Sajdeep Soomal is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on science and technology studies, histories of colonialism, empire and liberalism, and contemporary art practice. He is currently writing about the history and philosophy of geochemistry in North America and working with artists to re-imagine, play with and alter our synthetic surround. Sajdeep is a recipient of the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship (2020 - 2023) and the Jeanne Armour Graduate Scholarship in Canadian History (2020-2025). He is affiliated with the Technoscience Research Unit at the University of Toronto.
Over the past two years, Sajdeep has been collaborating with Foundation Chamar on research about pollution, un/touch/able matter and the art history of leather, supported by the 2020-21 IARTS Textiles of India Grant from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). He serves as the Chairperson of the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC), a collective member of Sanghum Film, and as a programming committee member of InterAccess.
Sajdeep has previously conducted research projects for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), South Asian Visual Arts Centre (SAVAC), the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) and the Family Camera Network. From 2015-2016, he held the Archie Malloch Fellowship in Public Learning at the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas (IPLAI) at McGill University. He holds a BA in History from McGill University and an MA in History from the University of Toronto.
Academic Writing
“Reproductive Rooftops” paper to be published in Rajesh Vora: Everyday Monuments, ed. Keith Wallace, Figure 1 Publishing, Vancouver, ON, Spring 2023.
“An Architecture Against Dacoits: On Drones, Mosquitos and the Smart City” paper published in New Cultures of Remote Warfare: Visions, Intimacies, and Reconfigurations, ed. David Kieran and Rebecca Adelman, University of Minnesota Press, Spring 2021.
“Migrancy in the Garage” paper published in Avery Review, Columbia University, New York City, NY, April 2018. Awarded the Avery Review Essay Prize (Second Place).
Curatorial Projects
“New Directions in Sikh Art” panel organized and moderated at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC, November 2022.
“ਸ਼ੀਸ਼ੇ 'ਚ ਦੜੜੇ | sheeshe ‘ch thareṛ | a crack in the mirror: Simranpreet Anand and Conner Singh VanderBeek” at The Reach – Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, BC, January 2022. Toured to Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives in May 2023. Watch the artist talk.
“Anand Patwardhan: A Time to Rise (Uthan da Vela)” film screening and discussion organized with Sanghum Film for the Agricultural History Society Annual Conference, Online, June 2021.
“Mad Building Syndrome” at Trinity Square Video, Toronto, ON, March 2020.
Research Collaborations
“The Pollution Report” and “The Leather Archives of India” research projects conducted with Sudheer Rajbhar for Foundation Chamar, Mumbai, IN, April 2023.
“Mathematics: Notes & Readings” reading group convened with Byron Peters and China Mae Stepter at YTB Gallery, Toronto, ON, Spring 2022.
“Gathering Online” speaker and event series co-organized with Vanbasten de Araujo, Sophie Jaworski, Lindsay LeBlanc, and Dawn Walker, with support from Kristen Bos and Michelle Murphy for the Technoscience Salon, Toronto, ON, Winter 2021.
Recent Presentations
“Decolonizing STM” pre-conference symposium participant at the Annual Conference on South Asia at the Centre for South Asia, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, October 2022.
“Fatty Bitumen” paper delivered at the Property and Being Under Colonial Conditions in Asia and Africa Conference, Department of History, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, May 2022.
“Remaking the Dacoit” paper delivered at the Caméra Stylo 4 Conference at the Sydney Literature and Cinema Network, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, July 2021.
“Cowboys and Dacoits” paper delivered at the Modern Languages Association Annual Conference, Toronto, ON, January 2021.