PICTURE COURTESY?THE?ROYAL?ONTARIO?MUSEUM: The Family Camera, at the ROM?until October 29, invites viewers to consider family portraits with a different lens.
Music and art at the Gardiner
By Heather Kelly
Looking for something interesting and unusual? Consider enjoying family time and learning something new at an exhibition. Shining Stars: Celebrating Canada’s Walk of Fame is on at the Bata Shoe Museum, and while you are there, see the exhibition Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels, with footwear from privileged rulers, rock stars, cowboys, and bikers, including John Lennon’s original 1960s Beatle boot and platforms worn by Elton John in the 1970s. At the Museum of Estonians Abroad the Metsaülikool/Forest University 50! anniversary exhibition is on display, and the Toronto Reference Library TD Gallery looks at personal stories of migration in an exhibition called Destination Canada. Ocean giants awe and fascinate at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story, featuring one of the largest, most complete blue whale skeletons ever displayed.
Concerts and music-related events include The Royal Conservatory of Music’s New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, a major initiative by the conservatory to celebrate Canada’s cultural and musical diversity, with musicians from 12 different countries who now live in Canada. Alliance Française presents Les Petits Nouveaux on June 10 and talented young French artists Frànçois and the Atlas Mountain on June 15 and Fishbach on June 19. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema will show Score: The Film Music Documentary, where the greatest film composers in the world discuss their craft, and launch the new series, Bob Dylan on Screen. The Miles Nadal JCC presents DRUMHAND and Nagata Shachu on June 10, the Children’s Musical Theatre Project on June 19 and 20, and the Royal Canadian Legion Concert Band Annual Gala on June 25, in the Al Green Theatre. The ROM’s popular Friday Night Live is back each week with music, food, and museum activities based on special themes.
A range of visual art can be explored, including an exhibition of Italian comic artist Paolo Bacilieri at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura until June 14, with original illustrations from his latest graphic novel Fun (in English), La Magnifica Desolazione and Sweet Salgari. Opening June 20 at the Istituto Italiano, Toronto-based artist Rino Noto contemplates candid human activity in Wave. At Alliance Française, photos from the Lycée Français Toronto’s photography competition are on view June 12-16, and I Remember: Vimy 100 by photographer Racheal MacCaig, opens June 20.
The ROM launches Anishinaabeg: Art & Power June 17, about the life, traditions, and sacred stories of one of the most populous and diverse Indigenous communities in North America, and continues The Family Camera exhibition looking at family photographs and migration. The Gardiner Museum presents SMASH: Voyeur*ish on June 22, with immersive contemporary art installations accompanied by food and music. The Japan Foundation exhibition, Road of Light and Hope: National Treasures at Todai-ji Temple, Nara Photographs by Miro Ito is on until June 28.
Heather Kelly is the founder and director of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor. Her column focuses on arts and culture events from the district.