Summer Opening Night Party (2024)
A fabulous party to kick-off summer in the city! Mix, mingle, and dance under the Gardiner as The Bentway’s new public art exhibition Softer City officially opened. The evening culminated with a massive collective performance led by local queer line dancing icons, SPURS.
Tracings
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How can we show care for our infrastructure and, by extension, for each other? Nico Williams applied “patches” (made with woven fabric and jingle cones) to the Gardiner’s concrete columns, incorporating traditional Indigenous regalia designs. These soft interventions add joy, beauty, and a caring touch to the Expressway.
Holding Space
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Nnenna Okore uses scaffolding, pipe, and Ankara – a versatile and iconic African fabric that embodies a deep sense of identity and community – to create a new space for human connection. Vibrant fabric hues weave around the Gardiner’s hard edges, softening the concrete infrastructure.
Soft Fits
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Few public spaces are designed with teenagers in mind. For Soft Fits, Brooklyn’s WIP Collaborative worked with local youth to create a playful lounge-scape under the trees at the edge of The Bentway Studio Terrace facing Canoe Landing Park.
Wind Ensemble
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Brightly coloured windsocks dance overhead while windchimes echo throughout, picking up the movement of the wind and the energy of the city. Toronto-based artist Heather Nicol invites you to add your voice to this chorus, to pause and connect to your surroundings and one another.
Perspective Alignment
On view now
Chloë Bass’ sculptural benches, formed from solid Ontario rock and engraved with poetic reflections, welcome visitors to sit alongside a friend (or stranger) and consider the difficult but necessary work of softening our perspectives towards one another through empathy and care.
From Steps to Stories Public Opening
Be the first to experience From Steps to Stories, a new high-tech exhibition presented with Autodesk Research. Join us on Friday, November 3 for a free reception as we launch this interactive showcase of cutting-edge space-sensing technology and consider its implications for understanding public space.
From Steps to Stories
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What can cutting-edge sensor technology teach us about the future of public space? This interactive data art installation invites visitors to explore the fascinating connections between human experience and computer vision under the Gardiner Expressway. Presented in collaboration with Autodesk Research, From Steps to Stories reveals how we can achieve a deeper understanding of how public spaces are experienced.