The Arts of Togetherness
July 11 August 23, 2009
Featuring: Sandee Moore (Winnipeg) & Yoshinori Niwa (Tokyo)
Curated by: Milena Placentile (Winnipeg)
Opening reception: Saturday, July 11, 12:00 6:00 p.m. at Gendai Gallery (during Natsu Matsuri)
Free workshops and events: June 28 - July 18, various time and locations.
Link to AOT Events
MORE INFORMATION ON THE ARTS OF TOGETHERNESS
The Arts of Togetherness is a multifaceted exhibition that gently challenges commonly held assumptions about contemporary art as a cultural practice. Working in collaboration with her chosen artists, guest curator Placentile, offers a project that seeks to bridge differences in familiarity with contemporary art by encouraging audiences of all ages to contemplate different points of view concerning what qualifies as the expression of a community, and what is pertinent to definitions of cultural life.
The featured artists, Moore and Niwa, will transpose popular traditional and modern Japanese cultural activities such as sento (traditional bathhouses) and kite-flying, into new contexts in order to explore notions of interpersonal exchange and community, memory and imagination, and the passage of ideas over time. Their use of new and alternative methods and materials will aim to reframe customary cultural activities, thereby underscoring transcendent characteristics and reinvigorating assumptions about the meanings of such practices.
Through the course of this exhibition, audiences will be invited to consider how traditions facilitate interpersonal communication and construct harmonious accord.
EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS:
We are hosting various kite-building workshops in collaboration with many communities in and around Toronto. All workshops are free of charge and open to everyone.
In addition, Niwa will team up with FADO Performance Art Centre and 111 Torontonians to create a unique performance-based action and document. All are welcome!
- Toronto Kite Fliers + Yoshinori Niwa: Tuesday, July 7, 7 10 p.m. at Gendai Gallery
- Lunchtime Workshop with Kites: Thursday, July 9, 12 4 p.m. at the University of Toronto Art Centre (15 Kings College Circle -- bring your lunch and join us out on the open field.)
- Fashion in the Sky: Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m. till dark at Trinity Bellwoods Park (Queen Street side and the lower part in the park)
- Gallery Tour with artists: Sunday, July 12, 3:30 4:30 p.m. at Gendai Gallery
- Nonsense group photo of 111 Toronto citizens: Friday, July 17, 1 4 p.m. (Meet in the lobby of 401 Richmond)
MORE DETAILS ON THE COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS
Contact: Siya Chen
Telephone: 416.419.7492
siyachen@gendaigallery.org
PRESS RELEASE (PDF, 320 K)
MEDIA CONTACT: Aby Bueno 416-858-3135 | info@gendaigallery.org
WORKSHOP CONTACT: Siya Chen 416-419-7492 | siyachen@gendaigallery.org
This exhibition is generously supported by: The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, The Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, FADO Performance Art Centre, Tani Miki, and the Japan-Canada Fund (a gift to the Canada Council for the Arts from the Government of Japan).
Gendai Gallery is also pleased to collaborate with Asian Arts Freedom School, the City of Toronto, Goodwill, Ikebata Nursery School, Kamp Kodomo, Manifesto, Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays, Toronto Kite Fliers, and University of Toronto Art Centre
Gendai Gallery is a not-for-profit art space devoted to exhibiting contemporary art and design with a curatorial emphasis on work by Canadian and international artists of Japanese ancestry and of the larger Asian community. Gendai Gallery opened its doors in 2000.