June 9, 2026
By Sayaspora
Explore your identity in a city on the move
Thursday, October 09, 2025 | Moderated by the program’s project managers: Nicole Sarr and Myriam Touré
Number of participants: 20 in-person and 3 online
Workshop Outline:
The first workshop of the MTL program through their experiences officially launched the cohort and brought all participants together. This introductory session was dedicated to presenting the program, its objectives, as well as expectations, commitments, and upcoming important dates, in order to establish a clear and structured framework for the rest of the program.
From a creative standpoint, this workshop aimed to support participants in structuring their artistic project ideas, in connection with their personal or collective narratives. Through their immigration experiences, life trajectories, and environments, they were invited to transform an initial, still-vague idea into a more defined project, incorporating a clear message, a chosen medium, and a preliminary implementation plan.
The participants were guided through a series of reflective questions: where does their story take place, what elements symbolize this place, how does their environment influence their experience or artistic practice, what emotion do they wish to convey, and what message or question do they wish to raise. Particular attention was paid to making their projects suitable for online distribution, as well as integrating their Montreal reality, notably through their borough as a narrative and visual anchor.
Finally, subgroup discussions allowed participants to explore different creative mediums (poetry, video, photography, digital technologies, 3D), while reflecting on how to integrate the themes of immigration and living together into their proposals.
The participants also selected and associated their portrait with the borough they represented within the program. This symbolic approach allowed them to visually anchor their participation in the Montreal landscape, highlighting the diversity of backgrounds and geographical roots within the cohort. The resulting map reflects both the plurality of lived realities and the link between individual trajectories and the different neighborhoods of the city. This workshop thus constituted a key first step in structuring the projects, fostering individual reflection, local integration, and the sharing of ideas within the cohort.
Feedback from participants:
The participants shared very positive feedback on this first workshop, which they found Both structured and welcoming, the participants particularly appreciated the photo session, which allowed them to put a name to each face and served as an excellent icebreaker, facilitating initial interactions.
The small group discussions were also highly valued. Participants highlighted the pleasure of sharing their migration stories and journeys in a supportive environment, and several were surprised to discover so many commonalities.
Spontaneous networking was another highlight: some realized they had mutual acquaintances or friends, which quickly strengthened the sense of connection and cohesion within the cohort.
