Gearing up for the season
COURTESY GARDINER MUSEUM
This year’s 12 Trees at the Gardiner Museum are light-inspired art installations, co-curated by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland and vice president of Public Art Management Ben Mills.
By Heather Kelly
Game changers and trail blazers
At key moments in history, remarkable individuals find the courage to reinvent the world as we know it. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema presents the popular series, Game Changers, which pays tribute to the cultural visionaries who point the way forward.
Films that tell the stories of remarkable individuals include artist Marina Abramovic on November 14, technology and design genius Buckminster Fuller on November 19, architects and painters Charles and Ray Eames on November 25, and activist Angela Davis on November 26.
Hot Docs also presents Big Time, an insightful look at “starchitect” Bjarke Ingels’ reinvention of Manhattan’s skyline, and French New Wave legend Agnès Varda and artist JR create murals in Faces Places. Both films start December 1.
Also on screen, the Bata Shoe Museum presents The Road Ahead in November. The musical history of native nationalism by Dene-Métis playwright Marie Clements premiered at Hots Docs this spring.
In celebration of the House of Dior’s 70th anniversary, the Royal Ontario Museum celebrates the House of Dior’s 70th anniversary with Christian Dior, a special exhibition that explores the brilliance behind Dior’s dramatic creations. Attendees at the November 24 Friday night party event, Friday Night Live: Chic will have a sneak peek at the exhibition before it officially opens the next day. Discover the scope and depth of the Dior Heritage archive with Soizic Pfaff, Director of Dior Heritage, at the ROM Speaks Keynote Lecture: Dior by Dior on December 10.
The Graphic Liberation of Gender: Eiko Ishioka Poster Exhibition spotlights the work of Eiko Ishioka, who created Academy Award winning costumes for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Cell, and Mirror Mirror.
Sixty-seven posters celebrate her work from 1971 to 2021 in the exhibition, running until December 20 at The Japan Foundation.
The festive season begins
This year’s 12 Trees at the Gardiner Museum are light-inspired art installations, co-curated by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland and Vice President of Public Art Management Ben Mills. Opening on November 17, the exhibition includes a disco-ball Christmas tree, a manually-powered holiday tree light show, an animated winter dreamscape, and a tree comprised of illuminated cubic blocks.
The Royal Conservatory of Music invites everyone to Holidays in Harmony on November 26. The afternoon of free programs includes a faculty concert, a holiday sing-a-long, and How Music Works and Musician Spies lectures. Attendees will also be able to learn more about the violin, viola, cello, guitar, and piano at interactive demo classes.
Who makes the Best Black Rum Fruit Cake in Toronto? At A Different Booklist Cultural Centre, it’s Black Rum Cake Day on December 2, with an afternoon of a sampling and celebration of delicious Caribbean Rum Cakes.
COURTESY MILES NADAL J.C.C. The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel with seven cultural events. Prolific Israeli musician Assaf Amdursky will launch the celebration on the first night with a a concert at the Al Green Theatre.
The Miles Nadal JCC celebrates the holiday season with a huge Chanukah Groove Party on December 3 where family members of all ages sing, dance, and enjoy treats. Then on December 7, The Rev-Tones and The Pistons perform hits from the 50s and 60s at Jump & Jive @ the J, a daytime Chanukah sock hop in the Al Green Theatre.
The Bata Shoe Museum will shine with holiday cheer with a new exhibition, The Gold Standard: Glittering Footwear from Around the Globe, opening December 6. Featuring some of the museum’s most impressive and precious artefacts, the exhibition explores the meanings and cultural uses of golden footwear around the globe.
The Bata Shoe Museum is also holding its annual Warm the Sole Sock Drive for the Scott Mission until November 30. Socks are one of the first items people request when asking for assistance and are a staple of basic care for the homeless.
A group of young artists has created an art installation in conjunction with drive called Stockings. Created by Nicholas Reddon, Stephan van Eeden, and Erik Skouris, Stockings comments on the disposability of clothing. All socks used in the installation will be donated to charity.
The Toronto Consort presents music from across Spain and Latin America at Navidad: A Spanish Christmas, December 8 through 10, at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. Flashing rhythms and sensuous melodies will feature in early music from the Spanish-speaking nations on both sides of the Atlantic.
All of these arts and culture events are part of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor, a collaboration of 19 arts and culture organizations located on Bloor St. West.
Heather Kelly is the founder and director of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor, one of the city’s leading cultural districts.