Summer Embassy Cultural House Community Updates

This past Sunday, we celebrated the summer solstice and National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is the 6th year of ECH’s renewal...

View this email in your browser Mireya Seymour, one side of a future earring set, Peyote stitch beaded corn with deer hide husks, yellow and cream colour miyuki beads, 24k gold plated miyuki beads and deer hide, 2026 Photo credit: Mireya Seymour This past Sunday, we celebrated the summer solstice and National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is the 6th year of ECH’s renewal with its diverse programs and projects, which began during the pandemic with a focus on the archives. We have connected with thousands of subscribers and readers, as we continue an active program with our partners. On June 27, ECH hosts the Queer Cinema for Palestine in London - our 4th year. The London event at the Central Public Library, on Dundas St., is organized by ECH Advisory circle contributor Ira Kazi. We are grateful to Incé Husain, who has designed the inspiring poster and has also joined the ECH team as a contributing editor.  We look forward to participating in the Prairie Art Book Fair in Winnipeg from September 11-13 and have been invited back to the Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC), Toronto to participate in their November program.  Each opportunity extends our work into these various cultural communities. Working on a shoestring budget, your support is crucial for us to continue our work. We encourage you to spread the word about ECH and encourage others to subscribe to the ECH website. Please visit our online ECH shop and browse in-person for our materials at Museum London’s shop and independent bookstores in London which carry our publications including Little Wren Books, Attic Books, Brown & Dickson Bookstore and Oxford Bookstore and in Toronto at Art Metropole and CDCC.   Congratulations to Lorraine Klaasen, who received a Forest City Music Award & her successful screening of her film, The Legends of Madiba: In Their Own Words on May 14th, 2026, at Museum London. This is our last ECH newsletter until September, but stay tuned for the occasional update until then. Thank you to all of our newsletter subscribers for your support. We are wishing everyone a safe and happy summer! Mireya Seymour, Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan   Condolences to Jessica Karuhanga's family  Right to left: Jessica Karuhanga, Lorraine Klaasen, Winsom Winsom & curator Qanita Lilla at Ukutula: Our Timeless Journey exhibition Nov. 2024 - March 2025. Developed by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, hosted by Museum London. Jessica Karuhanga was one of the featured artists in this exhibition. Photo credit: Courtesy of Museum London, February 22nd 2025 The ECH team mourns the tragic loss of Jessica Karuhanga, who died on April 29, 2026. Jessica leaves a brilliant legacy through her art and the many friends who had the opportunity to study and work with her as an educator in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University. We express our sincere condolences to her family and friends. In memoriam, posted by the Visual Arts Department, Western University.    ECH Partners with Queer Cinema for Palestine for the Fourth Year Wow. We have been completely overwhelmed by the response to QCP 2026. (Made history in 2021). We were optimistic that we would break last year's record of 110+ screenings, but we had no idea we would almost triple that number! QCP 2026 will feature 300 screenings in 60 countries in 20 languages. We hope to see you at one of the screenings. https://queercinemaforpalestine.org/ Remembering 2025 "Queer Cinema for Palestine: No Pride in Genocide" by Incé Husain As the 2026 program is being screened in London, Contributing Editor Incé Husain has reflected on last year's screening in the article Remembering 2025 "Queer Cinema for Palestine: No Pride in Genocide", published through The Antler River Media Co-op on the Unprecedented Times Website. Click on the link below to read the article. View Incé Husain's Article Here Qanita Lilla visiting Ron Benner’s photographic/garden installation As the Crow Flies at Museum London. Blooming of the Honeysuckle Vine. Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 Photo credit: Ron Benner On June 9th, Qanita Lilia visited Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan to interview them for her podcast With Opened Mouths. Keep an eye out for updates. Mireya Seymour working in the garden of Trans/mission: Native to the Americas, Wilfrid Laurier University Campus, Thursday, June 4th, 2026. Photo credit: Ron Benner In Waterloo at Wilfrid Laurier University, the garden installation part of Trans/mission: Native to the Americas was installed by Ron Benner and Mireya Seymour on June 4th, 2026. A short trip from London, Ontario, Trans/mission is located in a secluded, shady spot in front of the Laurier University Library. ECH News ECH has been accepted into the Prairie Art Book Fair at Plug In ICA in Winnipeg from Sept. 11- 13, 2026. We will be featuring our recent ECH publications, postcards & prints. Anthea Black, book artist, educator, curator and ECH contributor will be hosting the ECH team in Winnipeg.  We are grateful for the financial support of the London Arts Council and individual donors. We were successful in obtaining funding through the CAIP program for our online project climate crisis... no fixed address. We would like to announce that we are doing a pop-up in Hassan Law for Open Doors in September with Little Wren Books and Diana Tamblyn where we will be selling books, print materials and more!  Following up on our trip to Vancouver, ECH is gathering books from our library to donate to Centre A’s library in Vancouver which has one of the largest library collections of Asian culture in Canada. At Centre A we also met the Vancouver-based artist David Khang whose exhibition was on at the time of Ron and Jamelie’s visit. Please visit the Centre A website to see more information about their programming.  Special thanks to the ECH team and contributors: Tariq Hassan Gordon, Olivia Mossuto, Mireya Seymour, Jessica Joyce, Ira Kazi, John Greyson, Diana Tamblyn, Jayce Salloum, Judith Rodger, SF Ho, Salah D. Hassan, Ince Husain, Liza Eurich, Andrew Maize, Najeeb Hassan, Shelina Neallani, Jenna Hassan, and Blessy Augustine.  Upcoming ECH Events Scheduled Upcoming Events Friday, September 11 - Sunday, Sept.13 - Prairie Arts Book Fair, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, MB Thursday, September 17th - Sunday, Sept. 20th - Open Doors Embassy Cultural House Pop-up at Hassan Law on Dundas Place with Little Wren Books and Diana Tamblyn, London, ON  Saturday, September 19th - Maize Barbacoa / Corn Roast, Ron Benner at Museum London featuring music by Frank Ridsdale, and opening words and drumming by Mary Lou Smoke, London, ON Friday, November 13 - Sunday, Nov.15 - Toronto Antiquarian Book Fair, Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), Toronto, ON https://tabf.abac.org/ Image: ECH Postcards by Olivia Mossuto, Incé Hussain, Shelley Niro, Jamelie Hassan, Ron Benner, Diana Tamblyn and Mireya Seymour. Photo credit: Ron Benner The postcards are now available at Shop Museum London, Little Wren Books and are coming soon on the ECH website. Price: $3.00 each/5 for $10.00 + postage in Canada Celebrating Art Spectacular 2026 Poster with artwork by Katie Wilhelm On June 20th, 2026, the London Arts Council hosted the Art Spectacular at the Central Library. The event featured new public art on Dundas Place planters, kiosks, banners, the Songlines installation, Counterpoint, at the J. Allyn Taylor building, the ongoing work on Rapid Transit Shelter public art, and recent restoration work on The People and the City monument. The event was well attended and celebrated over 90 artworks amongst the projects.  Artists included on Dundas Place: Katie Wilhelm, Amsa Yaro, Jamelie Hassan, and Emily Schuyler. Cuba Fundraiser Results Congratulations to the Estamos Con Cuba fundraiser, they raised $6,540 for the Canadian Network on Cuba. Estamos Con Cuba is a fundraiser organized by the Latin American Canadian Solidarity Association (LACASA) and People for Peace London to deliver life-saving support to the Cuban people, who are being starved and deprived of necessities by the US blockade. ECH Online Shop Looking to purchase publications, print materials and artists' multiples directly through ECH? We have launched a webpage that will include not only our current publications, such as Not/For the Money and An Alternative Cultural History of London Ontario, but also artwork from the ECH archive and ECH contributors. Incé Husain's Prints Installed at Little Wren Books From the river to the sea and Cats of Gaza installed at Little Wren Books, June 2026 Photo credit: Ron Benner, 2026 Yet I Dance, From the river to the sea and Cats of Gaza installed at Little Wren Books, June 2026 Photo credit: Ron Benner, 2026 Incé Husain's prints From the river to the sea and Cats of Gaza can now be purchased in person through our partner Little Wren Books. Beadwork by Mireya Seymour/Seeds of the Moon Square stitch beaded floral keychains designed and handmade by Mireya Seymour, June 2026 Photo credit: Mireya Seymour Mireya Seymour, Coordinating Editor for ECH and artist/founder of Seeds of the Moon, recently completed a series of beaded jewelry and accessories that were presented at Weirdo Market, June 21st 2026. Follow along on her social media for updates @seedsofthemoon.  Forest City Gallery Featuring Michelle Wilson May 28 – July 23, 2026 Forest City Gallery, 1025 Elias St., London, ON This work began with a family story I could not let go of, and deepened through the act of trying to tell that story to my child. In 1911, my grandfather and great-uncle were sent to Canada as British Home Children—removed from their families at the ages of nine and ten and placed into a system that positioned them as surplus, transforming their bodies into capital for the colonial state. As I traced their histories, I began to think alongside another movement: the global circulation of plants through imperial greenhouse systems. Both operated through logics of transfer, cultivation, and control—lives uprooted, renamed, and reorganized to serve distant economies and imperial ideologies. Those in Glass Houses… holds these histories together.   See more details below.  FCG Website Congratulations to Athena, New Owner of the Framing and Arts Centre Athena Rainville standing in front of Elements Custom Picture Framing, 371 Horton Street, London, ON, May 2026 Photo credit: John White Athena and Judge Sharon Hassan at the counter inside Elements, May 2026 Photo Credit: Ron Benner CARFAC, Ontario - Ontario Status of the Artist Action CARFAC has released a full statement regarding the Ontario Status of the Artist Action, a grassroots initiative to strengthen the visual arts sector.  Their statement reads:  Whereas the practice and presentation of the visual arts shapes and reflects the values, imagination, and worldviews of Ontarians, and is critical for social, political, and cultural participation; insufficient public funding for the arts, and an absence of industry-standard practices can impact the collaboration between artists and the organizations that engage them; the Status of Ontario’s Artists’ Act (2007) provides broad and mostly voluntary actions that the provincial government may undertake, but lacks meaningful provisions to support the arts and culture sector; legislation is unnecessary for the arts sector to work together, in solidarity and in the spirit of cooperation, to strengthen the environment for artists and organizations to collaborate in the advancement of the visual arts. Read more on the CARFAC website here. Embassy Cultural House has joined the list of adopters and we have affirmed alignment with the Ontario Status of the Artist action to strengthen the visual arts sector.  See the full list of status adopters.   What We Are Reading The Complicit Lens: U.S Media Coverage of Isreal's Genocide in Gaza, by Robin Andersen, introduction by Rashid Khalidi. OR Books, 2026 Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao, 2026 Musician gave voice to the experiences of Indigenous people, Globe and Mail, Obituaries, Friday, June 19th, 2026, David Campbell singer/songwriter, Arawak artist, died in Vancouver, B.C at the age of 91 You Are The Medicine 13 Moons of Indigenous Wisdom, Ancestral Connection, and Animal Spirit Guidance by Asha Frost, 2022 Relevant and Related Links Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, Canadian Museum for Human Rights https://humanrights.ca/exhibition/palestine-uprooted-nakba-past-and-present The Zionist Narrative on 'Anti-Semitic' Shootings is Bullshit, The Maple http://readthemaple.com/the-zionist-narrative-on-antisemitic-shootings-is-bullshit/?ref=maple-digest-news-newsletter&attribution_id=6a39800d0df930000195c572&attribution_type=post Visit the ECH Website Copyright © 2026 Embassy Cultural House, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Embassy Cultural House 514 Pall Mall Street London, ON N5Y 2Z6 Canada Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Embassy Cultural House is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial. Copyright © 2026 Embassy Cultural House. All rights reserved. Our mailing address: 514 Pall Mall Street, London, ON, N5Y 2Z6, Canada Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.