I Need to Know Where I’m Standing
Following her Sobey win, a conversation with Kapwani Kiwanga on audiences, critique strategies and when critics get it wrong
The Dirty Work of Repatriation
In her new Quebec exhibition, Kapwani Kiwanga asks viewers to return soil from where it was taken—a “gesture of reparation,” the curator calls it. But what is the work really doing?
How to Get Over Your Homesickness
Spoiler alert: you won’t. But Nadia Gohar’s exhibition “Foundation Deposits” makes an earnest attempt
When Allyship Breaks Down
Aruna D'Souza's forthcoming book Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts reviews three incidents in the long and troubled relationship between race and the art world.
In the Studio with Lido Pimienta
Since her Polaris Prize win last year, Lido Pimienta’s music profile has soared. Less known, however, is her making of art textiles, paintings and prints
So What If Art Selfies Are Narcissistic?
As a big Yayoi Kusama show opens in Toronto, selfie-shaming is also in the air. But the fact is, selfies are vital to situating people of colour within largely white art institutions
In the Studio with Sameer Farooq
Building museums of found objects and casting packing materials in porcelain, Farooq questions how citizens are told to think about their pasts
Suzy Lake Censored at Chinese Photo Festival
After several rounds of preliminary government vetting, Chinese officials pulled the Toronto artist's works at the eleventh hour
In the Studio with Michèle Pearson Clarke
This Toronto-based artist’s photo and video works ask what it means to make Black people visually knowable
Remembering Teto Elsiddique
Friends and colleagues remember a talented artist who died suddenly this fall, just as his work was garnering increasing acclaim.
White Supremacists Target Anti-Monument Performance
White supremacists recently made an appearance at Life of a Craphead's Toronto performance.
The Pictures Change, But the Myths Persist
A new exhibition featuring archival American news photos of Canada illustrates how so many of the country's central myths remain unchanged.
In the Studio with Deanna Bowen
Toronto artist and Guggenheim fellow Deanna Bowen takes us into her studio—sharing family photographs, archival research and a pair of meticulously recreated KKK robes
How Radical Can a Film Festival Be?
On the 30th anniversary of Images, Toronto’s first experimental film festival, its director wonders if identity and formalism must be mutually exclusive.
In the Studio with Patrick Cruz
Patrick Cruz studied painting, but it was his time at clown school that encouraged him to embrace intuition in his art.
Shirin Neshat on Exile and Feminism
In a recent Canadian talk, the exiled Iranian artist Shirin Neshat took on Trump, feminism, the art world's shortcomings and more.
A Surrealist Film, Written by Children
Merray Gerges interviews Joële Walinga, director of Cave Small Cave Big, a surrealist short film written and designed by two five-year-old girls.
Xenofeminism and New Tactics for the Left
An open-ended, multi-voiced, online manifesto repositions feminism, technology and the political left.
Isaac Julien: On Political Expediency
UK artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien is in Toronto to revive two older works at the ROM—ones that feel uncannily relevant to current politics. Merray Gerges interviews.
Art in 2016: A View from Toronto
This year, art in Toronto has been defined by links—both failed and successful—between online and IRL exhibitions, and between politics and culture.
The Aesthetics of Senselessness
After the US election, what does contemporary art look like? A contemplation at La Biennale de Montreal, the day of Trump’s victory.
Duane Linklater Imagines Indigenous Futures
Artist Duane Linklater includes work by his grandmother, Ethel, and son, Tobias, in a Toronto show that spans generations and geographies.
Can the White Cube Ever Be a Nightclub?
Many museums and galleries have been holding nightclub-style events in an attempt to win new audiences. This transformation is tough, Merray Gerges writes.
Notes Towards an In(con)clusive Identity Politics
How can you ever be yourself in the art world when your self is a neocolonial commodity?
#BlackLivesCDNSyllabus Uncovers A Vital Archive
#BlackLivesCDNSyllabus, a crowdsourced anti-oppression project, has some great reads from old art mags. What is its impact in the art world and beyond?
Slut Island: Montreal’s Queer Feminist DIY Haven
Founded in 2013, Slut Island pushes back against music-festival mainstream. Here, festival co-founder Ethel Eugene shares thoughts on this week's launch.
GothShakira: High Priestess of Dank Feminist Memery
GothShakira's Instagram shares relatable narratives, lamenting misogynist men, referencing bell hooks and flaunting her astrology expertise.
What’s Your Flavour? On Being a Critic of Colour in February
Is it advisable for a critic of colour to take Black History Month to task—especially when asked to do so by white editors? Merray Gerges reflects.