The Soup Salon nurtures transdisciplinary conversations surrounding creativity

Run by the Soup Collective, six faculty members at The Creative School are bringing faculty, staff and students together to discuss various themes relating to creativity in new and innovative ways. The Soup Salon is a transdisciplinary lunchtime speaker series that takes place at The Catalyst throughout the winter 2023 term, and yes, soup will be served.

Ladling up creativity: the perfect immersion of diverse thought and opinion

Led by Principal Investigator and Graphic Communications Management Professor Krzysztof Krystosiak, the Soup Collective is the group behind Soup Salon and includes Professional Communication Professor Matt Jones, Interior Design Professor Marcin Kedzior, Journalism Professor Angela Misri, Creative Industries Professor Golam Rabbani, and Professional Communication Professor Zorianna Zurba.

The Soup Salon began as many projects do, with a simple conversation between peers. "We met at our orientation meetings with Dean Charles Falzon, and for whatever reason, we six mixed really well," remarked Journalism Professor Angela Misri. "We started meeting together in The Catalyst, and we found that many of the things we were interested in and working on seemed to have elements that overlapped."

This is also how the group's name, Soup Salon, came into being. "I think it was Marcin who remarked that we were like a complicated soup, with each of us bringing ingredients to the table that when combined, made a delicious meal," explained Misri. "We came up with the idea for a salon that featured some of those ingredient intersections and called ourselves The Soup Collective."

The secret recipe to hosting a successful event

The first of four talks was held in January and discussed the role of creativity and public spaces while emphasizing public art's role in this process. Hearing from members of the Soup Collective and industry professionals alike, the event's first half was full of engaging and lively discussion. These conversations benefited from the panel and audience members' diverse perspectives: similar to how a soup benefits from a wide array of spices and flavours. 

"Collaboration is in the Soup Salon's DNA, just look at which schools/departments we represent: Journalism, Professional Communication, Creative Industries, Interior Design and Graphic Communications Management," remarked Graphic Communications Management Professor Krzysztof Krystosiak. "Our team is diverse, and from these different areas of interest, we can find common topics. This project was born thanks to our collaborative engagement, and we can learn many things from each other and from these different perspectives."

The latter part of the event was just as engaging, bringing audience members on an immersive walk through the downtown core, all while getting a first-hand look at some of the creative ways architects, designers and artists wrestle with the concept of creativity in the public sphere. Nestled between the Eaton Centre and City Hall, the event concluded with a roundtable discussion on creativity in the main hall of the Church of the Holy Trinity, where the group gathered to share a warm bowl of soup.

Established with the help of an SRC New Collaborations Grant from The Creative School, the Soup Salon is a  collaborative project that brings together diverse perspectives to build upon various themes of creativity. Creativity thrives in an environment of collaboration, and it's projects such as these that help broaden and develop what it means to be creative. If the Soup Collective has taught us anything about creativity, it's that you can have your soup and eat it too.

In addition to the four talks the team will hold at The Catalyst over the winter semester, the Soup Collective will also release a podcast version of their speaker series. The group also hopes to eventually write a paper on creativity that pulls from all of their research interests. 

Interested in learning more about the different ways creativity can manifest when individuals from various fields come together? Read more about the Soup Collective and attend their next Soup Salon on February 15, featuring the intersection of creativity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University

The Creative School is a dynamic faculty that is making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Made up of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.