high profile customers like Bento Box Entertainment, the creators of the Emmy award-winning animated series Bob’s Burgers, SuperRTL, a national broadcaster from Germany and Caffeine Studios, a joint venture with Fox Entertainment.