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ON-GOING EVENTS
ROM:
Big The newest installation in the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume on Level 4 in the Museum's Michael
Lee-Chin Crystal, BIG is exclusively drawn from the ROM's collection of nearly 50,000 textiles and costumes. Showcasing 40 artifacts from around the world, this unique exhibition includes objects assuming their BIG
status in a myriad of ways. With some objects publicly displayed for the first time, the installation offers a fresh, new way of exploring the ROM's renowned collections.
"This installation highlights objects
that, in one way or another, are BIG," states Dr. Alexandra Palmer, Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Curator in the ROM's World Cultures department. She continues, "BIG is not just about size. Even the smallest textile
can have BIG personal, social, and cultural value that shifts according to context. BIG brilliantly looks at the meaning of textiles and fashions from around the globe and across time. We look forward to illustrating
for our visitors that less can most definitely be more."
A recent acquisition, and now a highlight of the Museum's permanent collection and this exhibition, Passage #5was designed by John Galliano for
Christian Dior Couture. Specially commissioned by the ROM and made possible by the generous support of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust, this dramatic coat-dress was inspired by fashion illustrator René Gruau's
drawings of the 1940s and 1950s and is a 21st century reworking of Dior's 1947 New Look. Passage #5 was a highlight of Dior's Spring 2011 collection.
Other exhibition highlights representing the breadth of the
ROM's international collections include a Pre-Columbian Peruvian feather cape dated to 1000 -1476 AD; an Indonesian bark cloth wrapper; and spectacular textiles created for Exposition Internationale des arts décoratifs
et industriels modernes - the BIG Art Deco exhibition held in Paris, 1925. Textiles from Albania, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Italy, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone, United Kingdom, and USA, vibrantly demonstrate the exhibition's BIG global scope. In addition to Galliano for Dior, contemporary fashions by leading designers Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Tam, and
Tom Ford for Yves St Laurent are among the other BIG names on display.
On Now Until Sept. 2013
Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume, Level 4 in the Museum's Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, 100 Queens Park
ROM: Observance and Memorial: Photographs from S-21, Cambodia
This exhibit features 103 prisoner photographs, with each person serving as silent witness to the injustice, horror and death that was experienced
by some 14,000 prisoners detained at S-21. There are only 23 known survivors of the camp and only four people have been identified by their photos.
Observance and Memorial raises profound questions
about post-colonial legacies, imperialism, nationalism, ideological extremism, accountability, and justice. One generation later, and with the trials of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders currently underway in Cambodia,
it is timely to reflect on this period of history, commonly referred to as the Cambodian genocide, when approximately two million Cambodians lost their lives. The ICC properly contextualizes the S-21 prisoner portraits
as documentary artifacts of crimes against humanity.
Visitors to the exhibition may react with powerful emotions. To help resolve the intense content of the show, the third section of the exhibition will be a
quiet space intended for personal reflection, as suggested in the title of the exhibition, Observance and Memorial. In the centre of this space, an architectural sculpture suggesting a Cambodian stupa, or
reliquary, will allow visitors to honour the spirits of the deceased and consider their own relationship to the photographs.
See more details and photos from the exhibit on the Torontowide blog by clicking here
On Now until March 10, 2013 Roloff Beny Gallery, Level 4 of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queens Park
Art Gallery of Ontario -
Patti Smith: Camera Solo This winter the Art
Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will offer a glimpse into the world of legendary musician and artist Patti Smith through an intimate exhibition featuring over 75 works of photography, objects and film, on view from Feb. 9 to
May 19, 2013. Best known for her profound influence on the nascent punk rock scene in the late 1970s and 80s, the exhibition will provide a rare opportunity to experience a different side of this rock icon through her
inspired expression in the visual arts.
The first presentation of Smith's works in Canada, Patti Smith: Camera Solo will highlight the continual connections between Smith's photography and her interest
in poetry and literature. The exhibition, originally curated by Susan Talbott, director and CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, features approximately 70 black and white photographs
taken with Smith's vintage Polaroid camera, presented here as gelatin silver prints. Sophie Hackett, AGO assistant curator of photography, will oversee the exhibition's installation alongside Talbott.
On Now Until May 19 Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St. W. | Admission: Incuded with admission to the gallery
M A R C H L I S T I N G S B Y D A T E
Annual Memory Ball
Today, more that 500,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. 100% of all funds raised at Memory Ball are donated to the Alzheimer Society of
Toronto. With help from sponsors, volunteers, family and friends, donations greatly impact The Society's ability to: Provide free counseling, education and information for people with Alzheimer's disease and other
dementias, and their families, fund research to both the cause and a cure for Alzheimer's disease, and improve the quality of life for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
This event aims to
increase awareness and raise funds for a tragic illness while helping the Alzheimer Society of Toronto and all they do to improve the lives of those suffering from the disease and its effects. Last year's event hosted
350 people and raised over $21,200.
To experience Memory Ball first hand, please buy your ticket by
clicking here
Sat. Mar. 23 6:30 PM - 1:00 AM ARD Design Building, King & Parliament St. (click for information and directions to the venue)
Toronto Festival of Clowns
Everyone's favourite misfits are back to shake things up in Toronto for a week this spring with the eighth annual Toronto
Festival of Clowns. Torontonian's will get a rare opportunity to see some of the best clowns, bouffon artists, physical theatre performers, vaudevillians and dancers the world has to offer.
Due to the popularity of
the 2012 installment, the festival has expanded to include an additional night of performances and a second location, giving audiences even more opportunity to catch the imaginative, outlandish, peculiar and hilarious
performances.
This year, the Toronto Festival of Clowns is putting the spotlight on the many styles that make up the world of clowning, with performances by acclaimed dancers Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan, a
silent film offering from 2011 Festival favourites Keystone Theatre, and the world premiere of a new neo-bouffon play from mother-daughter team Michele Smith and Nina Gilmour, to name a few.
Over 100 performers will shock and delight audiences in both full length productions and cabaret performances
May 29 - June 2
Pia Bouman Studio Theatre, 6 Noble St. and Unit 102, 376 Dufferin St. | Tickets: $15 available at the door. For more information, please click here
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