Pocket Gathering with Juliane Foronda

In connection with the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program, Juliane Foronda led a Pocket Gathering program for students in the Creative Writing program. Based on her current research around textiles and their connection to gendered and cultural resistance, specifically through the lens of pockets, this program invited students to each bring a pocket with them to share with the group. Held over food, the program was designed to encourage open conversation, participation, and exchange, through conversation and a follow-up mind mapping exercise. Guided by Foronda, the students collectively reflected on the objects we carry, why we keep them close, and what they come to mean, and what it means to gather.

Juliane Foronda is a Filipina-Canadian artist, writer, and researcher whose work is invested in radical care, feminist hospitality, and traditions of gathering. A large portion of her work deals with archival research, both within and beyond the institution. Foronda is the 2026 recipient of the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence bursary fund, offered by the Doris McCarthy Gallery in partnership with Ontario Heritage Trust.