The Canadian Culture Data Catalogue – Searching for Canadian Culture
Thursday, January 29th 2026
2:45pm - 4:15pm EST
Online, Free
Speakers:
Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University Research Chair
Juan Sulca, Software Engineer
Michael Li, Multidisciplinary Designer
Silvana Sari, Design Researcher
This workshop is organized as part of Mass Culture’s DNA Expo 2026, in the Empowering: Turning Data into Insight event block at. DNA Expo is a free, daylong online event that brings together arts organizations and cultural workers, funders and municipal partners, artists, and students, researchers, and practitioners in cultural policy eager to dive deeper into and be part of a Community of Practice around data. This year’s theme is Where Community Form, Storm and Transform. More information about Mass Culture’s DNA Expo here.
Detailed Session Info:
Let’s get acquainted with the Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue (CCDC) - a centralized searchable guide to cultural datasets and databases across the country. The CCDC identifies and describes datasets from museums, galleries, archives, cultural organizations, governments, academic research initiatives, cultural industries and the private sector, making it easier to explore, compare, and connect with data that reflects the richness and diversity of Canada's cultural ecosystem.
Join for a hands-on workshop exploring this prototype catalogue bringing together cultural datasets across federal, provincial, local, academic, Indigenous, public, and arts-sector sources. Living case studies will be showcased to locate datasets and explore how they can support the needs of scholars and art organizers, from planning and advocacy to evaluation and impact reporting. We will also explore the tool with its designers and help shape what comes next.
Key questions for this session: What cultural datasets already exist in Canada, and how can we find and use them? How can these datasets be applied to support the needs of art organizations and researchers?
Top Takeaways:
Actionable insights in how to use different kinds of data to understand an issue or challenge facing them and to make effective arguments.
Understanding the breadth of datasets that are available to support their needs or their research.
New understandings, whether trends over time, audience development and change, economic and social impacts of culture.
Access to datasets created through years of Canadian robust cultural research.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Sara Diamond, Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, President Emerita OCAD University is University Research Chair and Professor in OCAD U’s the Faculty of Arts and Science. A computer scientist, historian, artist, and designer, Diamond holds deep interest in the relationships of human practices, diverse cultures, and technologies. Her art works include www.codezebra.net, an early creative neural network that measured and visualized emotion in language patterns. Her cultural sector funded research includes creating the Canadian Cultural Database Catalogue a deep resource for cultural research; qualitative research tools for screen industries; and Crossing Fonds, a digital platform for archival collaboration and data remediation. She is co-PI of the iCity2.0 network applying generative design and procedural visualization to plan complete and equitable communities. She serves as co-director of Abundant Intelligences: Expanding Artificial Intelligence through Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Diamond is Chair of the Toronto Arts Foundation board and of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education board.
Juan Sulca is a maker, coder, tape enthusiast, and recently a designer with a background in Computer Science and 6 years of experience as a software engineer. He has worked across various industries, where he applied and developed his technical expertise and contributed to a wide array of projects. He is passionate about coding and making, especially electronics and physical computation. In addition, he is interested in our relationship with technology and how technology helps define our lives and interact with the environment around us.
Michael Li is a Toronto based multidisciplinary designer working at the intersection of art, design, data, and cultural technology. Graduated from the Industrial Design undergraduate program at OCAD u, he now works as a research assistant and UX designer on the national Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue (CCDC) at OCAD university, where he develops user interfaces, metadata schemas, cultural taxonomies, and data-governance frameworks supporting a data-fluent future for Canada’s arts and culture sector.
Silvana Sari is a design researcher with a background in graphic design and UX, focusing on cultural preservation and inclusive community engagement through design research and strategic foresight.