This year I decided to do check out the North end of the city for DesignTO. This year I really wanted to experience in-person exhibitions. I’ve done the window display thing, and in this cold weather, I prefer to be inside, taking my time, then outside rushing. Here is my list of sites to see in the North end. I will be showcasing more in-depth reviews later on this week, stay tuned!
The Grief Gallery & Artifacts of Grief at MADE, 70 Geary
Full disclosure these exhibitions are part of the inaugural FLDWRK x DesignTO Residency ‘6ft (a)part’ which I am a part of:)
The Grief Gallery’ welcomes visitors to acknowledge personal and collective losses through the contemplation of objects: the ones left by people we’ve lost and kept by those left behind.
This edition of ‘The Grief Gallery’ explores the bridging of distance: Between personal and collective grief, between loss and recovery, between physical locations and disparate cultures, between then and now, and between the dead and the living.
‘Artifacts of Grief’ imagines that each person who encounters the art exhibition is bringing with them their own lived experiences and stories. It invites them to merge their lived experiences and stories with those of others, to mirror the ways in which we each impact one another even while we are apart.
Libations for Liberated Living at The Plumb, alleyway south-east of St. Claire and Dufferin – look for the purple door
The idea of turning “garbage” to “gold” is as old as alchemy and has misled many if not most about its meaning ever since the first pursuit. Beyond materiality and through the objects we possess, the combination of function and fictions formed around one’s life create the transcendental spark that generates our manifested environments true worth.
Place Making, Gallery at Mason Studio, 91 Pelham Ave
DesignTO Youth is a community engagement program which offers youth access to creative disciplines and professionals, culminating in a public exhibition of their work. Working in partnership with SKETCH Working Arts, this year’s DesignTO Youth program focuses on place making, involving critical reflections on our individual and collective relationships to space.
Slanted/Enchanted, ESP Gallery | Erin Stump Projects, 1558 Dupont Street
In the studio, designers frequently use ad hoc processes to represent industrial ones, but often these improvised methods are more interesting than the ones they represent. The purpose of this show is for participants to engage in experimental crafts which may fall outside the traditional canon of their discipline.
New Works: Fougere, Masanori, Råman, Mjölk, 2959 Dundas Street West
The Mjölk gallery and storefront in the Junction for a chance to experience debuts by three of their favourite designers. As part of Mjölk’s exclusive line of products, the new work includes furniture by Thom Fougere, designed and produced locally in Toronto; kitchenware by Oji Masanori from Japan; and housewares by Ingegerd Råman from Sweden.
Let me know what district you plan on conquering this week?
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Richelle Sibolboro 