The Shoreline Dilemma - 72 Days of Free Art Sept 21-Dec 1, 2019 - Toronto Biennial of Art
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The Shoreline Dilemma
Sept 21—Dec 1, 2019 72 Days of Free Art
Exhibition & Programs Programs
Main Biennial Sites 15 The Bentway
250 Fort York Blvd 4
1 259 Lake Shore Blvd E
16 HMCS York
2 Small Arms 659 Lake Shore Blvd W
Inspection Building
1352 Lakeshore Rd E 17 Humber College
Lakeshore Campus
Biennial Sites 2 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr
3 55 Unwin Avenue 18 Ireland Park Foundation
(The Port Lands) 3 Eireann Quay
4 Art Gallery of York University 19 Marie Curtis Park
(AGYU) 2 Forty Second St
8 Accolade East Building
4700 Keele St 20 Old Mill Station
Bloor St W & Old Mill Trail
5 Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay W 21 SKETCH Working Arts 7
180 Shaw St 12
6 Ontario Place
955 Lake Shore Blvd W 22 Toronto Waterfront 8
Marathon Pathway 13 11
7 Riverdale Park West 20
Starts at University Ave 22 9
375 Sumach St & Queen St W 21 1
10
8 Ryerson Image Centre 23 Ward’s Island Beach
33 Gould St Toronto Island 5 3
15 14
18
9 Toronto Sculpture Garden 16
115 King St E 6 23
10 Union Station
65 Front St W
Biennial Partner Sites
11 Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas St W
12 Art Museum
at the University of Toronto
15 King’s College Cir 17
13 Museum of Contemporary Art
Toronto Canada 19
158 Sterling Rd 2
14 The Power Plant
Contemporary Art Gallery
231 Queens Quay W
Land Acknowledgement
The Toronto Biennial of Art is a new international The Toronto Biennial of Art acknowledges the
contemporary visual arts event as culturally land upon which our event takes place, in multiple
connected and diverse as the city itself. venues across the city, stretching from the Small
From September 21 to December 1, Toronto Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga in
and surrounding areas will be transformed by the West, to the Port Lands in the East; and from
exhibitions, talks, and performances that reflect Harbourfront Centre in the South, to the Art Gallery
our local context while engaging with the of York University in the North.
most pressing issues of our time. In an effort to
make contemporary art available to everyone,
the Biennial’s free, citywide programs aim We acknowledge, first and foremost, the rocks, soil, and root systems.
to galvanize citizens, bridge communities, that all of these spaces are located We recognize the many lost rivers
on land that has been a site of below us that vein across the
and contribute to global conversations from human activity for more than 12,000 city, continually moving water
a variety of perspectives. years. This land is the traditional south. These rivers connect us all,
territory of the Huron-Wendat, physically and psychically,
Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe to the lake.
peoples, including the Mississaugas
of the Credit First Nation. Their We acknowledge the trees that
stories, beliefs, and concepts about surround the sites as well as the
the land and the water continue to grass, plants, insects, and animals
guide and inspire us. that live beside us, sharing the
city and the lake. This expansive
We acknowledge the individual constellation of beings, both human
histories and knowledge that every and not human, are always in
participant, colleague, guest, and relation, and we thank them all for
visitor brings with them to the being here.
Biennial. With more than ninety
participants from around the world, Finally, we direct our intentions
and potentially tens of thousands to the sky. We acknowledge the
of visitors witnessing their work clouds, moon, sun, and stars whose
and their words, we are thankful light, after a fantastic journey across
for the teachings and wisdom that space and time, finds us here.
each person carries, passed down
through generations of ancestors.
We acknowledge our physical
surroundings, from the many
Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca, RISE (still), 2018. © Bárbara Wagner buildings and outdoor spaces that
& Benjamin De Burca. Courtesy Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, and house our Exhibition and events,
2 Rio de Janeiro. On view at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E. to all that lies beneath, including
3
Introduction Exhibition Programs
Land 3 The Shoreline Dilemma: 20 Programs Overview 66
Acknowledgement Curatorial Vision
Site-Specific Programs 70
Contents 4 Main Biennial Sites
Directorʼs Welcome 6 259 Lake Shore Blvd E 22
Acknowledgments
Greetings 8 Small Arms 32
Inspection Building
Foreword 12 Donors & Supporters 76
Biennial Sites
Prizes 15 The Team 80
55 Unwin Avenue 38
Information 16 Creative Partnerships 82
(The Port Lands)
Akimbo 16 Thank Yous 83
Art Gallery of York 40
ARt @ LARGE 16 University (AGYU) Index: Exhibiting Artists 85
Getting Around 17 Harbourfront Centre 42
How to Support 17 Ontario Place 44
How to Volunteer 17 Riverdale Park West 48
Ryerson Image Centre 50
Toronto Sculpture 52
Garden
Union Station 54
CONTENTS
Biennial Partner Sites
Art Gallery of Ontario 56
Art Museum at the 58
University of Toronto
Museum of 60
Contemporary Art
Toronto Canada
The Power Plant 62
Contemporary Art Gallery
4 5
Director’s Welcome
Patrizia Libralato In 2016, I met Ilana Shamoon who
helped take the project to the
with each other, the land, and our
environment. Ange’s generosity
Executive Director, Toronto Biennial of Art next level (Ilana is now Deputy and insights have been a beacon
Director & Director of Programs). for this project.
Ilana had recently moved back
from Paris where she had been And now, almost five years later,
working as a curator. In March here we are. The Toronto Biennial
2018, she completed our Curatorial of Art is happening in a way I could
An international art biennial for Toronto—YES! Framework, which helped articulate have only dreamed of when it was
an exciting biennial model just an idea Melony, Susannah, and
The idea had been swirling around in my brain for specifically for Toronto. It was I were talking about in my car. There
as long I’d been working in the art world in Toronto indeed this vision that brought us are so many people to thank—our
to Candice Hopkins and Tairone brilliant and passionate Biennial
and Europe. How do we turn the city into an Bastien, two thoughtful Canadian team; our tirelessly dedicated
international destination for art? How do we make curators with international Board of Directors; our supremely
experience whom we are so talented artists and participants;
Canadian art top of mind both at home and abroad? grateful to have overseeing both and our incomparable advisors
How do we create a powerful and inclusive moment the 2019 and 2021 editions. and creative partners. We also
want to thank our indispensable
for Toronto in which creativity and big ideas are For our inaugural year, we set our supporters—from individuals and
supported, shared, celebrated, and elevated? sights on programming across governments, to corporations and
Toronto’s waterfront, which is founding visionaries like the Pierre
currently undergoing urban renewal Lassonde Family Foundation—who
at a faster pace than anywhere else believed in us and came on board
in North America. But this stretch in the most magnanimous way
of Lake Ontario was active long to make this crazy dream a
before Toronto became a city. It humbling reality.
In 2014, the idea started to become has been populated by Indigenous
a reality in conversation and peoples for at least 12,000 years. It has been a long, formidable,
collaboration with good friends We conceived of the Biennial as an and beautiful journey getting
and art community leaders, Melony opportunity to honour and explore here. This project has been and
Ward and Susannah Rosenstock those underrepresented histories continues to be an incredible gift.
(Susannah is now the Biennial’s while temporarily inhabiting Enjoy your Biennial, Toronto! We
Deputy Director & Director of repurposed sites along the lake. couldn’t be more thrilled to finally
Exhibitions). Over the next few share it with you.
years, the Biennial went from being It was Mohawk artist and
a passion project to my full-time researcher Ange Loft, Associate
job, as countless hours were spent Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre
building a Curatorial Advisory, & Arts, who produced one of our
growing the Board, and convincing most instrumental documents, the
the City of Toronto, donors, and “Toronto Indigenous Context Brief,”
funders to support initial priority which helped shape our thinking
groundwork. Innumerable coffee about the lake and approach to
dates and lunch meetings, lengthy the Exhibition and Programs. One
conversations while driving around of the Biennial’s objectives is to
the city—these stolen moments raise awareness about indigeneity Patrizia Libralato
slowly became the foundation for a in this region in the context of art
pie-in-the-sky project that, despite and programming that asks us to Executive Director
the odds, we kept willing into being. reconsider how we are in relation Toronto Biennial of Art
6 7
Greetings
Paul Bain Pierre Lassonde
Chair of the Board, Toronto Biennial of Art Director, Pierre Lassonde Family Foundation
As Board Chair, it is my privilege changing gift. Because of the
to welcome you all to the first-ever generosity of so many patrons and
Toronto Biennial of Art! I am but one donors, we are in a position to offer
board member among a stellar a free 72-day event that reconnects The question at the centre of Toronto’s first art
group of women—Jane, Roma, the city to the lakefront, repurposes
Susan, Lisa, Cathy, Zahra, Kristyn, previously under-used spaces, and
Biennial—“What does it mean to be in relation?”
and Kerry—whose commitment partners with incredible institutions —is a critical one for our times and our city.
has been exemplary and across Toronto and Mississauga.
unwavering.
Of course, we also extend a huge Like music, the visual arts is an
We have never done this before, thank you to the Biennial’s brilliant international language—one to
and there have been many moving curators, Candice Hopkins and which everyone can relate. The
parts on the path to getting here. Tairone Bastien, and to the artists Biennial explores the theme of
It goes without saying that an who have produced visually relations through the eyes of
undertaking of this size and scope engaging works layered with contemporary artists. As a family,
would not be possible without meaning. The Biennial does not it is our hope that millions of
the support of so many, and of shy away from difficult questions, Torontonians and visitors will
a visionary few who believed in and will, we hope, stimulate witness the remarkable art exhibited
the project when it was a mere conversation about issues that are along the waterfront. Through
idea. This starts with the Biennial’s both timely and timeless. installations and conversations,
indefatigable leader, Patrizia people can explore what it means
Libralato. Her tenacity and personal We hope you explore the to be in relation within their own
passion sparked this event, and Biennial fully and are inspired lives. This unique occasion allows
brought it all the way home. Patrizia by what you see! us to celebrate our diversity as well
has also assembled a team that Immigrants and first-generation as our unity.
accepted every challenge and Canadians make up over half of the
curve-ball thrown its way. Many city’s population. What does the Our family foundation is privileged
took a chance, leaving secure event mean to Toronto’s relative to serve as the Founding Signature
positions to be part of something newcomers? What does it mean to Patron of the Toronto Biennial of Art.
new. Thank you, Biennial team, for those who have come to call this It is our sincere hope that this event
your belief and bravery! city home? How do we relate to one will make our incredible city an
another? How do we all belong in even more incredible place to live
Just as it took a prescient City this place together? and visit.
Council in Venice in 1893 to
establish the first (and for now, the This question also resonates for our
most celebrated) biennial of art, our family because, through the ebbs
event would not have come to be and flows of life, we have come to
without the early, stalwart support Toronto, left the city, and come back
from the City of Toronto. We are again. We’ve gone our separate
also grateful for ground-level ways, but we always return. We
assistance from Castlepoint Numa Paul Bain have a relationship with this city. Pierre Lassonde, CM OQ
and TD Bank. And a million thanks We belong here. Home is where we
go out to the Pierre Lassonde Chair of the Board have family and friends. So Toronto Director
Family Foundation for its game- Toronto Biennial of Art is home. Pierre Lassonde Family Foundation
8 9
Greetings
John Tory Bonnie Crombie
Mayor of Toronto Mayor of Mississauga
It is my pleasure to extend greetings and a On behalf of the great City of Mississauga
warm welcome to everyone attending the and Members of Council, I am pleased to
Toronto Biennial of Art, a new international extend a welcome to all those attending
contemporary visual arts event. the Toronto Biennial of Art at the Small Arms
Inspection Building in Mississauga.
The arts are an integral component often a reflection of society and a
of Toronto’s cultural and economic mirror of our humanity. As Thomas
fabric that enrich and enhance the Merton once wrote: “Art enables us
lives of many. to find ourselves and lose ourselves
at the same time.” I am looking
I am proud to have helped forward to visiting the exhibitions
champion the Biennial and at Small Arms and elsewhere
encouraged its development across the Greater Toronto Area
into what I’m confident will be to experience what I’m sure will
a wonderful event for our city be thought-provoking and
and region. Arts and culture compelling works.
can be incredible forces for the
development of an individual, I am a long-time supporter of the arts
group, or community, and they and, as Mayor, I have made it a pillar
promote intercultural connections, of my platform to build the local arts
including tolerance, understanding, scene in Mississauga. Through the
friendship, and social cohesion. Toronto Biennial of Art, I know we will
take another important step toward
On behalf of Toronto City Council, realizing this goal.
Best wishes to all attendees taking please accept my best wishes for Mississauga is a hub of creativity
part in all of the citywide programs an enjoyable event and continued thanks to the tremendous talent I wish everyone the best of luck for
hosted by the Toronto Biennial of Art. success. embodied by our local artists. I a successful event. Thank you for
This year’s theme allows us to look am pleased that the Biennial has choosing Mississauga.
at the different kinds of relations we Yours truly, chosen Mississauga as a host
have and the importance of having venue for its event to showcase
relationships with others in our lives. the creativity and passion of
internationally renowned artists
The Biennial will showcase artists in our city.
from around the world while
celebrating local and Canadian John Tory, O.Ont., Q.C. Art has the ability to address the Bonnie Crombie, MBA, ICD.D
talent over 72 days of engaging issues we face in society, providing
exhibitions, talks, and performances. Mayor of Toronto both an escape and an outlet. It is Mayor of Mississauga
10 11
Foreword
Ange Loft arrangements do these Nations
have with respect to sharing
recorded accurately. A line was
drawn by the British from Etobicoke
Advisory Council, Toronto Biennial of Art resources, space, and differences Creek to Ashbridges Bay, and all
in worldviews? How do we show the way up to Newmarket, outlining
mutual respect for autonomy a much larger plot of land than
and maintain order? what had originally been
understood. The city expanded
In the early winter of 2018, the Biennial Our territory has seen two over these unclear boundary lines,
drastically different approaches to encroaching on portions of the land
approached me to collaborate on a way these questions: the Dish With One along the rivers that had been
to better understand the history of the city’s Spoon and the Toronto Purchase. reserved for the sole use of the
Mississaugas.
waterfront, from Etobicoke Creek to Ashbridges The Dish With One Spoon outlines
Bay, where the majority of its Exhibition and an approach to sharing land As our skyline shifts to make way for
between Nations. The agreement taller buildings, we need to develop
Programs take place. They wanted to know has brought many regional a keener sense of the historical
about the Indigenous contexts—the deeper Indigenous Nations, including the relationships they are being built
Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, upon—the negotiations between
narratives and underrepresented histories into relation under guiding Nations on this territory, and the
—that sit beneath Toronto. principles of mindfulness. Take only governance mechanisms that have
what you need. Keep the dish regulated relations on these lands.
clean. Make sure there is
something left in the dish for The inaugural Biennial is driven by
the future. a question: What does it mean to
In response, I drew upon existing Toronto has been a popular place be in relation? Being in relation
research from “Talking Treaties,” for a while. It is the site of many The agreements for this territory takes time, energy, and investment
a multi-year community project rivers that have been built over. were not made quickly. They took to learn what is in between—what
I’ve been leading in my role as Partial excavations reveal several time, with representatives returning holds us up and what keeps us
Associate Artistic Director at older villages and burial places to their respective communities to together. Those in-between things
Jumblies Theatre & Arts. I worked across the city, all of which discuss further before coming back are not only roads and buildings,
with Biennial Deputy Director & have been turned over for new together for more talk. The idea of but the foundational
Director of Programming Ilana developments. These hidden layers returning to agreements is understandings that have allowed
Shamoon, who was writing their tell the story of shifting populations foundational: oral knowledge was Toronto to be here.
first Curatorial Framework at the and correspond to several historical maintained by restating, relearning,
time, to produce an accompanying layers outlined in the “Brief,” going and carrying forward ideas to the
document entitled the “Toronto back to 1000 CE. As I worked with next generations.
Indigenous Context Brief.” Ilana on how to use my research to
tell the story of Toronto’s waterfront, But this place became a city fast. In
The “Brief” brought together we discussed sharing space and 1787, the British gave the
relevant research, including source how to make visible these layers Mississaugas of the Credit what
texts, original interview excerpts, of buried narratives. was even then very little Ange Loft
and oral knowledge that I had been money—2,000 gun flints, 24 brass
collecting for “Talking Treaties” Every time a condo goes up, kettles, 120 mirrors, 24 laced hats, a Advisory Council,
since 2015. It was drafted to they have to dig down. Exploring bale of flowered flannel, and 96 Toronto Biennial of Art
highlight stories of interest and the changes in our city means we gallons of rum—and began to talk
significance for the waterfront must also examine our foundations. about sharing land. This interaction
region, and is intended to be a How do the many Nations within became known as the Toronto
living document that we can build our city remain in relation with one Purchase. The lands supposedly
on together for future iterations. another? What agreements and ceded to the British were not
12 13
Prizes
Prizes
The Toronto Biennial of Art has established two
awards for participating artists: the Toronto Biennial
of Art Prize, which recognizes an outstanding
contribution, and the Toronto Biennial of Art
Emerging Artist Prize, which recognizes a promising,
early-career artist. Each award carries a value of
$20,000. Selected by a distinguished international
jury, the winners will be announced on
September 19, 2019.
The 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art Jury includes: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
(Director, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea); Mark Godfrey
(Senior Curator of International Art, Tate Modern); Brian Jungen (Artist,
Vernon, BC); Meg Onli (Assistant Curator, ICA Philadelphia); and
Kitty Scott (Carol and Morton Rapp Curator, Modern and Contemporary
Art, Art Gallery of Ontario).
The Toronto Biennial of Art Prizes were initiated by patrons Jay Smith
and Laura Rapp, and generously supported by David and Carol Appel;
Leslie Gales, Keith Ray, Stephanie Ray, and Eric Ray; the Hal Jackman
Foundation; and Eleanor and Francis Shen.
Dana Claxton, Headdress-Shadae, 2019. Courtesy the artist. On view at Qavavau Manumie, Untitled, 2016, coloured pencil, ink. Courtesy
14 259 Lake Shore Blvd E. West Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative. 15
Information
Information
Akimbo Getting Around How to Support
Explore Toronto’s thriving visual arts community of galleries, dealers, and Public Transit As a registered Canadian charity,
exhibitions alongside the official Toronto Biennial of Art Exhibition and the Toronto Biennial of Art is made
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calls for submissions, and jobs relevant to visual culture in Canada at safe and affordable public transit are many ways to support the
akimbo.ca/TBA2019. system. A single adult trip costs Biennial—as an individual donor,
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create AR scenes and messages with selected art objects, and share your located on or near Toronto’s of free contemporary art.
experiences with friends throughout the duration of the Biennial. waterfront. We invite visitors to
travel between Biennial sites along For more information on
Powered by Albedo Informatics’ LARGE platform, ARt @ LARGE is a the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail. how to support, please visit
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and CFC Media Lab are proud partners of LARGE. To download the app, visitors access to 5,000 bikes and How to Volunteer
please visit artatlarge.ca. 465 stations across 100 km2 of the
city, including a rack located at Volunteers are a vital part of
259 Lake Shore Blvd E. A 10-day the Toronto Biennial of Art. We
pass is available for only $15 with are always looking for cultural
the code TBA2019. For more enthusiasts with a range of skills to
information, please visit support our expansive Exhibition
bikesharetoronto.com/tba. and Programs offerings. If you are
enthusiastic about contemporary
Driving art, passionate about people,
and looking for a unique behind-
For site-specific directions and the-scenes experience, join the
parking locations and fees, please Biennial as a 2019 Volunteer.
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For more information or
Lyft to volunteer, please visit
torontobiennial.org/volunteer.
Get there with Lyft! Biennial
visitors get 20% off two rides
from September 18 to December 1
with the code TOBIENNIAL19.
Wilson Rodríguez, Espiral, 2018, acrylic on paper. Courtesy the artist and
16 Instituto de Visión. 17Abbas Akhavan
EXHIBITION
Maria Thereza Alves
Adrian Blackwell
AA Bronson
Hera Büyüktaşçıyan
Judy Chicago
Dana Claxton
Moyra Davey
Shezad Dawood
Embassy of Imagination + PA System
Laurent Grasso
Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh
& Hesam Rahmanian
Isuma
Luis Jacob
Jae Jarrell
Jumblies Theatre & Arts with Ange Loft
Kapwani Kiwanga
Jumana Manna
Qavavau Manumie
Caroline Monnet
New Mineral Collective
The New Red Order (NRO)
Fernando Palma Rodríguez
Napachie Pootoogook
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa
Elder Duke Redbird
Lisa Reihana
ReMatriate Collective
Abel Rodríguez
Wilson Rodríguez
Arin Rungjang
Curtis Talwst Santiago
Susan Schuppli
Lou Sheppard
Nick Sikkuark
Lisa Steele & Kim Tomczak
Adrian Stimson
Althea Thauberger & Kite
Caecilia Tripp
Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca
Hajra Waheed
Syrus Marcus WareCuratorial Vision
The Shoreline Dilemma
The implications of the changing shoreline—
evidence of an increasingly anthropocentric world—
prompted us to ask invited artists: What does it
mean to be in relation?
Toronto’s shoreline has changed at quantification. The shoreline
dramatically over the last 12,000 dilemma (also called the “coastline
years, ever since the Laurentide paradox”) implies the breakdown
Ice Sheet retreated to form Lake of scientific conventions in the
Ontario’s basin. The earliest human face of nature’s complexities. In
habitants—the Huron-Wendat, Toronto, this dilemma has been
Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe, amplified by the radical reshaping
including the Mississaugas of the of the city’s waterfront, which calls
Credit—adapted to the changing into question the rights of land
topography. In the colonial era, and water in light of accelerated
surges in industrial production and development.
economic growth radically altered
the shoreline, which has alternately Human and non-human relations
been extended, reshaped, and can reaffirm connections and
paved over. generate ecosystems, but they
can also breed distrust, anxiety,
Initially a site of trade and and alienation. When rational
ceremony, and eventually mass systems fail, other knowledges
settlement and industrialization, and relations emerge. At stake
the waterfront is host today to is the responsibility to respect
relics of heavy industry, dense multiple subjectivities and diverse
condominium developments, conceptions of freedom, dignity,
active and decommissioned and sovereignty for living creatures,
military bases, lost rivers, and land, and water, as reflected by the
human-made spits. Recently, rich perspectives and histories in
it has been subjected to the Exhibition’s artworks.
“renaturalization” efforts—attempts Curtis Talwst Santiago, Olokun in Fancy Dress, 2018, mixed-media diorama
to restore the lake’s habitat—that Toronto’s inaugural Biennial in reclaimed jewelry box. Courtesy Rachel Uffner Gallery. On view at 259
nevertheless seek to refashion embraces the unquantifiable, Lake Shore Blvd E.
nature to suit human convenience. fugitive, and unknowable, and like
the shoreline, resists the systems
Shorelines resist conventional that seek to discipline and control. The following pages explore the 2019 Biennial sites in relation to the
mapping. Ever-shifting and changing shoreline. All site descriptions were generated by the curatorial
fractal, they have no well-defined Curated by Candice Hopkins team, in consultation with our creative partners, to offer lesser-known
perimeter and evade attempts & Tairone Bastien Toronto facts and histories.
20 21259 Lake Shore Blvd E
259 Lake Shore Blvd E
Accessible entrance, 259 Lake Shore Blvd E
washrooms, and parking Toronto, ON M5A 3T7
Entrance on the east side
AODA-compliant building
Wed–Thurs | 10am–6pm
TTC: 504 King Eastbound Fri | 10am–9pm
streetcar and 6, 72, and 75 Sat–Mon | 10am–6pm
bus routes all stop within Tues | closed
short walking distance
Bike Share: On-site and Free entry
Queens Quay E /
Lower Sherbourne St Ciao Ciccio is the Biennial’s official
café, offering premium coffee and
Parking: Paid fresh pastries, sandwiches, and
salads made daily. Fernando Palma Rodríguez, Tocihuapapalutzin (Our revered lady butterfly),
2012, electronic control, servo motors, PIR sensors, electronic software,
aluminium, soft drink and beer tin cans. Courtesy the artist.
Before 1923, the ground beneath this formerly vacant building did not
exist. The land in this area of the city was fashioned from infill that covered
over marshland between the Don River and Ashbridges Bay. Since the
early 1800s, each time Toronto’s economy has surged, the shoreline has Exhibiting Artists Adrian Blackwell
been altered, subjugated to the interests of capital. Born and lives in Toronto, Canada
Maria Thereza Alves
The life of this nondescript building reveals the area’s economic history. Its Born in São Paulo, Brazil; lives in The ancient Greek term isonomia
first tenant in 1945, the Standard Chemical Company, produced methanol, Naples, Italy and Berlin, Germany implies political equality.
formaldehyde, and charcoal. A railway line to the south tethered the Blackwell’s two site-responsive,
site to the movement of goods. By 1954, the building was divided into a Excavated soil from Bickford Park non-hierarchical structures at
warehouse and a showroom, a configuration that remained intact over accumulates in this site as part the Biennial are spaces to gather
the course of various leaseholders, including oil and electrical supply of Alves’s participatory project, for weekly programs and also
companies and a series of car dealerships. (The advertising of its most enacting a communal unearthing of to contemplate isonomia in the
recent tenant, Volvo, is still visible on the façade.) This building’s fate is one of Toronto’s lost rivers: Garrison face of colonial governance
indeterminate, as real estate development is increasingly filling the voids Creek. The Garrison Creek Ravine structures that have overtaken
left by industrial decline. was covered over by infill from those of Indigenous peoples.
residential development, but along At 259 Lake Shore, Isonomia in
Those who study civic ecosystems argue that old buildings are needed the southern edge of the park, the Toronto? (harbour) is modelled after
to incubate new ideas, which is what artists are offering here, if only parapet of the former Harbord Street Toronto’s changing shoreline,
temporarily. Artworks gathered at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E consider different Bridge remains visible. illustrating the effects of encroa-
forms of relations in light of the connections and disconnections that ching privatization on the land.
characterize the present. Videos prefigure the catastrophic effects of the Commissioned by the Toronto
Anthropocene; clusters of tin monarch butterflies are programmed to Biennial of Art. Phantom Pain, Commissioned by the Toronto
respond to seismic data; intricate drawings document Inuit life before a related installation by Alves, Biennial of Art.
forced assimilation. Directly inside the building’s doors, a massive wooden is co-commissioned by Evergreen
replica of Toronto’s harbour immediately makes apparent the human- and the Toronto Biennial of Art, and
made alterations of the land and waterscape, all in the service of industry. is on view at Riverdale Park West.
This Biennial site was made possible through a partnership with
22 Waterfront Toronto. 23259 Lake Shore Blvd E
AA Bronson & Adrian Stimson cultural belongings, sitters’ faces emerged from an exurban region 2019 participants, and Oasis
Bronson, born in Vancouver, are layered with beaded necklaces, in Norway, drawing on the work of Skateboard Factory 2019 Fall
Canada; lives in Berlin, Germany; embroidered bags, and other Mary Wollstonecraft and Karl Ove Cohort.
Stimson, born in Sault Ste. Marie, items, implying an identity formed Knausgård.
Canada; lives in Siksika, Canada of kinship, relations, and exchange. Sinaaqpagiaqtuut/The Long-Cut is
Shezad Dawood a two-part procession that begins
Bronson’s A Public Apology Commissioned in part by the Born and lives in London, in Kinngait | Cape Dorset, Canada,
to Siksika Nation responds to Toronto Biennial of Art and made United Kingdom and continues in Toronto, starting
European genocide, including his possible with the generous support at The Bentway and moving to 259
great-grandfather’s role as the first of Michelle Koerner and Episode 5 of Leviathan Cycle, Lake Shore Blvd E, where works
missionary at Siksika Nation, while Kevin Doyle. Dawood’s ongoing episodic by youth artists explore Kinngait-
Stimson’s response, generated video series, takes its cues from Toronto connections and how these
in close dialogue with residential Moyra Davey international trade and the legal distant places are tethered through
school survivors and leaders, Born in Toronto, Canada; lives in structures of maritime law set waterways, art markets, artistic
reveals the layers of colonization New York City, United States against the rights of the individual. collaborations, and the night sky.
and Indigenous resistance in his It is presented within a 1970s
community. Photographs from Gold Dumps Newfoundland cod trap, alongside This Embassy of Imagination
and Ant Hills document two kinds new textile-based paintings project is produced by PA System,
Commissioned by the Toronto of excavation in South Africa—one created in collaboration with Fogo commissioned by the Toronto
Biennial of Art and supported by human and one insect—while Island artisans. Biennial of Art, and made possible
the Canada Council for the Arts Dark Trees and Hoardings both with the generous support of
New Chapter program. emphasize a propensity for Co-commissioned by Fogo the RBC Emerging Canadian
locating the ecstatic sublime Island Arts, MOCA, A Tale of a Artist Program, Canadian North
Hera Büyüktaşçıyan within nature. The latter two series Tub (Rotterdam), and the Toronto Airlines, the Horace W. Goldsmith
Born and lives in Istanbul, Turkey Biennial of Art, and made possible Foundation, Canada Council for
with the generous support of the the Arts, British Museum, Ontario
Büyüktaşçıyan’s installation British Council. Arts Council, The Government of
reflects the invisible foundations Nunavut, and XYZ STORAGE.
of lost spaces. Industrial carpets An exhibition of related work
embellished with patterns inspired by Dawood is on view at The procession takes place on
by ethnic motifs, aerial city maps, MOCA Sept 19–Nov 3. For Sept 21 along the waterfront and is
and urban textures of the Greater more information, please visit co-commissioned and presented
Toronto Area allude to histories museumofcontemporaryart.ca. in partnership with The Bentway.
of migration and retrace lost For more information, please visit
fragments of social and personal Embassy of Imagination torontobiennial.org/programs.
narratives. + PA System
Alexa Hatanaka, born and lives
Commissioned by the Toronto in Toronto, Canada; Patrick
Biennial of Art. Thompson, born in Chelsea,
Canada; lives in Toronto,
Dana Claxton Canada; with particpation of
Hunkpapa Lakota [Sioux] born Kinngait youth artists: Iqaluk
in Yorkton, Canada; lives in Ainalik, Kevin Allooloo, Ooloosie
Vancouver, Canada Ashevak, Salomonie Ashoona,
Parr Josephee, Moe Kelly, Janine
Claxton’s LED fireboxes are a Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Reveries of an Manning, Leah Mersky, Saaki Nuna,
testament to the beauty and Underground Forest (detail), 2019, Mathew Nuqingaq, David Pudlat,
resilience of Indigenous women. carpet. Courtesy the artist and Kunu Pudlat, Taqialu Pudlat, Cie
Featured in portraits wearing their Green Art Gallery. Taqiasuk, Embassy of Imagination
24 25259 Lake Shore Blvd E
Emirates; and Rahmanian, born Jae Jarrell New Mineral Collective
in Knoxville, United States; lives Born and lives in Cleveland, Tanya Busse, born in Moncton,
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, United States Canada; Emilija Škarnulytė, born
with the participation of: Maryam in Vilinus, Lithuania; both live in
Abasspour, Niyaz Azadikhah (with Disrupting the hierarchy between Tromsø, Norway
the Goharaneh Institution), Zahra art and fashion, Jarrell’s wearable
Bagheri, Joan Baixas, John Cole, artworks merge Black liberation New Mineral Collective is the
Francesco Fassone, Mehrdokht politics and art. After producing largest and least productive
Jamali, Hoda Keshavarz, Mobina her debut collection in 1963, Jarrell mining company in the world.
Laurent Grasso, Visibility is a Khanzadeh, Roberto Luttino, Afsane went on to co-found the influential The company provides counter-
Trap, 2012, neon. Exhibition view, Norouzi, Fardina Norouzi, Mahbube art collective AFRICOBRA (African prospecting operations and geo-
MACM, Montreal, 2013. Photo: Ramezani, Fariba Tajik, Parastou Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) trauma healing therapies at 259
Guy L’Heureux. © Laurent Grasso / Tajik, Sara Tousi, Farzaneh Zahrayi, in 1968. Aesthetic experimentation Lake Shore Blvd E and Small Arms.
ADAGP Paris, 2019. Courtesy Sean and Azam Zoghi informs ideas of cultural revolution This video installation follows the
Kelly Gallery. in this conceptual garment. process of acquiring prospecting
Lo’bat is a jellyfish-like robot with licenses for alternative values and
narratives of fear embroidered A related exhibition of Jarrell’s work takes a critical look at “perforated
across its diaphanous belly. With at AGYU is co-presented by AGYU landscapes”—land altered by
Laurent Grasso eyes positioned on the opposite and the Toronto Biennial of Art, extractive industries.
Born in Mulhouse, France; lives in wall, the robot comes alive when and curated by Candice Hopkins
Paris, France people enter the space. and Tairone Bastien. For more Commissioned by the Toronto
information, please visit agyu.art. Biennial of Art.
The neon sign Visibility is a Trap Luis Jacob
invokes Michel Foucault’s theory Born in Lima, Peru; Qavavau Manumie
of panopticism, which argues that lives in Toronto, Canada Inuit, born in Brandon, Canada;
a state of permanent visibility and lives in Kinngait | Cape Dorset,
threat of surveillance induces self- The View from Here is a major Canada
discipline. For Grasso, the viewer’s two-part installation located at
interaction with the illuminated text 259 Lake Shore Blvd E and Union “I enjoy the animals and the land,
is key—one becomes increasingly Station’s Oak Room. Jacob’s and I take what I see there to my
visible as they enter the glow of the photographs are paired with his drawings.” Manumie’s drawings of
neon light. extensive collection of books hybrid forms and entanglements—
and maps, revealing how Toronto including sea creatures freeing
Commissioned by the Toronto has imagined itself and been one another from nets—are his
Biennial of Art. perceived by others. At 259 Lake way “of creating completely new
Shore Blvd E, the collection of rare places and strange activities that
Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni books, published since 1872, and maybe trick the people who look at
Haerizadeh & Hesam Rahmanian his contemporary photographs [them].”
Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni elucidate different representations
Haerizadeh, both born in Tehran, of Toronto—a city where the very This project is made possible with
Iran; both live in Dubai, United Arab question of place is deeply layered, the generous support of West
complex, and contested. Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative.
Commissioned by the Toronto
Biennial of Art and co-presented
by Toronto Union.
26 27259 Lake Shore Blvd E
Fernando Palma Rodríguez warrior is guided to the underworld. layered historical references—
Nahua, born in San Pedro The work was filmed at Karekare, a decontextualized and temporally
Atocpan, Mexico; lives in site of massacre on the West Coast collapsed—that offer a meditation
Mexico City, Mexico of Aotearoa | New Zealand. on diaspora and in-betweenness.
A swarm of 104 robotic monarch A related exhibition entitled A related installation by Santiago,
butterflies are programmed to Lisa Reihana: In Pursuit of Venus J’ouvert Temple, is on view at
respond to seismic frequencies. [infected], curated by Julie Nagam, 55 Unwin Ave.
Monarchs, which have suffered is currently on view at the AGO
rapid decline, are the only species and presented in partnership with Susan Schuppli
to migrate between Mexico imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Lives in London, United Kingdom
and Canada annually. Palma Festival. For more information,
The New Red Order, Never Settle, Rodríguez’s installation questions please visit ago.ca. Learning from Ice is a multi-year
2019, HD video. Courtesy Adam our unwavering faith in technology project that investigates how
Khalil. and the perception that it ReMatriate Collective different knowledge practices
will save us from catastrophic Based in unceded and ancestral respond to climate change.
climate change. territories of the xwməθkwəy’əm, Drawing on her research into ice
Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl’ílwəta7/ core science, Schuppli presents a
The New Red Order (NRO): Napachie Pootoogook Selilwitulh Nations, Canada documentary film that considers
Adam Khalil & Zack Khalil, both Inuit, born in 1938, Sako Island how glacial ice acts as a material
Ojibway and born in Sault Ste. Camp, Canada; died in 2002 In 1978, the feminist Service, Office, witness to global warming.
Marie, United States; both live Kinngait | Cape Dorset, Canada and Retail Workers’ Union of Canada
in New York City, United States; staged a three-year protest against Commissioned by the Toronto
Jackson Polys, Tlingit, born in “My experiences in life include Muckamuck Restaurant. The dispute Biennial of Art, and made possible
Ketchikan, United States; lives in times that were frightening, allied Indigenous women workers with the generous support of the
New York City, United States times that were hard to deal with, with other labour activists, igniting Graham Foundation for Advanced
and happy times.” Two suites of a new era of accountability. Lifting Studies in the Fine Arts, Office of
Never Settle is an ambitious, drawings document Inuit life, the a message from the strike’s picket Contemporary Art Norway, and the
multi-part project that includes intimacy of caring for one’s family, signs, ReMatriate’s banner YOURS British Council.
a public recruitment campaign and the experience of difficult FOR INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY
and a participatory installation events, such as forced marriage acknowledges these women’s Nick Sikkuark
that invites prospective recruits and murder. Pootoogook’s efforts and asks what sovereignty Inuit, born in 1943, Garry Lake,
to undergo an initiation. Playing drawings are often paired with means thirty years later. Canada; died in 2013 in Kugaaruk,
with the notion of headhunting, syllabic narratives explaining their Canada
NRO seeks to enlist candidates in circumstances. Made possible with the generous
their public secret society, thereby support of the RBC Emerging Nick Sikkuark’s drawings
investigating shame and the desire This project is made possible with Canadian Artist Program. and sculptures illustrate the
for indigeneity. the generous support of West entanglements between the natural
Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative. Curtis Talwst Santiago and the supernatural worlds.
Commissioned by the Toronto Born in Edmonton, Canada
Biennial of Art and presented in Lisa Reihana
partnership with Gallery TPW. Made Māori-Ngāpuhi; born and lives in This installation brings together
possible with the generous support Auckland, Aotearoa | New Zealand forty-eight works from Santiago’s
of Autodesk. Infinity Series, which consists of
Reihana’s two-channel video, miniature dioramas housed in
Tai Whetuki—House of Death reclaimed jewelry boxes. The small
Redux, depicts Māori and Pacific dioramas contained within reflect
cultural practices surrounding death
and mourning as the spirit of a
28 29259 Lake Shore Blvd E
Lisa Steele & Kim Tomczak Bárbara Wagner & Selected Programs Gendai Mobile Unit
Steele, born in Kansas City, Benjamin de Burca & Performances
United States; Tomczak, born Wagner, born in Brasilia, Brazil; Courtesy Gendai Gallery and OCAD
in Victoria, Canada; both live in de Burca, born in Munich, University’s Centre for Emerging
Toronto, Canada Germany; both live in Recife, Brazil The Programs & Learning Hub at Artists & Designers
259 Lake Shore Blvd E is a place for
... before I wake (2000–12) is a In Wagner and de Burca’s gathering and sharing. Comprised Gendai Mobile Unit is a flexible
video triptych from Steele and experimental documentary, of modular workshop spaces for seating, presentation, and storage
Tomczak comprised of Entranced poets, rappers, and musicians of school groups and community unit commissioned by Gendai and
(2012), Practicing Death (2003), R.I.S.E. (Reaching Intelligent Souls members, a library, and a listening artist Yam Lau, and designed by
and We’re Getting Younger All Everywhere) perform agitprop room, the Hub invites visitors of all artist Alexandre David. Situated
the Time (2001). Produced over a edutainment in the Toronto ages to engage in conversations, at the centre of the Programs &
twelve-year period, these works are underground. R.I.S.E. is comprised workshops, listening, and activating Learning Hub, Gendai Mobile Unit
a meditation on the body, aging, of young Black people, mainly first- structures, such as Gendai Mobile is a platform for investigations
relationships, and the nature of the and second-generation immigrants Unit. The Hub is free and open to into spontaneous and reciprocal
artists’ collaboration as partners in from the Caribbean, for whom the public during regular Biennial methodologies that reimagine
life and art. rhythm and poetry is an act of hours. models of generosity and collective
empowerment and self-expression. ways of gathering.
Caecilia Tripp Performance:
Based in New York, United States RISE is a film commissioned by Apology to Siksika Nation Storytelling
and Paris, France AGYU and produced by Emelie
Chhangur in partnership with Sat, Sept 21 | 11am–12pm Every Fri | 5–7pm
Interstellar Sleep is an immersive R.I.S.E. Edutainment. Every Sun | 12–2pm
installation produced in How does history become
collaboration with astrophysicists Syrus Marcus Ware personally accountable in a Storytelling seeks to shift the
from York University Observatory, Born in Montreal, Canada; post-Truth and Reconciliation mediation of contemporary art
cosmologist Renée Hložek, and lives in Toronto, Canada Commission era? AA Bronson from more conventional modes
composer Mani Mazinani. It is delivers his Apology to Siksika of interpreting and informing to
comprised of a celestial filmscape, Antarctica is half of a two-part Nation, an atonement for his narrating and embodying through
a surround soundscape, and a installation at 259 Lake Shore Blvd ancestors’ role in cultural genocide, weekly walks and conversations
series of performances taking E and Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) while Adrian Stimson responds. led by intergenerational and
place during the opening week that draws on the shared language Food will be shared following the multilingual storytellers. Storytelling
of the Biennial. of speculative fiction and political performance. is available to community groups,
activism to create an imagined schools, and universities, as well as
Commissioned by the Toronto time portal through which the next Performance & Reading Series: other members of the public.
Biennial of Art. Going Space and generation of racialized activists Isonomia in Toronto
Other Worlding, a related exhibition offers insights into a future radically 259 Lake Shore hosts an
of Tripp’s work, is presented at altered by climate change. Every Fri | 7–9pm extensive program beyond the
AGYU and curated by Emelie above selection. For up-to-date
Chhangur. For more information, Commissioned by the Toronto Adrian Blackwell’s two information and a full list of
please visit agyu.art. Biennial of Art, presented in interrelated structures host related programs, please visit
partnership with SummerWorks weekly performances and torontobiennial.org/programs.
Performance Festival, and made readings. Invited guests
possible with the generous support include poet CAConrad, artists
of the RBC Emerging Canadian Camilo Godoy and Lawrence
Artist Program. Ancestors, Can Abu Hamdan, Apache violinist
You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Laura Ortman, Sister Co-Resister,
Future), a related installation by and percussionist Marshall
Ware on view at the RIC, is co- Trammell.
30 commissioned by the RIC and the 31
Toronto Biennial of Art.Small Arms Inspection Building
mall Arms
S
Inspection Building
ccessible entrance,
A 1352 Lakeshore Rd E
washrooms, and parking Mississauga, ON L5E 1E9
AODA-compliant building Wed–Mon | 10am–6pm
Tues | closed
TTC: 501 Queen streetcar
to Long Branch Free entry
Parking: Free
After it was acquired by the City of Mississauga in 2017, the Small Arms
Inspection Building—originally part of a large munitions plant—was
renovated and opened as an arts centre in 2018. Built in 1940, Small Judy Chicago, Purple Atmosphere, 1969/2019, archival pigment print.
Arms Limited manufactured hand-held weapons for the Canadian and © Judy Chicago / Artist Rights Society, New York. Courtesy the artist
Allied forces in WWII. At the height of its operations, and with a workforce through the Flower Archives, Salon 94, and Jessica Silverman Gallery.
dominated by women, it produced thousands of rifles daily as part of
Canada’s industrialized war effort, which mobilized large magnitudes of
funds, people, and natural resources.
Industry dominated Toronto’s waterfront in the nineteenth and twentieth Exhibiting Artists Adrian Blackwell
centuries. With the advent of new technologies for resource extraction, Born and lives in Toronto, Canada
Lake Ontario was good for business, providing a channel for access, Abbas Akhavan
material for production, and a convenient repository for industrial runoff. Born in Tehran, Iran; Isonomia in Toronto? (creek) hosts
In 1990, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority conducted an lives in Montreal, Canada weekly performances and readings
environmental audit of the site, revealing the presence of polychlorinated throughout the Biennial. Visitors are
biphenyl (PCB), volatile organic compounds, and combustible gases Study for a Garden consists of a welcome to sit within the infinite
across nineteen acres. More than 70,000 tons of contaminated radioactive stack of sharpened sticks cast in curves, folds, and knots of
soil was removed to eventually transform the Arsenal Lands into a park. bronze. They might be posts for a Blackwell’s 300-foot-long cushion.
garden fence, a faggot (a bundle of An image of the shoreline of
These kinds of forward-thinking rehabilitation efforts are few and far wood to fuel a fire), or a collection Etobicoke Creek—also known
between. Industry continues to ravage lands and waters across the of crude spears for battle. Praised as wadoopikaang in
country, devastating natural resources in places outside of common view. for its strength and ductility, bronze Anishinaabemowin (“the place
The artworks within Small Arms examine the narratives of geologists, has long been used to make where the alders grow”)—stretches
prospectors, settlers, and agriculturalists, many of whom participate in weapons and monuments. Nearby, along its length, connecting land-
destructive practices. Contrasting processes of extraction and repair, Bray for Cello—a series of scores and human-based pedagogies.
these works point to the intelligence of the natural world, which eludes, pinned to the wall—comprises a
subverts, and bears witness to human ambition and its terrifying impacts. composition of braying sounds to Commissioned by the Toronto
be performed intermittently and Biennial of Art.
This Biennial site was made possible through a partnership with the unannounced by a cellist.
City of Mississauga.
32 33Small Arms Inspection Building
Judy Chicago Qaggiq: Gathering Place, a related Jumana Manna New Mineral Collective
Born in Chicago, United States; exhibition of work by Isuma co- Born in Princeton, United States; Emilija Škarnulytė, born in Vilinus,
lives in Belen, United States curated by asinnajaq and Barbara lives in Berlin, Germany Lithuania; Tanya Busse, born in
Fisher, is currently on view at the Moncton, Canada; both live in
Chicago first turned to pyrotechnics Art Museum at the University of Manna’s work draws formal Tromsø, Norway
in the late 1960s in an effort to femi- Toronto. For more information, inspiration from khabyas, traditional
nize the atmosphere at a time when please visit artmuseum.utoronto.ca. seed storage vessels that were New Mineral Collective is the
the California art scene was male- a key feature of rural Levantine largest and least productive
dominated. The photographs in Jumblies Theatre architecture, paired with metal mining company in the world.
the Atmospheres series transform & Arts with Ange Loft structures used in industrial storage The company provides counter-
and soften their surrounding Kahnawake Mohawk, systems. Manna’s vessels extend prospecting operations and
landscapes, introducing a feminine born in Kahnawake, Canada; her insightful explorations into geo-trauma healing therapies at
impulse into the environment and lives in Toronto, Canada the transformation of systems of Small Arms as well as 259 Lake
using colour as a metaphor for sustenance and knowledge from Shore Blvd E. A new series of
emotive states. Talking Treaties is an outdoor practices of survival to centralized sculptures investigates the shifting
pageant, workshop, and now economies of capital growth. boundaries between deep time
This project is made possible installation that shares knowledge and the conditions of contemporary
with the generous support of about the Toronto region’s treaty Commissioned in part by the resource extraction. The sculptures
Smokestack. history. In this iteration, videos, Toronto Biennial of Art. represent the Earth’s scars and a
textiles, and soft sculptures are folding of space and time in which
Isuma activated by programs that invite Caroline Monnet absence becomes presence.
Founded in 1990; based in Igloolik participants to generate their own Algonquin-French, born in
and Montreal, Canada principles of treaty-making. Outaouais, Canada; lives in Commissioned by the Toronto
Montreal, Canada Biennial of Art.
ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑑᑉ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ Commissioned by the Toronto
One Day in the Life of Noah Biennial of Art and produced by The undulating edges of the Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa
Piugattuk is a dramatized feature Jumblies Theatre & Arts. Made monumental sculpture The Flow Born and lives in Guatemala City,
film that spans a single day in May possible with the generous support Between Hard Places represent the Guatemala
1961 when Piugattuk and his family, of the RBC Emerging Canadian sound waves created when uttering
while hunting seal on the spring Artist Program. the word pasapkedjinawong in Silleros were chairs used in
sea ice in Kapuivik, Baffin Island, Anishinaabemowin (“the river that colonial Guatemala and
are met by a government agent Kapwani Kiwanga passes between the rocks”), as neighbouring regions to carry
who orders them off their land. Born in Hamilton, Canada; lives in spoken by Anishnaabe Elder Rose explorers, settlers, and even
Paris, France Wawatie-Beaudoin. artists quite literally on the backs
One Day in the Life of Noah of Indigenous people. Calling
Piugattuk is presented in Two rippling fabric curtains suggest Commissioned by the Toronto attention to a stark division of class
conjunction with Isuma’s exhibition the meeting of tectonic plates. Biennial of Art and made possible and labour, Ramírez-Figueroa’s
commissioned by the National According to Kiwanga’s research, with the generous support of cast aluminum interpretations imply
Gallery of Canada, on view at the the African plate is slowly moving the RBC Emerging Canadian another possible choreography—
Canadian Pavilion, 58th Venice toward and above the Eurasian one, Artist Program. one that empties the chair of its
Biennale, until November 24, 2019. which is subducting at a rate of colonial power.
approximately two centimetres per
year. A rock cradled in fabric hung Commissioned by the Toronto
on the wall further probes these Biennial of Art.
thematic currents.
34 35You can also read
