Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
7 Hart House Circle
Toronto, ON M5S 3H3
T +416 978 8398
University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC)
15 King’s College Circle
Toronto, ON M5S 3H7
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday noon–5pm,
Wednesday until 8pm
T +416 946 8687
The conference “This is Paradise: Art and Artists in Toronto” will explore the relationship between the urban context and local artistic cultures in Canada’s largest city. Convening at the University of Toronto from May 28 to 31, the conference includes over 75 presenters, including artists, critics, curators and scholars from across a diversity of disciplines, to focus on the ecology and conditions of emergence of the visual arts in Toronto.
Presentations will explore a range of themes: the “absence” of history, and the relationship between Toronto and other urban centres; the collective impulse in local artistic scenes, and the current pressures of “creative city” paradigms; case-studies of particular places and locales significant in the cultural ecology, as well as considerations of discourses including diaspora studies, urbanism, queer studies and feminism, and of the conditions of specific media such as DIY publishing, independent film and artists’ video. The conference will culminate with roundtable conversations about the state of art institutions in Toronto—past, present and future.
“This is Paradise: Art and Artists in Toronto” is presented by the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and the University of Toronto Art Centre.
Tickets available from the UofTTix Box Office: online, by phone, or in-person. More information available here.
Early registration—until May 20
Early registrants receive a “This is Paradise: Art and Artists in Toronto” tote bag and coupon for a free Justina M. Barnicke Gallery or University of Toronto Art Centre publication, while supplies last.
Regular registration—May 21 to May 28
Schedule of keynote lectures:
Keynote lectures are open to the public for free. Please RSVP at the UofTTix Box Office. More information available here.
Thursday May 28, 6–7:30pm
Keynote lecture by Mark Lewis, artist and filmmaker
“London 1999-2015: Not Yet and No More”
Discussion and reception to follow
University College, Room 140
Friday May 29, 7–8:30pm
Keynote lecture by Robert Houle, artist, curator, educator
“Paradise and dream songs as a cross-cultural manifestation” (working title)
University College, Room 140
Saturday May 30, 7–8:30pm
Keynote lecture by Philip Monk, Director/Curator of the Art Gallery of York University
“House Punk: Punk and Toronto Art”
University College, Room 140
Registration
Full weekend: 70 CAD student / 100 CAD regular
Single-day passes: 25 CAD student / 40 CAD regular
Keynote lectures: free with RSVP
Tickets available at the UofTTix Box Office, online, by phone, or in-person. Free RSVPs for the keynote lectures are also available at the UofTTix Box Office. More information here.
Full schedule
Full schedule available online at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery website here.
For more information please visit the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery website or contact Daniella Sanader at T +416 978 5488 or [email protected].
