Softer City Curators’ Tours
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Be the first to explore our Softer City outdoor exhibition by joining a curators’ tour on opening weekend. Learn about the inspiration behind the exhibition theme and come see how Softer City invites artists, architects, and designers to explore new approaches to social connection and soft encounters in our city.
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.
Beading Workshop at The Bentway
June 22, 2024. Times: 12pm-2pm and 3pm-5pm
Join a community beading circle inspired by Nico Williams’s project Tracings, a series of large-scale Indigenous regalia designs installed under the Gardiner. Learn about basic beading techniques and the role that beading plays in healing practices in many communities.
sound field: nearshore
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Nearshore was a one hour long multi-channel spatialized sound installation created by Anne Bourne as a “soundfield” that accompanied a sculptural installation by Striped Canary.
The Gateway
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A colourful procession of woven arches stretch across The Bentway’s Skate Trail, bringing the northern lights into the city. Yi Zhou and Carlos Portillo’s installation The Gateway accentuates the monumental architecture of the Gardiner with vibrant hues of green, blue, violet, and magenta.
Northern Lights Astronomy
The Bentway’s winter installation, The Gateway, celebrates the brilliance of the northern lights, which are at their most vibrant in the depths of winter. Join astronomer Dr. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton for an evening of learning and traditional oral storytelling rooted in her Innu culture.
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.
Howl’oween (2023)
We’re bringing back a Fall-favourite event, Howl’oween, presented by Ren’s Pets! Compete in a Costumed Pup Parade and Contest, celebrity judges, music, photo station, cozy drinks, and bark-tacular local vendors. Bring your best tricks and treats and prepare for a tail-riffic afternoon of Halloween family fun at The Bentway.
Ghost Landing
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A large-scale windowfront installation by Caterwaul Theatre will haunt The Bentway Studio this Halloween. Encounter the urban legends and myths of the CityPlace neighbourhood and its inhabitants through innovative shadow puppetry, storytelling, and a series of commissioned Jack-O-Lanterns created by local artists.
Ghost Walk
Hear about spooky stories and more with local artist duo Caterwaul Theatre during an evening Ghost Walk through Canoe Landing Park featuring CityPlace stories that blur fact, fiction, and myth. Then, create your own local legends by stopping by the Spooky Shadow Puppet Workshop on the Bentway Studio terrace!
Fountain Monumental
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Logan MacDonald premieres Fountain Monumental, a series of 20-foot-tall images situated within the new Bentway Staging Grounds public space pilot. MacDonald re-imagines the original shoreline of Lake Ontario and invites us to consider the unique history of our city’s waterways while also imagining a decolonial future that prioritizes ecological preservation.
xo
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A New Nature at Bathurst Quay
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During Nuit Blanche, the iconic Canada Malting Silos will be brought to life by a large-scale projection by Mark Dorf that reflects on the changing nature of both the building and the city at large. As this historic property transforms into a new civic and cultural landmark, The Bentway and the City of Toronto have teamed up to demonstrate the creative potential of this unique canvas.
Shared Space
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Step inside an immersive installation that reuses upcycled plastics to explore the possibilities of inflatable architecture, circular design, and the role waste plays in the larger Gardiner ecosystem. Experience a snapshot of our shared consumer habits transformed in a unique gathering space, with a mesmerizing soundscape by MONEYPHONE.
Staging Grounds Public Opening
Be the first to see Bentway Staging Grounds, a temporary public space under the Gardiner Expressway at the public opening on September 18!