Dear colleagues, I am pleased to share the launch of the virtual platform for the multi-sited (online and physical) art exhibition, #CripRitual, curated by Critical Design Lab members Aimi Hamraie, Jarah Moesch, and me (Cassandra Hartblay), in collaboration with Tangled Art+Disability in downtown Toronto and The Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto Scarborough. https://cripritual.com/ This exhibition features over 20 artworks that use ritual to foreground understandings of disabled, crip, d/Deaf, Mad, and Sick people’s experiences. The word crip is a reclaimed form of the word “cripple” that some disabled people use to describe their own identity or community, often in response to social imperatives be normal, productive, or able-bodied. Rituals are practices that transform and draw together social worlds. #CripRitual thus describes the things that disabled people do to create new possibilities and realities. #CripRitual highlights strategies for building crip power: the ceremonies, habits, celebrations, design practices, social scripts, political protests, and community agreements, that make up disability culture. The project website will continue to evolve over the course of the exhibition during winter 2022, with live virtual events<https://cripritual.com/events/>, new photographs of the installations, a crip ritual care package (to come!), and the opportunity for audiences to share their own concept of crip ritual. Works at Doris McCarthy Gallery by Khairani Barokka, Ezra Benus, Sky Cubacub, Aleksey Dymdymarchenko, Shannon Finnegan, Fran Flaherty, Stefana Fratila, Alex Haagaard, Danielle Hyde, Yo-Yo Lin, Leena Raudvee, RA Walden, Sara Prisma Williston Works at Tangled Art + Disability by Cassidy Bankson, Faye Harnest, Earl LeBlanc and Dawn McLeod, Malcolm and Maria Corley, Margeaux Feldman, Maryam Hafizirad, Logan Quinn, Hanna Sheehan, Jessica Watkin The digital documentation of the works are available to the public on the #CripRitual website<https://cripritual.com/artworks/>, including a variety of multimodal accessibility elements (visual and audio description). VISITING THE GALLERIES The Doris McCarthy Gallery will be open to in-person visits with regular gallery hours beginning February 8, 2022. Virtual Tours are available. For visitor information, see the Doris McCarthy Gallery website<https://dorismccarthygallery.utoronto.ca/about/visiting>. Tangled Art + Disability will be open to in-person visits by appointment beginning February 21, 2022. Virtual Tours are available by reservation now through April 1, Thursday - Saturday<https://calendly.com/tangledarts/30min?month=2022-02>. For visitor information, see the Tangled Art + Disability website<https://tangledarts.org/>. The physical exhibition will close on April 1st at both locations. This project is possible through the ongoing support of the partner galleries. The Doris McCarthy Gallery operates with the ongoing support of the University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto Arts Council, and Canada Council of the Arts. Tangled Art + Disability counts among its sponsors Canada Arts Council, Ontario Council for the Arts, the City of Toronto, TD Ready Commitment, and Bodies in Translation. Support for the development, installation, and maintenance of the physical and virtual #CripRitual exhibition was provided by the University of Toronto Scarborough, the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative at the University of Toronto, the Flourish: Arts & Social Well-being Research Cluster at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Ontario Arts Council, and the Canadian Heritage Canada Arts Presentation Fund. My colleagues and I would be glad to visit your courses or working groups to share more about the project, the curatorial process, designing an accessible exhibition, and the concept of Crip Ritual. Workshops with participating artists are also possible to arrange. We hope that the website itself will become a useful teaching resource and digital humanities contribution to disability studies, health humanities, and related fields. Warmly, Cassandra Cassandra Hartblay Director, Centre for Global Disability Studies Assistant Professor Department of Health & Society University of Toronto Scarborough Graduate Department of Anthropology Centre for European, Russian & Eurasian Studies University of Toronto Faculty Profile<https://anthropology.utoronto.ca/people/faculty/cassandra-hartblay/> Website <https://cassandrahartblay.com/> Centre for Global Disability Studies<https://globaldisabilitystudies.ca/> <https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/DrHartblaysOfficeHours@utoronto.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/> Available Now: I Was Never Alone or Oporniki: An Ethnographic Play on Disability in Russia<https://utorontopress.com/ca/i-was-never-alone-or-oporniki-4>