KANIKA GUPTA
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A WARM HUG

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A Warm Hug is an interactive sculptural light installation that illuminates when interacted with. When the participant “hugs” the sculpture, it will simultaneously respond to the hug by glowing and lighting up. A Warm Hug encourages playful interactions that are designed to inspire connection and promote the universality of warmth and love. This body of work is particularly relevant today when fear, mistrust, and disregard for humanity dominate the headlines of mainstream media where loneliness and isolation feel more prevalent than human connection and physical contact. There is a tendency to be selective of who we choose to share our love with, based on our biases. By asking participants to do something they otherwise wouldn’t do (hugging an object they have no pre-existing connection with), they are subconsciously leaving behind their judgement and biases.

Use #GiveaWarmHug to capture your pictures, stories and experiences with the Installation.
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Ottawa City Hall : February 20, 2020 - Present.  Marion Dewar Plaza, 110 Laurier Avenue West​, Ottawa, ON. 
On display outside the main entrance of City Hall 

Winterlude @ Sparks Street : January 31, 2020 - February 17, 2020. Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON.   
The flagship event of the winter tourist season in Canada's Capital Region, Winterlude offers must do winter pleasures such as tube sliding, skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway and admiring snow and ice sculptures among other cultural activities.  

Celebration Square @ City of Mississauga : December 20, 2019 - January 23, 2020. 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario.  
Celebration Square is located in the heart of downtown Mississauga. Join us in this award-winning public square for free programming during the holiday season!

AUSUM Venture for Humanity at Baruch College : December 9 - 11, 2019. City University New York. 55 Lexington Ave, NY. 

LUMEN Festival for Culture Days @ City of Waterloo : September 28, 2019. 6-11pm. Uptown Waterloo, Ontario. 
Lumen is an annual festival that features the work of artists as they explore the interplay of light, art, and technology. 

SPECTRUM on at THEMUSEUM : April 25, 2019 - September 2, 2019
SPECTRUM is an interactive, shareable, playable and oh-so-Instagram-able exhibition which explores the world of colour at THEMUSEUM in Downtown Kitchener. Visitors are immersing themselves into the pop culture phenomenon that is SPECTRUM at
THEMUSEUM spending hours playing in the colourful rooms.

Winter Light Exhibition at Ontario Place: November 23, 2018 – March 17, 2019.
Throughout the winter season, Ontario Place is a landscape of brisk wind, extreme temperature and intricate ice sculptures crafted by Mother Nature herself. Produced in collaboration with Amit Kehar, Adam Schwartzentruber and Navnith Ravindran following the curatorial theme of “Disruptive Engagement”, we created A Warm Hug.

Media Coverage


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On display at Ontario Place. Amit and Kanika are hugging the installation as Nav (our genius electrical engineer) programs the lights.
Copyright 2020 Kanika Gupta
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