AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc

07/17/2026

The CN Tower just turned 50 and our team at AVA Animation & Visual Arts is beyond grateful to have led the creation of an interactive and immersive experience commemorating this milestone. Inspired by the passing of time and the evolution of the CN Tower as a landmark, we commissioned a group of diverse Canadian artists to create physical artworks in various techniques, from beadwork to watercolors, that would later be translated into a sequence of interactive experiences, each one celebrating a different decade. The work is accompanied by a brilliant original soundtrack by award winning composer Alejandro Basulto Martínez and the mesmerizing voice of the super talented indigenous artist Semiah Smith. The work just premiered so don’t miss it!

Curation and Production / Conception et production:
AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc
Pedro Narvaez Emma Lopez Hechem

Guest artists / Artistes:
Katie Longboat .beadwork
Jinke Wang
Reena Devani
Fatimah I.
Saul Benavides
Semiah Smith

Composer / Compositeur:
Alejandro Basulto

Software Integration / Intégration logicielle:
Elburz Sorkhabi
photographyvisuals

Interns / Stagiaires:
Rock N. .nl
Kara E.

Legal / Affaires juridiques:
Gloria Carrasquero


No artificial or generative imagery was used for this project.

07/13/2026

Incredibly thankful to the CN Tower / Tour CN for trusting us to create this interactive and immersive space to celebrate the Tower's 50th Anniversary. We are super proud of the human aspect of this project, where each artist was responsible of creating a physical work of art, inspired on a decade of the tower's history. Our team adapted the assets of the artworks to create an interactive sequence for an immersive space. No artificial or generative imagery was used for this project. Please visit when you can!

Curation and Production / Conception et production:
AVA Animation & Visual Arts

Guest artists / Artistes:
Katie Longboat .beadwork
Jinke Wang
Reena Devani
Fatimah I.
Saul Benavides
Semiah Smith

Composer / Compositeur:
Alejandro Basulto

Software Integration / Intégration logicielle:
photographyvisuals

Interns / Stagiaires:
Rock N. .nl
Kara E.

Legal / Affaires juridiques:

06/11/2026

Our latest project with the premieres tonight! We had the honour to work on a collaboration with the City of Toronto and the FIFA Toronto team to showcase the best of Toronto’s creativity. With more than 150 artist’s works curated by the National Film Board of Canada, Sheridan, OCAD University, Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. The program changes every night and it will be on all weekends and game days! For more information please visit https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/industry-sector-support/creative-technology/unesco-city-of-media-arts/

05/27/2026

Getting ready for Continuance with Santee Smith and her incredible team Kaha:wi Dance Theatre ❤️

Get to know the team behind Continuance – Immersive Commemoration: Emma López Hechem (Projection Design, Animation).

Emma López Hechem is an award-winning Mexican Canadian animator, projection artist, Creative Director, and partner at AVA Animation & Visual Arts.

With more than 20 years of professional experience, Emma has created graphics and animations for renowned animation and post-production studios in Canada and internationally. In 2010, she and her partner Pedro Narvaez co-founded AVA Animation & Visual Arts, helping pioneer Architectural Projection Mapping for live events.

Since then, Emma has contributed to award-winning installations and productions presented across Mexico, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, the United States, the U.A.E., Lebanon, Armenia, Thailand, Romania, Chile, Russia, China, and Canada. Her work in short film, broadcast design, and motion graphics has also earned significant recognition, including a Dora Award for Projection Design.

Continuance – Immersive Commemoration is a powerful, site-specific performance that reflects on the legacy of the Mohawk Institute Residential School and honours Survivors through movement, sound, and story.

Event Details:
May 29 & 30, 2026
9:15PM (doors open at 8:15PM)
Woodland Cultural Centre, 184 Mohawk St., Brantford

We’re excited to share that both shows are sold out! 😊

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre

05/17/2026

We are shocked by the news of the sudden passing of the incredibly talented indigenous composer Chris Derksen. We had the honour of collaborating with Chris for this project with the CNTower, “Light of Hope”, and we wish her music keeps lighting the way for generations to come.

02/28/2026

❤️

The City’s Public Art Program invites emerging artists, artist teams and illustrators to submit expressions of interest and concept proposals for original banner artwork.

02/25/2026

coming soon!

Join us in celebration at Continuance – Immersive Commemoration, a site-specific multimedia performance co-presented by Kaha:wi Dance Theatre and Woodland Cultural Centre. This performance marks the unveiling of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School as a place of learning, responsibility, and reflection on its history.

Led by Artistic Director Santee Smith, Continuance draws on over a decade of engagement at the site and dialogue with Survivors. Rooted in the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen (Thanksgiving Address), it combines light, movement, live music, and 3D projection to honour lived experience and celebrate Indigenous cultural continuance.

This presentation coincides with:
• The 10th anniversary of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action
• Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s 20th anniversary season
• Woodland Cultural Centre’s 50th anniversary

Special guest artists:
May 29 – Jeremy Dutcher
May 30 – Aysanabee

📍 Former Mohawk Institute, 184 Mohawk St., Brantford
🗓 May 29 & 30, 2026
⏰ 9:00PM (Doors open 8:15PM)
🎟 Tickets: $40 | On sale February 27, 2026 at 12PM EST

Come celebrate the beauty and strength of our communities. To read the full media release, visit our website: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/media-release-kahawi-dance-theatre-and-woodland-cultural-centre-co-present-continuance-immersive-commemoration/

02/03/2026

We are thankful for the invitation to design an experience for kids at the Chongqing Light Festival.
Thank you to curator Gong Zhen and our colleagues at SKG+ for your kind invitation!

This is no ordinary zoo; it is a wonderland of magic and play. Join the ride as these lively stars leap, soar, vanish, and reappear, dazzling the crowd with their magical games and tricks set to lively music. Come join the fun and watch the space transform as the stage bursts with colour and light! Check it out!

Video by the Chongqing Light Festival

01/31/2026

Thank you, Napa Parks and Recreation, and the City of Napa, for inviting our team at AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc to be part of the Napa Lighted Arts Festival, and for creating spaces to celebrate unity, colour, and diversity in these complex times.

Our work “Patterns” explores the concepts of unity, harmony, collaboration, and peace, reminding the viewer of the common threads that connect us all. Inspired by reimagined folk patterns, the artwork aims to create a space that celebrates Napa’s past and future, binding together shapes and patterns from its ancestry to illuminate the city.