Chto Delat, Perestroika and Fall of the Berlin Wall, Nuit Blanche 2017. Courtesy the City of Toronto/Flickr.
The City of Toronto unveiled its 14th annual Nuit Blanche programming. On October 5, nearly 90 art projects created by 300 local and international artists will cover the streets of Toronto and Scarborough. Esmaa Mohamoud and Bryan Espiritu are collaborating on a sculpture to commemorate the Toronto Raptors 2019 Championship, Nathan Phillips Square will be transformed into a Japanese-style lunar garden, “Queens and Kings of Scarborough” will confront “social marginalization, self-identity negotiation, and racial stereotyping,” and new works from Kent Monkman, Director X, Hatecopy and Kim Morgan will be on view. According to a release, this year’s theme is Continuum—“Set against the backdrop of the ever-present renewal of night into day, a continuum of experience and ideas is brought to light by the participating artists.” (News Wire)
Rising construction costs and funding delays postpone the expansion of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. The planned NEXT Gallery would provide an additional 11,000 square feet of exhibition space. The original budget of $21 million has risen to $26 million. So far the province has provided $6 million, while donors have contributed $8 million. Construction will commence in March 2020, instead of fall 2019. (Victoria News)
First Light, an Indigenous creative arts centre in St. John’s, is relocating thanks to federal funding. $3 million will go toward converting former churches into new creative arts and performance centres. Interim executive director Danny Pottle said a study found “the organization was operating at a 67 percent space deficiency and that more room is sorely needed—especially given the Indigenous population is the fastest growing in Canada.” (CBC News)
The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal unveiled its fall 2019 programming. The MAC is partnering with Momenta Biennale to present Francis Alÿs’s “Children’s Games” for the first time in North America. A survey of 10 years of Janet Werner’s painting is coming in October. Other artists in their fall program include Luis Jacob, Serge Tousignant, Gisele Amantea and Alain Paiement. (News Wire)
The Art Gallery of Ontario is launching a new speaker series, AGO Futures, this fall. Exploring “pivotal issues of our time,” speakers will include: Naomi Klein, Ron Deibert, Salman Rushdie and Zadie Smith. (Art Matters)
Lethbridge city council unanimously approved $65,000 in funding to commission Indigenous public artwork at the Main Branch Library. Kainai First Nations artist Faye HeavyShield’s artwork Awaaniiyaawa (which translates to “they are speaking”) will be displayed in the library’s Indigenous learning space. (Lethbridge News Now)
Harry Stevens’s name was removed from a government building in Vancouver. The Conservative MP was known for the Komagata Maru incident that prohibited 376 Indian immigrants from entering the country in 1914. A mural was painted on the building by Keerat Kaur, AliciaPoint and Cyler Sparrow-Point, to shed light on the incident and honour the victims and their descendants. (News Wire)
Canadian Jewish Organization B’Nai B’rith has condemned Shannon Gauthier over a painting depicting Hitler and Nazi symbols. The organization called the work “repulsive” and said profiting from the use of images of swastikas and Hitler is “not appropriate.” Gauthier was banned from Sakatoon’s Nutrien Fringe Festival for displaying the work. (CBC News)
A Nova Scotia artist is accusing an online retailer of stealing her work. Shelagh Duffett says her image of cats was stolen and printed on bedding being sold on Azcozy.com. Her signature appears on the bedding. She reached out to the company but they didn’t respond directly to her complaint. From the article, “If someone’s profiting off of what I’ve done it would be really nice to get a percentage of that…They’re earning money from my hard work and I’m not seeing any of that…It’s not really fair.” (CBC News)
