Storytelling at 32 Lisgar

Born and raised in Nanjing, China, Jingshu Yao is a writer, artist, and museum professional based in Toronto. She holds a Master of Museum Studies degree from the University of Toronto and works as an Emerging Historian at Heritage Toronto. Jingshu’s writings focus on the intersectionality of identities. The common themes she focuses on include food, immigration, language, and queerness. Currently, she is working on a novel project about Asian queer immigrants in Toronto. Jingshu’s short stories were published in creative journals such as Tint Trails, Rabid Oak, and Block Party. Her poetry pieces can be found in What Color is a Heartbeat Anthology. She also produces multimedia work focusing on the visualization of written words.

Image credit: Jingshu Yao. Photography: Shirley Yue.

Siki Soberetonari (she/her) is an Artist and Urban farmer living in Toronto. Her art practice seeks to use language, movement and clay as vessels to question and understand the human experience. Siki has been published in Pitch Black Magazine (May 2023), Youth Organize anthology (2024) and Black LIves Matter Zine. She has performed poetry across the City of Toronto and worked in various roles in the arts and culture, research, education and housing sectors. As a self acclaimed Earth fairy, she is re/un-learning ways to be in relation with other beings and the earth; a process that informs her art practice and creativity.

Image credit: Siki Soberetonari. Photography: Gerald Eze.