Presented by Why Not Theatre in partnership with The Bentway, MASHUP PON DI ROAD is a bashment circus on a big truck—an outdoor, Caribbean musical comedy pulling up on city streets.
Written by Bahia Watson, MASHUP PON DI ROAD fuses raucous humour with whip-smart cultural critique, poking fun at the constraints of the patriarchy, the expectations of womanhood, and the end of the world as we know it. punk in spirit, island in vibe and vaudeville in staging, two ringmasters and their band of misfits take you on a wild ride of vignettes and song, giving you a funhouse mirror look at the sheer absurdity of dis oppressive world.
The Depanneur and The Bentway are back this summer for the 4th year of diverse and delicious food events. The 2022 Communal Table series is bigger and better than ever, with 20 events running from June 16 to August 23.
Communal Dinners are family-style meals served and shared at 10 tables of 6 guests. Guests are asked to bring their own plates and cutlery. Tickets must be purchased online in advance, up to 48 hours prior to the event, or until they sell out. Seating begins at 6:00pm and dinner is served at 6:30pm.
Tickets are available for 2, 4, or 6 persons, but all guests will be seated together at the available tables and will be sharing platters of food in this communal dining experience.
As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering inclusion and accessibility, we will once again be sponsoring a Pay It Forward donation program to help provide fresh meals to the Spadina-Fort York Community Care Program which will be distributed to those in need in the community.
Communal Dinners will be held on Thursdays from June 16 to August 18, 2022.
Tickets must be purchased in advance online, up to 48 hours prior to pick up, or until they sell out.
3-course dinners are $69 for 2, $129 for 4, and $189 for 6 (+HST); single tickets are not available.
Meat and vegetarian options are available for each meal, but no substitutions or other customizations can be accommodated.
Guests are asked to bring their own plates and cutlery. No dishwashing facilities are available on-site, so please plan accordingly — you may wish to bring an extra bag to facilitate taking your used dishes home.
Dinners are served at The Bentway (250 Fort York Blvd.) on Thursdays. The dining area is located at Strachan Gate, at the west end of The Bentway site, just east of Strachan Ave, and north of the Fort York Armoury.
Seating begins at 6:00pm and dinner is served at 6:30pm; please do not be late!
Meals will be served rain or shine; there are no refunds for uncollected meals. In the event of an extreme weather event, the dinner will be rescheduled to our rain date of Thursday, August 25, 2022.
As not to waste food, we will have a ‘rush’ waiting list on-site; seats not taken by 6:45pm will be given away to this list.
Water will be served with the meal, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase on-site.
The Bentway washrooms are available for use until 8:00pm.
Please do not move tables or chairs, or seat more than 6 people per picnic table.
Please help us keep the space clean and safe for everyone by using the garbage and recycling bins available on-site.
This outdoor event does not have a specific mask policy, but we kindly request guests not attend if they are experiencing any COVID-related symptoms.
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Ah, tacos… warm, savoury fillings topped with a variety of colourful garnishes, all wrapped up in fresh, tender corn tortillas. These little bundles of deliciousness have become the most iconic Mexican dish the world over, and for good reason. Join Chef Chef Erika Araujo of Ixiim for this fun and interactive DIY taco party featuring a fabulous spread of 5 different fillings and toppings that showcase the delectable diversity of authentic Mexican flavours.
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Totopos with guacamole & salsa Kick off with this classic starter of totopos (crispy fried corn tortilla chips) served with tomatillo & avocado guacamole and piquant red arbol chile and tomato salsa.
DIY Taco Party! A selection of 5 fillings served with warm corn tortillas for you to mix and match.
Chicken Pibil – tender chicken cooked in banana leaves in the style of the Yucatan; with orange, oregano, and achitote (annatto) which lends its distinctive red colouring; served with pickled red onions
Pork Carnitas – the ever-popular shredded pork shoulder of Michoacán; slowly confit in its own juices with garlic, bay leaves, and citrus
Mole Verde – summer squash, zucchini, and cauliflower in a complex sauce of pumpkin seeds, tomatillos, poblano chiles, scallions, and green herbs
Sweet potato and black beans with spiced with fragrant guajillo peppers
Roasted corn and zucchini a la Mexicana, with tomato, onion & garlic
The party isn’t complete without the classic accompaniments: refried beans, a fresh pico de gallo of tomato, jalapeño, onions, lime & cilantro.
Arroz con Leche Palettas Sweet, creamy cinnamon-infused rice pudding is a Mexican favourite, but it is sometimes also served up as a refreshing frozen paletta (popsicle). *Contains dairy
Erika Araujo is a trained nurse in Mexico who found her passion for Gastronomy once she emigrated to Canada. She completed the Culinary program at Humber College, and since then she has been tirelessly promoting Mexican culture and cuisine through her brand Ixiim, at workshops and culinary events like TacoFest, Soupalicious, and the PanAm Games.
Momos — hearty dumplings of simple dough wrapped around delectable fillings, served steamed or fried with spicy sauce — are probably Tibet’s best-known culinary export. In fact, momos are well-loved in many of the countries around the Himalayas, with countless variations in ingredients, appearance, and names. But especially in Tibet, momos are not just food; they are also symbols of festivity and celebration. They are served during important social occasions like marriages, New Years, and other special family gatherings. Join Tsewang & Lhundup of TC’s Tibetan Momo, for a taste of traditional Tibetan fare, all made with local, organic ingredients sourced directly from the Ontario farmers they work alongside at several of Toronto’s farmers’ markets.
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Himalayan-style Vegetable Chow Mein Chow mein is a common and popular street food across Asia. Originally from China (‘chao’ means ‘stir-fried’ and ‘mian’ means ‘noodles’), they are a more recent addition to the culinary repertoire of the Himalayan regions of Tibet and Nepal. Thin wheat noodles are tossed with a selection of local vegetables like cabbage, carrots, leeks, and onions before being topped with a savoury homemade tomato and garlic sauce. Served with a side of Tsewang’s homemade spicy kichmi.
Momo Feast These kotey momos feature an organic flour dough that is elegantly shaped by hand, then steamed and pan-fried for an extra special bit of golden crust. There will be 4 kinds of momos on the table for sharing: beef with onions, chicken, mixed vegetables, and tofu & spinach — a generous helping of 8 momos per person. The momos are served with Drang Tsal, a tangy pickled cabbage salad, a fabulous homemade hot sauce, and soy sauce for dipping.
Dre-Sil A traditional Tibetan New Year’s dish of steamed rice with butter and a mixture of dried fruits, it symbolizes good luck and happiness for the year ahead. Served with homemade yogurt.
Tibetan Sweet Tea Sweet black milk tea with ginger.
From a young age, Tsewang Chodon has enjoyed cooking a varied selection of delicious dishes and serving yummy food to her family and friends. Now TC is sharing traditional Tibetan/Himalayan cuisine by offering her own handmade MoMo sourced from local ingredients. TC has been selling her products at local farmers’ markets, the Evergreen Brickworks, and at other local events under the banner of TC’s Tibetan Momo.
Newcomer Kitchen started at The Depanneur in 2016 as a grass-roots initiative to create social and economic opportunities for newly-arrived Syrian refugees. After a wildly successful 3-year pilot at The Depanneur, Newcomer Kitchen expanded to become an entrepreneurial training program aimed at helping diverse groups of newcomer women gain experience in the food sector. Mama’s Cuisine is one of Newcomer Kitchen’s newest cohorts, women from around the world who have come together to share their foods and cultures with Toronto. Hot on the heels of a successful pop-up at the Leslieville Farmers’ Market, these ladies from Palestine, Pakistan, India, Lebanon, and Egypt are excited to create a truly international meal just in time for Canada Day — a celebration of everything that makes this country home for so many.
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Green Pea Kachoris In India, these spiced fried spheres of delicate dough are stuffed with green peas, poho (a kind of flattened rice), and a myriad of spices.
Kibbeh bil Sayniyeh (beef) This kibbeh ‘pie’ is a longstanding tradition in the Middle East. A firm dough made from cracked wheat bulgar mixed with finely ground halal beef is layered with more ground beef fried with almonds and spices. It is set in large, round pans and cut into complex geometric patterns before baking. –or– Grilled Market Veggies with Spiced Lentils (vegan) This delicious dish showcases fresh, local summer veggies nestled on a bed of fragrant, spiced lentils.
Egyptian Basmati Rice Pilaf An elegant rice dish studded with nuts and dried fruit, lentils, rice, and bulgur.
Naan These homemade Indian-style flatbreads will be prepared on a traditional saj cooker on site!
Salateh Malfouf A cool, refreshing Egyptian shredded cabbage coleslaw, jeweled with pomegranate seeds, dressed with olive oil, garlic, and lemon.
Basbousa A traditional Palestinian semolina cake made with shredded coconut and a delicately scented sugar syrup.
Newcomer Kitchen is a nonprofit organization that seeks to create social and economic opportunities for newcomer women through food-based projects. Their goal is to create a model that can be replicated with any newcomer group, in any kitchen willing to open its doors, in any city in the world.
Turkey has an ancient culinary tradition stretching back to the very beginnings of Western civilization. From these deep roots the Ottomans developed a sophisticated and aristocratic cuisine based on ingredients and influences pulled from an empire that stretched from North Africa across the Middle East and into Greece and the Balkans. The flavours of contemporary Turkish food emerge from this mix of cultures and traditions, and shine in Chef Tuba Tunç’s selection of traditional Turkish dishes.
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Abagannuc A classic summer meze (starter) in Turkey, a cool and refreshing mix of smoky roasted eggplant, roasted peppers, tomato, garlic, lemon, and olive oil, garnished with parsley and served with with pita chips.
Spinach & Feta Borek The quintessential savoury Turkish treat, delicate & flaky yufka dough (a paper thin pastry that’s a little thicker than phyllo) is wrapped around a luscious filling of spinach, feta, ricotta, and caramelized onions, enriched with eggs and yogurt, and generously glazed with melted butter before being baked until golden.
Manti (beef –or– veg) An ancient Turkic dish that can be found in various forms along the full length of the Silk Road from Mongolia to Anatolia, Korea to Afghanistan — Turkey alone boasts 15 officially recognized versions. The ancestor of stuffed pastas like tortellini, Turkish manti are comprised of a thin, olive oil and egg-enriched wheat dough hand-formed into little bundles stuffed with either beef or lentils mixed with onions and spices. The little dumplings are first baked to dry them, and then boiled before being served with a garlicky yogurt sauce, lashings of paprika-infused butter, sumac, crumbled dry mint, and ruby-red dusting of dried urfa & chili peppers.
Labneh & Plum Cheesecake Cups And elegant modern take on classic Turkish flavours. Crumbled hazelnut cookies and butter make a rich crumbly base that supports a luxurious mix of labneh (strained yogurt cheese), milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla, topped with a tart summer plum compote.
Tuba Tunç was a marketing professional in Istanbul for 10 years, but her true passion has always been cooking. Through countless dinner parties for friends and family, she came to realize that she needed to follow this passion and turn it into a career. Since graduating from the Culinary Management Program at George Brown College, she has worked in various positions at restaurants including managing Anatolia, one of the oldest Turkish restaurants in Toronto. Tuba has recently founded LokumEats, where she showcases Turkish & Ottoman cuisine, as well as her take on international cuisines.
In so many of the world’s culinary tractions, delicious food and their warm memories are the domain of grandmothers. Chef Mary Freij’s newest project, Teta’s (Grandmother’s) Kitchen is an homage to those recipes, connecting Mary to her Palestinian and Lebanese roots, and sharing the stories and flavours from her family’s kitchen.
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Watermelon & Feta Salad The perfect summer salad; juicy, sweet watermelon and rich, salty feta are an addictive combination, topped with a tangy pomegranate molasses dressing and a sprinkling of fresh mint
Samakeh Harra (fish) A traditional Palestinian/Lebanese dish from the seaside, delicate white fish fillets are cooked with a fresh, spicy tomato sauce with plenty of onions, garlic, coriander, and green pepper. –or– Koussa Banadoura (vegan) Fresh summer zucchini lightly cooked with chickpeas in a spicy tomato sauce.
Served with golden basmati rice and a simple spinach salad.
Cardamom Date Cake A rich, dark & luscious date cake topped with cardamom-infused caramel.
Mary Freij is a food entrepreneur who has traveled the world in search of amazing culinary experiences. She is the founder of tastecapade.com, a marketplace for culinary activities. She is also a passionate cook, she started her culinary career working full-time as a cook and hosting pop-up food events, including the former Mazeh Brunch at The Depanneur and Mazeh take-out kiosk at the Gould St Global Market (now closed). She recently ventured into opening a new IndoLab concept called Teta’s Kitchen in North York.
Kamayan is a Tagalog word that translates to “by hand” and refers to a traditional Filipino style of eating—communally, and without plates or utensils. A typical kamayan meal features a table covered in banana leaves which is then artfully arranged with a variety of traditional Filipino dishes served rice, condiments and garnishes. Join Maria Polotan of Mama Linda’s for the unique culinary experience of kamayan, showcasing the flavours and traditions of Filipino cuisine.
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Kinilaw na Pusong Saging Banana hearts, the tender centre of the flower of the banana palm, are a popular Filipino delicacy similar to artichoke hearts. In this dish, thin slices of blanched banana hearts are prepared in the style of kinilaw, a dish similar to ceviche, with a tart, acidic dressing of coconut vinegar, lime juice, shallots, and ginger, finished off with coconut cream.
Ginataang Manok (chicken)–or– Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa (vegetarian) Chicken or long bean and Asian squash simmered in a rich coconut broth flavoured with garlic, ginger, onion, and lemongrass.
Ensaladang Talong A salad of grilled Asian eggplant, tomatoes, green onions in a lime-honey-ginger dressing
Apan-Apan An Ilonggo dish from the Western Philippines, this dish of kangkong (water spinach) is prepared with traditional adobo flavours of garlic, coconut vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaf and black pepper.
Achara A tangy pickle of green papaya, carrot, onion, garlic, and ginger.
This meal will be served kamayan-style, on banana leaves, with a mix of white and brown rices, and a selection of condiments like cilantro chutney and crispy garlic. Note: food will be served communally on the tables with serving utensils, and guests are asked to served themselves on their own plates
Maja Blanca A light, delicate custard of young coconut juice and meat, coconut milk, corn, milk, sugar, and cornstarch.
Maria Lourdes Polotan grew up in a family where food played a central part in how life was celebrated; the kitchen was where the family congregated and her mother presided. Maria has begun to share sharing her passion for food by cooking for others through her new catering project Mama Linda’s, offering traditional Filipino home cooking with quality local ingredients at pop-up events, catering, and at Withrow Park Farmers’ Market in the summer.
Creole (Louisiana) and Kreyól (Haiti) foodways share common roots but represent diverse branches, informed by the idiosyncrasies of history and terroir. Chefs Marc Kusitor and Dan Holloway playfully explore the intersection of these two culinary worlds, where French techniques meet African traditions and New World ingredients.
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Cornbread with Sides At the iconic Creole restaurant Dookie Chase in New Orleans, it’s traditional to begin a meal with cornbread and a selection of spreads. Tonight homemade Southern-style cornbread is paired with a smoked mango and yellow pepper jelly brightened with sour orange, tartinade d’avocats, a creamy, spicy blend of avocado and scotch bonnet, and epis butter, a classic French compound butter built around the traditional Haitian seasoning blend of peppers, garlic, and herbs.
Poul Ak Kalalou (Braised Chicken with Okra and Andouille Scented Rice) A play on the flavours of Creole Gumbo and Haitian Poul ak Sos (stewed chicken). Citrus-marinated chicken legs braised in a spicy tomato-based liquid and finished with whole okra to add body to the sauce. Served with rice cooked in the renderings of smoked Cajun andouille sausage. –or– Cauliflower Étouffée (Smothered Cauliflower with Black Eyed Peas and Brown Rice) Étouffée — French for ‘smothered’ —is a rich, often spicy stew that shows its French roots through the use of a nutty, golden roux (a paste of flour cooked in oil or butter). Here cauliflower, originally from Europe, meets black-eyed peas, an ingredient brought to the New World by enslaved Africans, in a lush fresh tomato-based sauce, smothered over toothsome brown rice.
Corassol Ice Cream Sandwiches Fragrant, tropical soursop is the star in this double-churned homemade ice cream, sandwiched between rich, spiced ‘Maria’ cookies.
Chef Marc Kusitor graduated from George Brown’s culinary program and became interested in exploring the possibilities in the space between tradition and innovation in Afro-Caribbean cuisine. He combines restaurant technique with family recipes and food memories instilled by his Haitian mother and his Ghanian father — both of whom were great cooks. Throughout his career, Marc has worked in various kitchens around Ontario and America and along the way has picked up a wide range of influences, experiences, and techniques that carefully prepared him for his foray into entrepreneurship via his startup Chop Time Catering.
Daniel Holloway of Urban Acorn Catering believes great food is achieved by harnessing bold flavours from humble ingredients. Looking to bridge the social gap between vegans and omnivores, Holloway moved to Toronto in 2012 and joined forces with Haitian partner Marie Fitrion. They created Urban Acorn LTD., a Toronto-based sustainable plant-based food company focused on connecting food and community. By collaborating with other chefs and like-minded local businesses, Holloway aims to create a communal connection to food and celebrate its diversity regardless of dietary restrictions. His food philosophy is simple… Food Should Unite, Not Divide People.
Long-time Dep favourite, Chef Dali Chehimi brings his traditional Tunisian favourites to the table for a delicious taste of the Casbah! Tunisian cuisine features all the hallmarks of delicious North African food: complex spices, lush combinations of fruit and meat, Mediterranean ingredients and a hint of French colonial influence. Tagines, the flavourful stews that range from Morocco to Egypt, get their name from the characteristic conical dishes of the same name that they are most often cooked in.
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Salade Mechouia Hot and sweet peppers cooked until meltingly tender, stewed with tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers and black olives, garnished with tuna, sliced eggs and extra virgin olive oil; garnished with capers, black olives, sliced hard boiled eggs and tuna; served with baguette.
Chicken & Apricot Tagine This dish features the classic North African combination of fruit, meat and aromatic spices. Tender chicken braised in a tomato broth with fresh ginger, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, garnished with slivered almonds. – or – Vegetable Tagine A North African classic, a fragrant stew of zucchini, pumpkin, onions, garlic, and white beets in a lightly spiced tomato broth; garnished with slivered almonds
Rouz Djerbi Also known as Riz Djerbien, this is named after the island of Djerba in Tunisia from where this dish hails. Similar to a biryani in that a variety of ingredients like spinach, peppers, chickpeas, and harissa combine to create flavourful dish where the rice soaks up the flavours as it cooks.
Served with side of refreshing carrot salad with lemon, honey and rosewater.
Basbousa A dense, luscious cake of coarse semolina, golden and crunchy on top and tender beneath, soaked in a lemon syrup and topped with fresh summer berries.
A veteran Toronto restaurateur, Dali Chehimi’s storied career has seen him working at iconic restaurants such as Sassafraz, Sarkis, and Avec, as well as running Casbah, a catering company specializing in Tunisian fare.
Dutch for “rice table,” rijsttafel is part of the Dutch-Indonesian colonial heritage, a meal for festive occasions to be enjoyed with family or friends. It consists of serving many small Indonesian dishes, revolving around rice, to be shared with the whole table. Tonight Chef Elita from Nai Nai Indonesian Food curates an exquisite selection of the diverse and delicious dishes from Indonesia’s many cultures and culinary traditions.
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Gado-Gado Gado-gado is a popular Sundanese dish that masterfully combines slightly sweet, spicy, and savory flavours. A kind of composed salad, it consists of blanched vegetables, boiled potatoes, long bean and chayote, fried tofu and hard-boiled eggs drizzled with justly famous Indonesian peanut sauce.
Nasi Kuning In Indonesia, nasi kuning (turmeric rice) is a dish traditionally served during celebrations, where its golden color is a symbol of good fortune. It is often stuffed into a cone-shape mold to make the centerpiece of a ceremonial nasi tumpeng plate in the Javanese slamatan celebration, a communal feast symbolizing social unity.
Sate Ayam (chicken) Sate (aka satay) is maybe the best known and most beloved of all Indonesian dishes. Small skewers of chicken are marinated overnight with chili, ginger, turmeric, herbs and sweet soy sauce, before being grilled and served with peanut sauce + Telur Balado Originating from Northern Sumatra (Padang or Minang), this humble dish takes hard-boiled eggs, deep-fries them until golden and slightly crispy on the outside, and then simmeres them in a flavourful sauce of red chili peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. –or– Sate Tempe (vegetarian) A plant-based version of satay made with tempeh, a dense cake of fermented soybeans that originates in Indonesia, that picks up a delicious smoky flavor as it grilled. + Jamur Balado Shitake mushroom simmered in a spicy chili pepper, tomatoes, and garlic sauce.
Buncis Tumis Fresh green beans, simply stir-fried with garlic, salt, sugar and spicy sambal.
Acar Timun A tart and refreshing Indonesian pickle made with fresh cucumber, carrots, fresh green chilies, shallots and seasoned with white vinegar, salt, and sugar.
Es Teler Es teler (tipsy ice) is a rich and luxurious Indonesian fruit cocktail, with avocado, coconut meat, grass jelly, jackfruit and other fruits, served with luscious sauce coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, fragrant pandan leaf, and hint of salt.
Chef Elita learned her craft from several generations of family chefs; her grandmother founded a popular noodle restaurant in Central Jakarta that has been a local staple for over three decades, and now owns a noodle factory in Indonesia. Her Mother continued the restaurant business with Elita at her hip. Those indelible experiences have inspired Elita to bring her own authentic Indonesian meals to Toronto. As a food entrepreneur, she has catered for the Indonesian embassy and most recently launched NaiNai Noodles, an Indonesian noodle bar and take-out restaurant on King Street West.
It would not be hyperbole to suggest that Greg Couillard is one of the most influential chefs in Toronto’s culinary history. Through groundbreaking restaurants like The Parrot, Stelle, Avec, Sarkis, The Spice Room, and many others, his prescient embrace of this city’s multicultural flavours and ingredients revolutionized fine dining in Toronto, and foreshadowed the eclectic, international menus many now take for granted.
The Depanneur
Founded in 2011 by Len Senater, The Depanneur is an ongoing, evolving experiment, prototype, and proof-of-concept exploring food’s role in building community, creating opportunity, and celebrating diversity. It has evolved over the years into a social, urban food hub where food producers, creators, and consumers can connect and explore new food ideas in a fun, informal setting.
On May 27th & 28th, 2022 The Bentway’s season kicks-off with The Street Summit, a two-day event hosted at The Bentway’s Strachan Gate that challenges traditional understandings of city streets and asks how we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and joyful public realm.
Equal parts conference, workshop, artistic intervention, and celebration, this free public event assembles local and international neighbours, urbanists, designers, researchers, city-builders, and artists alike to collectively explore these familiar arteries and their potential for broader social, cultural, and political transformations.
Panels, presentations, and performances will feature guests including: “Hip Hop Architect” Michael Ford; the Commissioner of Chicago Department of Transportation, Gia Biagi; a creative partnership with New York-based WXY Studio; Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam; Dane Gardener-Williams; Hayden King; Susan Blight; Adam Nicklin of PUBLIC WORK; a panel discussion on the renewal of our city’s streets presented in partnership with Doors Open Toronto; and a social event on Friday night featuring a hip hop/breaking battle with MC Switch B.
Interactive and drop-in workshops for participants of all ages include a pop-up exhibition of Myseum of Toronto’s 36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto; an exploration of the various flavours of street food across the city led by Tasha Shea and Howard Tam; a participatory roundtable focused on community care and mutual aid, led by Chemi Lhamo and Miru Yogarajah; a facilitated conversation on the subtle language of queer sexuality in urban ecologies guided by The Bentway Public Space Fellow Jess Misak and artist Maximilian Suillerot Wilke; and a workshop that unravels the processes and tools that define street and place-names, led by Bespoke Collective and The Bentway Public Space Fellow, Faizaan Khan.
ASL interpretation provided by Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Service.
Join us for the opening of the second day of The Street Summit, featuring remarks from the President and CEO of Canadian Urban Institute, Mary Rowe, and a land acknowledgement from Philip Cote.
Mary Rowe
Mary W. Rowe is a leading urban advocate and civil society trailblazer who has worked in cities and with communities across Canada and the United States. Mary was President of the Canadian platform Ideas That Matter, a convening and publishing program based on the work of renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs, when a mid-career fellowship with the US-based blue moon fund led her to New Orleans. There she worked with national philanthropy, governments, and community activists to support rebuilding through micro-investments in neighbourhood projects for seven years in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to joining CUI as President and Chief Executive Officer, Mary lived in New York City and served as Executive Vice President of the Municipal Art Society (MASNYC), one of America’s oldest civic advocacy organizations focused on the built environment.
Mary is a frequent contributor to national and international city-building programs, including UN Habitat, the Massey City Summit, The Art of City Building, and the World Urban Forum. She is a frequent media commentator and writer. Under Mary’s leadership, CUI has expanded its work to include an international network from government, industry, community, and city-building professions to advance research and collaborate on solutions to some of our greatest urban challenges. This includes Bring Back Main Street, COVID Signposts, CityWatch, and CityShare, the engagement of several senior fellows to incubate ground-breaking projects in Canada, and the development of CUI x Local, a series of virtual residencies in cities across Canada, to learn from on-the-ground practitioners about what’s working and what’s not, and to share learnings and build opportunities for collaboration between cities. Mary is also the facilitator of BiCEP—an alliance of senior executives leading some of Canada’s most significant urban regions, for which CUI is the secretariat.
Mary is a Senior Fellow with Shorefast, a national charity focused on building community economies, and the creator, executive producer, and host of CityTalk, a regular virtual discussion featuring a diverse line-up of leading and emerging voices on the most pressing issues of the day.
Philip Cote
Philip Cote is Shawnee, Lakota, Mississauga, Potawatomi, Ojibway, Algonquin and Mohawk. Philip is a Sundancer, Pipe Carrier and Sweat Ceremony Leader Medicine keeper. Philip’s spirit name is (Noodjmowin) “The Healer” Misko-gayaashk “Red-Seagull” and he is a member of the Falseface society and Eagle Society.Philip is an Indigenous historian mixing the oral and western histories of Toronto covering the last 13,500 years and as far back as 130,000 years and beyond as far back as two Ice Ages. He is an Indigenous Artist, Activist, Traditional Wisdom Keeper & Historian Since 2005 he has also been a tour guide with “First Story”, providing an Indigenous history of Toronto covering the last 13,500 years.
Presented in partnership with Doors Open Toronto
What happens when you combine Hip Hop Culture with architecture? Join us as leaders of The Hip Hop Architecture Camp walk us through some of their most exciting collaborations where Hip Hop elements are used as a foundation for architecture, urban planning, and design. Explore how Hip Hop draws from the culture of the street, and can help shape the street’s future.
Michael Ford
Michael Ford, AIA Assoc. is a designer, born and raised in the city of Detroit. Ford received his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM), where he completed his graduate thesis titled “Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design.” He has worked as a designer at Hamilton Anderson Associates located in Detroit, Mich. and as an adjunct professor at his alma mater. Ford has also worked as a designer at Flad Architects located in Madison, Wisc.
Ford has spent the past decade working to blur the lines between professional practice and academia. He is dedicated to stimulating cross-disciplinary discourse between practitioners and residents on the sociological and cultural implications of architecture and urban planning on its inhabitants. More specifically, Ford has unveiled the subconscious roles of historical architectural figures such as LeCorbusier in envisioning the built environments which necessitated the birth of hip hop culture.
Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture research has been published in a variety of places including FastCo Design, Blavity, The Fader, CityLab, and Vibe Magazine. Along with these publications Ford has been a guest lecturer at several universities including the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, University of Detroit Mercy, UPenn, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Michael Ford was invited to keynote the 2017 American Institute of Architects National Conference on Architecture and he delivered the keynote at 2016 SXSW Eco Conference. Through his years of research, publications, and lectures, Michael Ford is recognized in the architectural and hip hop communities as a galvanizer and pioneer of a new era of architectural practitioners. Currently, Ford is an instructor in the architecture program at Madison College, and Co-Founder of The Urban Arts Collective, where he created and conducts The Hip Hop Architecture Camp™ with the mission to increase the number of minorities in architecture and urban planning.
Woodrow Hoffer II
Woodrow Hoffer II is a designer, community activist, and instructor, born and raised in metropolitan Detroit. He received his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2006, while completing a Summer abroad at Istituto Statale D’arte Volterra, in Volterra, Italy. He has spent both his professional and personal career dedicated to inspiring the next generation of architects, activists, athletes, and leaders. His work with the internationally respected Hip Hop Architecture Camp, engages youth to explore the synchronicity between architecture and Hip Hop culture and music that was born out of the failures of the built environment.
Mutual aid and community organising are fundamental for a community to thrive, and as Ontario’s housing crisis continues to intensify, this work is ever more urgent. Parkdale People’s Economy (PPE) is a network of over 30 community-based organisations that collaborates to build decent work, shared wealth, and equitable development in Parkdale. For The Street Summit, Miru and Mercedes Sharpe-Zayas from PPE shares their strategies for organising with place-based practices. These essential actions will inform this participatory roundtable workshop and reveal the future of street design centred on community care.
Miru
Miru is a filmmaker, writer, and Community Benefits Organizer at Parkdale People’s Economy. Their works have been produced by National Film Board of Canada, premiered at the 2020 Inside Out Film Festival, 2020 Regent Park Film Festival and premiered at the 2021 F-O-R-M Film Festival. They received their Masters of Public Policy degree from the University of Toronto in 2019 and before that, they double-majored in Ethnic Studies, Political Science, and Liberal Arts Honours.They were selected for the Emerging 20 program through Reelworld Film Festival and a 2021 Local fellow. They have written on inequities reproduced through algorithms, the failures of the Employment Insurance system in Canada, the impacts of gentrification in East Austin and Vancouver, as well as xenophobic immigration policies. They have words in Briarpatch Magazine, GUTS Magazine, LOGO TV, and many more.
Ana Teresa Portillo
Ana Teresa Portillo (She/They) works as the Community Benefits Coordinator with the Parkdale People’s Economy, a network of 30+ community organizations and hundreds of community members working towards decent work, equitable development and shared wealth. Her experience in anti-oppressive intersectional transformative theory and practice grounds her community organizing in tenant rights, equitable development, community safety and mutual aid. Ana Teresa is a PhD candidate in Social and Political Thought at York University with interests in anti-racist feminisms, post-colonial theory and place based transformative politics. She is also a member of the Power Lab, a collective of organizers building economic and democratic power within persistently excluded and racialized communities.
Mercedes Sharpe-Zayas
Mercedes Sharpe Zayas is a community planner committed to movement building and economic justice in the urban form. Mercedes has been cultivating her participatory planning practice for the past five years as the Planning Coordinator for the Parkdale People’s Economy, a network of over 30 community-based organizations and hundreds of community members organizing towards decent work, shared wealth, and equitable development in Parkdale. She has also worked as a Policy Research Intern at the City of Toronto’s Economic Development and Culture Division, a Research Assistant for the Metcalf Foundation’s Inclusive Local Economies Program, and a Graduate Research Assistant with The Public Studio. She holds a Master of Science in Urban Planning from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts in Honours Anthropology from McGill University.
In a creative collaboration between Christina Bagatavicius and Alia Rasul of Bespoke Collective and Bentway Public Space Fellow Faizaan Khan, this workshop will unravel the processes and tools that define public place-names. By interrogating the Bentway’s own name and the campaign that created it, we will take a journey together to uncover what stories were left behind and how the process of naming can better shape our understanding of our city, our streets, and ourselves.
Christina Bagatavicius
Christina Bagatavicius is the creative force behind Bespoke Collective, a forward-looking consultancy started over a decade ago that resides at the intersection of culture, public good, and the future. She is deeply invested in making lasting positive change through the arts, city-building, and creative well-being. In 2016, Christina worked on the naming of Project: Under Gardiner, now known as The Bentway, which was a citywide, community-based outreach campaign engaging Torontonians in naming the space underneath the Gardiner. Since this project, Christina has led a series of naming processes for public spaces and she is continually questioning the power that names hold and how we can design better processes that are rooted in community. Current clients include: the Toronto Biennial of Art, Ontario Place, Waterfront Toronto, Indigenous Fashion Arts, and Sinai Health System.
Alia Ceniza Rasul
Alia Ceniza Rasul is a process-driven project manager known for her resourcefulness and creative problem-solving. She is responsible for the day-to-day management for key projects and increasingly has played a vital role in shaping Bespoke’s public engagement work. To date, she has successfully delivered a range of projects for core clients that include: Waterfront Toronto, Sidewalk Labs, the City of Toronto, and PASAN.
Before joining Bespoke, Alia was the Inclusion Director at Bad Dog Theatre, where she led the development of the inclusion and diversity framework within the performing arts. She is currently the project lead for “Our Cities on Our Stages”, Bad Dog’s annual inclusion and diversity symposium (community engagement). Alia is a Canadian Comedy Award nominated writer and performer and has a burgeoning career in comedy and theatre. She earned her B.A. from McGill University in Economics and Psychology and was raised in Dubai.
Faizaan Khan
Faizaan Khan is an emerging city-builder with a background in design and non-profit programming. Their work prioritises a multidisciplinary, empathy-driven approach which has led to their involvement in a diversity of projects, including public art, heritage interpretation master plans, and youth-focused education programs. Faizaan takes a keen interest in urban data, built heritage, and suburban placekeeping, which he views as integral aspects of critical city-building practice in Toronto.
Since graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in the Technology of Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism, Faizaan has worked as a Program Coordinator at Evergreen, supporting design-thinking programs like the Future City Builders and Housing Supply Challenge Support Program. When not at work, you’ll probably find Faizaan people-watching on the subway.
Presented by The Hip Hop Architecture Camp
Join Michael Ford and Woodrow Hoffer II from The Hip Hop Architecture Camp to creatively convert Hip Hop music from your favourite Toronto artists into your own Architecture. During this workshop you will analyse lyrics, extracting rhyme schemes and patterns which can then be used as you create your own street installation under The Bentway.
Michael Ford
Michael Ford, AIA Assoc. is a designer, born and raised in the city of Detroit. Ford received his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM), where he completed his graduate thesis titled “Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design.” He has worked as a designer at Hamilton Anderson Associates located in Detroit, Mich. and as an adjunct professor at his alma mater. Ford has also worked as a designer at Flad Architects located in Madison, Wisc.
Ford has spent the past decade working to blur the lines between professional practice and academia. He is dedicated to stimulating cross-disciplinary discourse between practitioners and residents on the sociological and cultural implications of architecture and urban planning on its inhabitants. More specifically, Ford has unveiled the subconscious roles of historical architectural figures such as LeCorbusier in envisioning the built environments which necessitated the birth of hip hop culture.
Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture research has been published in a variety of places including FastCo Design, Blavity, The Fader, CityLab, and Vibe Magazine. Along with these publications Ford has been a guest lecturer at several universities including the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, University of Detroit Mercy, UPenn, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Michael Ford was invited to keynote the 2017 American Institute of Architects National Conference on Architecture and he delivered the keynote at 2016 SXSW Eco Conference. Through his years of research, publications, and lectures, Michael Ford is recognized in the architectural and hip hop communities as a galvanizer and pioneer of a new era of architectural practitioners. Currently, Ford is an instructor in the architecture program at Madison College, and Co-Founder of The Urban Arts Collective, where he created and conducts The Hip Hop Architecture Camp™ with the mission to increase the number of minorities in architecture and urban planning.
Woodrow Hoffer II
Woodrow Hoffer II is a designer, community activist and instructor, born and raised in metropolitan Detroit. He received his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2006, while completing a summer abroad at Istituto Statale D’arte Volterra, in Volterra, Italy. He has spent both his professional and personal career dedicated to inspiring the next generation of architects, activists, athletes and leaders. His work with the internationally respected Hip Hop Architecture Camp, engages youth to explore the synchronicity between architecture and Hip Hop culture and music that was born out of the failures of the built environment.
Presented in partnership with Toronto Society of Architects and Doors Open Toronto
Our cities are at a turning point. The last two years have laid bare many of the social, cultural, and economic inequalities, injustices, and imbalances deep-seated into our institutions and structures. The climate crisis continues to accelerate, affecting not only humans but all living creatures. Change is necessary. We must reconsider our relationships with our built environment, our streets, our heritage and history, and natural systems—renewing existing relationships and forging new ones. We know business as usual will not deliver the just and equitable city we are striving for. But how do we translate our aspirations into the built environment and shape our future public spaces?
On this return of Architects Talk, The Bentway, Doors Open Toronto, and The Toronto Society of Architects, invite 5 speakers to share with us the work that must be done to close the gap between the city we have and the one we desire.
Stefan Novakovic
Stefan Novakovic is a Toronto-based writer and editor specialising in architecture and urbanism. Formerly a Senior Editor at Azure Magazine, Stefan was previously Associate Editor at Canadian Architect, and an Assistant Editor at UrbanToronto.ca. His writing has also appeared in a wide range of publications, including Canadian Interiors, Designlines, Building Magazine, the New York Review of Architecture, the McGill International Review and Torontoist.
Stefan’s journalism and research focuses on architecture and urban geography, exploring the public dynamics of the architectural profession, as well as architecture’s role in shaping the human and economic geography of North America. Recently, his work has focused on mid-century social housing, urban land use and the evolving “spatial fix” of capitalism, investigating the role of e-commerce in transforming suburban landscapes.
Stefan has also appeared as a speaker at the Architecture and Design Film Festival, Toronto’s Interior Design Show, the Ontario Association of Architects Conference, the University of Toronto Munk School’s Walter Gordon Symposium on Public Policy, and Architect@Work International. He has also presented original research at the 46th Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Conference. He is the winner of a Canadian National Magazine Award (B2B) and a Canadian Online Publishing Award.
Tura Cousins Wilson
Tura Cousins Wilson is an architect from Toronto and co-founder of the Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). He is a licensed architect in Ontario and the Netherlands and also a founding member of BAIDA. Tura’s professional experience spans a variety of scales including multi-unit residential, large-scale mixed-use developments, libraries, and urban design. Tura has been working with community groups to address the challenges and opportunities of building a vibrant Little Jamaica neighbourhood in Toronto and recently co-wrote a report: A Black Business Conversation – On Planning for the Future of Black Businesses and Residents on Eglinton Avenue West.
Lorraine Johnson
Lorraine Johnson is the author of many books on gardening with native plants and creating habitat in yards, balconies, boulevards, community gardens and other public spaces. Her books include 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens; Grow Wild!; The New Ontario Naturalized Garden; and Tending the Earth, among other titles. Her most recent book, co-authored with Sheila Colla, is A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat for Native Pollinators, and is coming out this spring. A long-time cultivation activist and urban agriculture advocate, Lorraine is active in efforts to reform grass and weeds bylaws in support of biodiversity.
Graeme Stewart
Graeme Stewart OAA FRAIC CIP RPP CAHP is Principal of Toronto-based ERA Architects, a founding director of the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, and the key initiator of the Tower Renewal Partnership, a cross-sectoral collaborative supporting policy and action toward more equitable and resilient urban regions including affordable housing renewal, green financing, and community reinvestment. .
Selina Young
Selina Young is Métis from northern Saskatchewan. She has been a guest on Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee territory in and around Toronto her whole life. Selina is passionate about the outdoors and spends hours running and walking through local urban parks along the Credit River and Lake Ontario.
She has over 25 years’ experience in public service, having worked for governments in Ontario, Canada and Scotland and is currently the Director of the Indigenous Affairs Office at the City of Toronto.
She has volunteered throughout her life most recently as a Board Member for Katimavik and a member of the Toronto Public Library’s Indigenous Advisory Council.
At the end of our two-day Summit, we’ll be joined onstage by Paddy Harrington, Founder of Frontier. Throughout the Summit Frontier will have been creating Live Magazine, a digital, interactive publication synthesising our key findings, and Paddy will share some of the highlights for you from the Mainstage.
Paddy Harrington
Paddy Harrington is the founder of Frontier, a design office focused on collaborations, media, and products with a philosophy of purpose-driven performance. After earning degrees in literature and architecture, he has worked for nearly twenty years in research, architecture, advertising, and design. He has collaborated with PepsiCo, MaRS, Unilever, The National Arts Centre, Electronic Arts, the Holy City of Mecca, and the Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland, among many other clients. He is an award-winning writer and filmmaker and has spoken at several design conferences as well as at Brown University, Harvard University, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Paddy is formerly the SVP Design Innovation and Digital Creative Director at Indigo Books and, prior to that, Executive Creative Director at Bruce Mau Design.
Presented by Myseum of Toronto.
How do you build closeness with your city and those you share it with?
36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto: Bentway Edition is a pop up experience that invites Torontonians to explore the commitment we have to the city and to each other. Based on a psychological study by Arthur Aron (and others) and popularized by the New York Times article “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love”, Myseum asks a series of questions that explore civic love.
Join us at The Bentway to share your answers, while deepening connections with loved ones, friends, and neighbours. 36 Questions: Bentway Edition will feature questions about Toronto streets, as part of The Bentway’s Street Summit. Get deep, have fun, be brutally honest about what you love or hate (and everything in between) about our city streets. Ignite the spark to fall in love with Toronto for the first time, or all over again.
36 Questions: Bentway Edition is a pop-up version of 36 Questions That Lead to Loving TO exhibition at the Myseum Space (401 Richmond St. W. LL01), on until October 9, 2022. To learn more visit myseumoftoronto.com.
With a little imagination, the street can become a canvas for creative intervention. In a new public artwork by Raquel Da Silva, and created in partnership with New York-based WXY Studio, we invite you to see our own street anew. Available to view throughout both days of the Summit, this work encourages you to consider the ways in which our streetscape can be transformed through the power of art and creativity.
Raquel Da Silva
Raquel Da Silva is a visual artist and designer based in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in 2020. Raquel’s work is focused on creating abstract environments and exploring how cultural stories and mythologies are embedded into contemporary culture. Selected exhibitions include Ja Senti, Vai Nascer by PADA Gallery and Residency in Lisbon, Portugal, and An Index presented by Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto.
Presented by National Film Board
In partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, The Bentway’s Street Summit presents a series of family-friendly short films offering creative, educational, and entertaining views of our streets across space and over time, including how we interact with them and how they shape our cities
This summer at The Bentway Mia & Eric and Action Hero are cutting up Toronto’s entire ‘Municipal Code for the Use of Streets and Sidewalks’ and rearranging the words into a new set of speculative actions, permissions, and proposals for the future of the city. You are invited to rewrite and submit your very own Future Perfect by-law. These new Future Perfect by-laws will appear on billboards around Toronto between May and August.
Through a coordinated effort with the City, The Bentway is developing an Under Gardiner Public Realm Plan (Under Gardiner PRP) which will build upon the Gardiner Rehabilitation project and the larger waterfront revitalization. The plan aims to reintroduce the Under Gardiner corridor as an essential part of Toronto’s downtown public realm.
Members of the public are invited to learn more about this ongoing work and contribute their thoughts, ideas, feedback, and stories to inform the next stage of the planning process.
Stop by to chat about the opportunities, constraints, and priorities that will give definition to the public space below our iconic elevated expressway.
Live Magazine will be at The Street Summit! Live Magazine is a digital publication by the design studio Frontier, who will attend the event and create multimedia stories about its most stimulating ideas and conversations. Frontier will also become part of the proceedings, building a pop-up space to talk with attendees, gather on-the-spot reactions, and create and sell limited-run objects. Each issue is published online during the event, giving immediate context and insight that becomes a lasting artifact. Come say hi at The Street Summit and add your voice to this issue.
This issue goes live May 27 and will be updated during, and following, the Street Summit. Read it at livemagazine.ca/bentway and learn more about Frontier at frontier.is.
On May 27th & 28th, 2022, The Bentway’s season kicks-off with The Street Summit, a two-day event hosted at The Bentway’s Strachan Gate that challenges traditional understandings of city streets and asks how we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and joyful public realm.
Equal parts conference, workshop, artistic intervention, and celebration, this free public event assembles local and international citizens, urbanists, designers, researchers, city-builders, and artists alike to collectively explore these familiar arteries and their potential for broader social, cultural, and political transformations.
Panels, presentations, and performances will feature guests including: “Hip Hop Architect” Michael Ford; the Commissioner of Chicago Department of Transportation, Gia Biagi; a creative partnership with New York-based WXY Studio; Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam; Dane Gardener-Williams; Hayden King; Susan Blight; Adam Nicklin of PUBLIC WORK; a panel discussion on the renewal of our city’s streets presented in partnership with Doors Open Toronto; and a social event on Friday night featuring a hip hop/breaking draft with MC Switch B.
Interactive and drop-in workshops for participants of all ages include a pop-up exhibition of Myseum of Toronto’s 36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto; an exploration of the various flavours of street food across the city led by Tasha Shea and Howard Tam; a participatory roundtable focused on community care and mutual aid, led by Chemi Lhamo and Miru Yogarajah; a facilitated conversation on the subtle language of queer sexuality in urban ecologies guided by The Bentway Public Space Fellow Jess Misak and artist Maximilian Suillerot Wilke; and a workshop that unravels the processes and tools that define street and place-names, led by Bespoke Collective and The Bentway Public Space Fellow, Faizaan Khan.
ASL interpretation provided by Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Service.
Welcome to the Street Summit! To kick off the day, join us for remarks from The Bentway’s Co-Executive Director’s Ilana Altman and Dave Carey, and a Land Acknowledgement from Philip Cote.
Ilana Altman
Ilana Altman is a cultural planner and designer who has a background in art and architecture. In her role as Co-Executive Director of The Bentway she works with the community to implement innovative and engaging programming, revealing new possibilities for public space and cultivating the best visitor experience possible.
Prior to joining The Bentway team, Ilana worked for a number of notable design firms including Studio Daniel Libeskind and Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York and KPMB Architects in Toronto. She has led the curation and design of exhibitions and installations at the SFMOMA, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Additionally, she has worked closely with artists to realize public art installations for Toronto’s Nuit Blanche. In 2014 Ilana founded the Artful City, a Toronto collective that aims to advance public art research, policies, and imaginations. Additionally, Ilana founded and served as the Executive Director of the Pavilion Project from 2015-2017.
Dave Carey
Dave Carey is a city animator with a background in public affairs, storytelling, and fundraising. As Co-Executive Director, he builds curiosity, trust, and support of The Bentway through a growing family of audiences, champions, and partners, while ensuring that the organisation remains on budget and on brand.
He joined The Bentway team in 2017 as Director of Development. Dave worked for most of his career at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), most recently as Director of Government Relations & Philanthropy. During a formative period of growth for TIFF, his fondest achievements include the Festival’s pedestrianization of King Street, the acquisition of key 35mm film collections, the opening of TIFF Bell Lightbox, and the launch of several filmmaker development initiatives.
In 2018, Dave joined the Toronto Arts Council’s Cultural Leaders Lab, a leadership development program for arts professionals who have demonstrated the potential to drive change in the sector. He is a yogi, a poet, a cyclist, and an ally. Dave sits on the Board of East End Arts and lives on the East Danforth.
Philip Cote
Philip Cote is Shawnee, Lakota, Mississauga, Potawatomi, Ojibway, Algonquin and Mohawk. Philip is a Sundancer, Pipe Carrier and Sweat Ceremony Leader Medicine keeper. Philip’s spirit name is (Noodjmowin) “The Healer” Misko-gayaashk “Red-Seagull” and he is a member of the Falseface society and Eagle Society.Philip is an Indigenous historian mixing the oral and western histories of Toronto covering the last 13,500 years and as far back as 130,000 years and beyond as far back as two Ice Ages. He is an Indigenous Artist, Activist, Traditional Wisdom Keeper & Historian Since 2005 he has also been a tour guide with “First Story”, providing an Indigenous history of Toronto covering the last 13,500 years.
Launching The Street Summit and the summer-long season of public art to follow, this discussion will focus on the key role artists play in shaping our understanding of the street. Featuring a selection of the STREET season’s creative partners, this conversation will bring together a constellation of unique artistic practices that have a long-time engagement with these arteries, and touch on themes of street equity, Anishinaabe self-determination, intergenerational collaboration and empowerment, and more while deepening our connections to the programming that will activate The Bentway from May-August.
Anna Gallagher-Ross
Anna Gallagher-Ross (she/her) is a curator and writer working across performance, dance, and visual arts, with an emphasis on site-specific and socially-engaged practices. Currently, she is the Senior Manager of Programming at The Bentway. From 2017-2021, Anna was Co-Artistic Director & Curator of Fusebox Festival, the acclaimed international performance festival, which features interdisciplinary artists from Austin, the U.S., and around the world. At Fusebox, Anna also curated year-round performances, artist residencies, public art projects, and civic initiatives. In 2020, Anna was a guest curator at Performance Space Sydney’s Live Works Festival. Prior to Fusebox, Anna’s work in the arts sector spanned community arts organisations and large-scale museums and theatres in Canada and the U.S.
Virginia Antonipillai
Virginia Antonipillai is the Creative Producer & Operations Coordinator at Mammalian Diving Reflex and holds a BA in Communication Studies from McMaster University. Virginia began collaborating with Mammalian when she was 14-years-old as a co-creator and performer in all of Young Mammals activities. Virginia has toured with Mammalian to various cities to produce, direct and write projects and facilitate workshops about youth engagement. She led Mammalian’s recent audio project, It’s Been A While, commissioned by the City of Toronto’s Museum and Heritage Department, overseeing both the logistical production end of things as well as running the interviews with the children, editing the audio, and supervising the scoring.
Emmet Outlaw
Emmet Outlaw is a multidisciplinary community artist with a focus on digital/augmented reality. They are an inaugural member of SKETCH and have worked in the homeless sector for over 20 years as an outreach worker and most recently as a member of a multidisciplinary outreach team. Their community practice focuses on legacy works, storytelling, education, and transformative collaboration. They are committed to exploring and elevating the vibrancy, resilience, and complexities of street culture.
Susan Blight
Susan Blight (Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation) is an interdisciplinary artist working with public art, site-specific intervention, photography, film, and social practice. Her solo and collaborative work engages questions of personal and cultural identity and its relationship to space. Blight is co-founder of Ogimaa Mikana and a member of the Indigenous Routes artist collective. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Social Justice Education at UofT, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT), Delaney Chair in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University, and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science.
Hayden King
Hayden King (Anishinaabe, Beausoleil First Nation on Gchi’mnissing) is the executive director at Yellowhead Institute at X University in Toronto, Ontario. King has taught at McMaster and Carleton Universities as well as the First Nations Technical Institute, held senior fellowships at Massey College and the Conference Board of Canada, and served in senior advisory roles to provincial and First Nation governments and Inuit organisations. He is the co-founder of the language-arts collective Ogimaa Mikana Project and co-host of the Red Road Podcast. His writing, analysis, and commentary on Indigenous politics and policy is published widely.
Michael Lee Poy
Michael Lee Poy is an Assistant Professor at OCAD University and an Afro-Caribbean artist/designer/activist/architect from Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. His practice and interests are centred on post-colonial Caribbean design and fabrication in the festival arts – especially Carnival. A graduate of Pratt Institute of Technology in architecture (B. Arch.) and the Yale Graduate School of Architecture, Environmental Design (MED), Michael aims to use interdisciplinarity to augment the innovative, creative, and collaborative process of design. For the past 5 years, Michael has been incubating the Moko Jumbie Mas Camp workshops for children aged 7-17. The masquerade (mas) camps are designed and implemented as socially conscious design/build and fabrication/studio/lab workshops.
Bringing together voices from some of Toronto’s most visionary public realm projects, Dream Streets questions how we design our streets for a contemporary city, how we balance mobility and social needs, and how the streets of our city can connect us in more ways than one. As Toronto grows, these projects demonstrate the possibilities for reimagining existing infrastructure and the impact these new arteries will have on surrounding communities. This discussion will navigate the cultural, functional, and accessible futures for our city’s streets and beyond.
Sam Carter-Shamai
Sam Carter-Shamai is an urban planner with a love for the unexpected and overlooked opportunities that cities have to offer. As a planner Sam applies an inquisitive and critical approach, seeking to work with communities through direct engagement and participatory interventions to demonstrate viable solutions for complex urban challenges. Sam draws on a broad skill set informed by a multidisciplinary background in planning, cultural geography, photography, and collaborative design facilitation. Sam is currently the Under-Gardiner Public Realm Plan Lead for The Bentway and serves on the Board of the Neighbourhood Land Trust.
Dane Gardener-Williams
Dane developed a strong sense of devotion for the nonprofit sector when living in Edmonton; he joined the executive committee of the Kinsmen Club of Edmonton. There he fell in love with community development and creating initiatives to meet the greatest needs of the community. He is currently the Vice Chair, Black Urbanism TO and Co-Founder of Black Urbanism TO.
He engages with Black communities in re-envisioning their neighbourhoods to support social, economic, and cultural advancement. He works with the Black Urbanism TO team to develop programs and frameworks to implement the community informed vision; and advocate for the needs of the community, by providing recommendations to relevant decision-makers and ensuring that impactful dialogue ensues between Black communities and those who desire to shape the neighbourhoods that we call home.
Adam Nicklin
Adam Nicklin is a principal and co-founder of PUBLIC WORK, a Toronto-based design studio whose work focuses on the intelligent evolution of contemporary cities by reconsidering the relationship of civic infrastructure, landscape, architecture, context, and experience.
Adam’s career has been inspired by the opportunity to remake streets as viable contributions to broader civic open space systems. Projects have included the transformation of Eglinton Avenue for the Crosstown; the visioning of the future street network and open space systems of the Toronto Port Lands; the implementation of a new network of streets along the Port Credit waterfront, and the transformation of University Avenue.
Adam and the team at PUBLIC WORK are currently engaged on the next phase of Queens Quay and Cherry Street in the vicinity of the Don River valley, reimagining these iconic Toronto waterfront transit streets with an immersive and dynamic ecology twist.
Brian Porter
Brian hails from Six Nations of the Grand River. He has been a business leader for many years, designing and overseeing the construction of projects for First Nation communities across Canada and the United States. He has demonstrated success in designing culturally appropriate projects for these communities and has worked to maximize the participation of First Nation skills and trades. Two Row Architect promotes meshing traditional symbols into current building technology while actively promoting the creative and environmentally conscious use of building materials.
Alison Stewart
Alison is currently the Senior Advocacy Manager for Cycle Toronto. Her passion for sharing the joy of biking paired with her desire to make Toronto a vibrant cycling city led her to Cycle Toronto as a volunteer since 2013. Her background includes senior leadership roles in the post-secondary sector which saw her develop strategic plans that focused on bilingual programs to support the diverse needs of international and domestic students on the one hand, while also securing funding and developing government and community partnerships on the other. Her work for an Officer of Ontario’s Legislative Assembly saw her advocating for Ontario’s diverse minority Francophone population. She is bilingual (En/Fr) and holds a Master’s in Public Policy, Administration.
With a keen eye, one can find the presence of queer subtext in any street. Bentway Public Space Fellow Jess Misak and Artist Maximilian Suillerot Wilke will guide participants through a treasure hunt to find the language of queer sexuality in urban ecologies. Using the grey nature of The Under Gardiner, the workshop will softly reveal some of the joys of creating queer encounters.
Jess Misak
Jess Misak (They/Them) lives, learns, and makes in Toronto/Tkaronto Canada. Jess is one of the 2022 Public Space Fellows at The Bentway and received a Masters degree in Architecture and an Honors Bachelors of Arts in Architecture and Sociology from the University of Toronto. As a considerate architectural designer and local organizer, Jess’ work visits themes of queer urban public space, housing justice, and communal pleasure.
Maximilian Suillerot Wilke
Maximilian Suillerot Wilke (they/them) is a French-Mexican queer mixed-media artist and cultural worker currently living and working in Toronto. Born and raised in Mexico City, Maximilian began their artistic training in Paris (France) at Les ARCADES. They continued their studies at the University of Toronto where they obtained a B.A (Hons) specialising in Visual Art Studies. Their work touches upon the duality of presence and absence in queer settings. Grief and fiction meld with aspects of personal narrative to reveal a comical discomfort, and rituals are created as coping mechanisms to deal with life.
Food is the heart and soul of a culture. It occupies many spaces of prominence in human lives – nourishment, relaxation, discussion, creativity, and politics, and as a result, it is a major fixture in our public spaces. In this session, Tasha Shea and Howard Tam will facilitate an interactive discussion dedicated to exploring the connection between public spaces, food, culture, diversity, and the street. What role does food play in how we experience public spaces? How has street food evolved in Toronto and how will it inform the city’s future? How does this change the accessibility or inaccessibility of food? How do we honour the cultures they are connected to?
Tasha Shea
Tasha Shea is a Project Manager, with Masters’ in Development Studies with a focus on food economics from York University. She’s worked in the public, non-profit, and private sectors on projects that use the power of food for economic development and community building. She co-founded MixTO Music Festival, project managed The City of Brampton’s first-ever Food Guide, and serves on the Board of Not 9 to 5, a non-profit that advocates for mental health in the hospitality industry. In her free time, Tasha enjoys cooking, food photography, and travelling to the beach to surf.
Howard Tam
Howard is the founder and Foodie-in-Chief of EatMoreScarborough.com tours that offer food tours in and around Scarborough’s amazingly diverse food scene. His interactive tours combine his passion for city building with food by combining eating and cultural stories related to the histories of the dishes. A strategic designer & city builder by day, Howard loves to explore Scarborough & its restaurants in his spare time. Most weekends, you will find him either running another food tour or playing Scarborough Strip Plaza Roulette – randomly picking spots in strip plazas to see what good food comes up!
With a little imagination, the street can become a canvas for creative intervention. In response to a public artwork by Raquel Da Silva, Farida Abu-Bakare and David Vega-Barachowitz of WXY Studio will lead a participatory conversation around transforming our streets through tactical urbanism, and discuss how public art can be used as a tool for activating the complex, intermingled systems that make-up and share our streets.
Farida Abu-Bakare
Farida Abu-Bakare recently joined WXY as Director of Global Practice in 2022. With over ten years of professional experience, Farida Abu-Bakare was previously a Project Director of Adjaye Associates in Accra, Ghana and an Associate at HOK Architects in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining WXY with focus on urban design, she led the design development of three redevelopment master planning projects in Accra, Ghana. This expertise in urban design led Farida to lead the design development of cultural projects such as the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria. With her breadth of expertise in healthcare stemming from her eight years at HOK, Farida led, from concept to construction, 111 hospitals for sites across Ghana as part of the federal government’s Agenda 111 program.
David Vega-Barachowitz
David Vega-Barachowitz joined WXY in 2019. He is a recognized leader in transportation and land use planning and has extensive experience working with cities and public sector clients. At WXY, David leads planning and urban design efforts including the Downtown Davenport Master Plan in Iowa and the Hudson Square Streetscape Plan for the Hudson Square Business Improvement District. David is the former Director of the Designing Cities Initiative at NACTO, where he spearheaded the production of NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide. He also served as Senior Urban Designer at the New York City Department of Planning where he launched the agency’s computational design practice and has worked with NYCHA to create guidelines for infill development and neighbourhood planning. David received a Master of City Planning degree from MIT and Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies with Architecture from Columbia University.
Raquel Da Silva
Raquel Da Silva is a visual artist and designer based in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in 2020. Raquel’s work is focused on creating abstract environments and exploring how cultural stories and mythologies are embedded into contemporary culture. Selected exhibitions include Ja Senti, Vai Nascer by PADA Gallery and Residency in Lisbon, Portugal, and An Index presented by Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto.
Appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation in 2019, Gia Biagi is charged with implementing a vision for a transportation system that prioritises lowering the economic and environmental burden of mobility on residents and communities, especially for people in poverty, people with disabilities, and people of colour. Gia will bring her expert perspective to The Bentway, invoking an urban dialogue between the streets of Chicago and of Toronto.
At this Keynote, Biagi will speak to a series of questions and ideas that are pertinent to her work and her vision for the future of city streets. How do we leverage our public infrastructure to do more for the communities residing in the city? How do we make community decisions about what happens to our public realm? How can cities connect their day-to-day tactical work with transformative change? And finally, what are examples of cities that are rethinking and re-imagining their transportation and other infrastructure for new purposes?
Gia Biagi
Gia Biagi is an urban planner and designer with experience in the private and public sectors who was appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot in December 2019. At CDOT, Biagi and her team are implementing a vision for a transportation system that prioritises equity and mobility and works to lower the economic and environmental burden of transportation on residents and communities, especially for people in poverty, people with disabilities, and people of colour.
As Commissioner of CDOT, she oversees a department responsible for Chicago’s roadways and bridges, sidewalks and bike lanes, the citywide bike share system, traffic signals and signage, streetlights and alleys, the permitting of activities in the public right-of-way, and policies focused on human-centred urban design, climate adaptation, infrastructure equity, and mobility.
Before answering Mayor Lightfoot’s call to return to public service, Biagi was a Principal at Studio Gang Architects, one the world’s leading architecture and urban design firms led by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. At Studio Gang, Biagi developed and led the Urbanism + Civic Impact practice that specialised in urban design, planning, and strategy. The work centred on how to move toward equity, mutuality, and positive change in cities by working with a range of partners including community-based organisations, cultural institutions, developers, government, and other public and private groups and individuals.
Prior to joining Studio Gang, Biagi spent more than a decade in public service, with roles that included Chief of Staff and Director of Planning for the Chicago Park District. Much of her work focused on neighbourhood revitalization through planning, engagement, programs, policies, and capital investments.
Biagi currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and as Vice President of the Board of NeighborSpace, a non-profit land trust that provides community-based management and long-term protection to over 100 urban gardens across Chicago.
Biagi attended the University of Michigan for her Bachelor of Arts degree and has a Master of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Bentway comes alive to celebrate a dance tradition born from the street during an evening social and community breaking jam. Local Bboy and MC Switch B from The FAM will host Breaking Draft, bringing together the Hip Hop community under the Gardiner. Music and dance will set the mood, while refreshments and other activities invite the public to meet at street level.
Adrian Bernard / BBoy Switch B
Adrian Bernard A.K.A Switch B is one of Toronto’s Top B-Boys and Hip-Hop Arts Educators. Having started dance in 2002, Adrian has travelled to many countries and parts of Canada through Educational, as well as competitive ventures. Through Arts Education, Adrian has taught dance at a number of First Nations Reserves alongside Community Centre’s, High school classrooms, Rehabilitation clinics, halfway houses, and at the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre a Youth Prison. Outside of education Switch B has developed a reputation as a Battle B-Boy. In 2007 his dance crew The Floor Assassins Militia represented Canada in the B-Boy Unit World Finals in Seoul Korea. The F.A.M. has won The House of Paint Hip-Hop festival three times, and Switch B took first place at the Skillz-O-Meter 5 Championships in Montreal back in 2015. Since then Adrian has been dedicated to training and educating the next generation of dancers in Toronto.
Presented by Myseum of Toronto.
How do you build closeness with your city and those you share it with?
36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto: Bentway Edition is a pop up experience that invites Torontonians to explore the commitment we have to the city and to each other. Based on a psychological study by Arthur Aron (and others) and popularized by the New York Times article “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love”, Myseum asks a series of questions that explore civic love.
Join us at The Bentway to share your answers, while deepening connections with loved ones, friends, and neighbours. 36 Questions: Bentway Edition will feature questions about Toronto streets, as part of The Bentway’s Street Summit. Get deep, have fun, be brutally honest about what you love or hate (and everything in between) about our city streets. Ignite the spark to fall in love with Toronto for the first time, or all over again.
36 Questions: Bentway Edition is a pop-up version of 36 Questions That Lead to Loving TO exhibition at the Myseum Space (401 Richmond St. W. LL01), on until October 9, 2022. To learn more visit myseumoftoronto.com.
With a little imagination, the street can become a canvas for creative intervention. In a new public artwork by Raquel Da Silva, and created in partnership with New York-based WXY Studio, we invite you to see our own street anew. Available to view throughout both days of the Summit, this work encourages you to consider the ways in which our streetscape can be transformed through the power of art and creativity.
Raquel Da Silva
Raquel Da Silva is a visual artist and designer based in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in 2020. Raquel’s work is focused on creating abstract environments and exploring how cultural stories and mythologies are embedded into contemporary culture. Selected exhibitions include Ja Senti, Vai Nascer by PADA Gallery and Residency in Lisbon, Portugal, and An Index presented by Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto.
Presented by National Film Board
In partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, The Bentway’s Street Summit presents a series of family-friendly short films offering creative, educational, and entertaining views of our streets across space and over time, including how we interact with them and how they shape our cities
This summer at The Bentway Mia & Eric and Action Hero are cutting up Toronto’s entire ‘Municipal Code for the Use of Streets and Sidewalks’ and rearranging the words into a new set of speculative actions, permissions, and proposals for the future of the city. You are invited to rewrite and submit your very own Future Perfect by-law. These new Future Perfect by-laws will appear on billboards around Toronto between May and August.
Live Magazine will be at The Street Summit! Live Magazine is a digital publication by the design studio Frontier, who will attend the event and create multimedia stories about its most stimulating ideas and conversations. Frontier will also become part of the proceedings, building a pop-up space to talk with attendees, gather on-the-spot reactions, and create and sell limited-run objects. Each issue is published online during the event, giving immediate context and insight that becomes a lasting artifact. Come say hi at The Street Summit and add your voice to this issue.
This issue goes live May 27 and will be updated during, and following, the Street Summit. Read it at livemagazine.ca/bentway and learn more about Frontier at frontier.is.
Join artists and creators Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski for an intimate, interactive sound workshop.
Liu and Zurawinski will use playful, group-based games to explore the objects and structure of The Bentway that inspired the composition of And With. Participants will be invited to count, clap, walk, stomp, tap, vocalize and play ball with the artists and each other, using their own bodies, objects, and the very architecture of the Gardiner as percussion instruments. The artists will also speak about their creative process of using found sounds recorded from The Bentway and the surrounding area.
After the workshop (or anytime) you are invited to take a walk and experience the fully curated soundscape of And With, via a self-guided online tour that brings the audio world of The Bentway to life. You can access the soundscape and map below.
The duration of the workshops is 30 minutes in length with a maximum capacity of 15 participants per workshop. Curious parties of all ages and abilities are invited to join. This is a rain or shine event, so please dress appropriately!
The theatre as an instrument. Hidden sounds from the nooks and crannies of the space brought to life – the clack of wooden seating, bass tones of metal railings, the squeal of scraped glass, accompanied by the roar of traffic.
The Wharf
Chime calls from cascaded railings of the once-upon-a-time dock. A distillate of chromatic sounds from inner piano strings that reveal a deep longing for the shoreline of the distant past. The lake leaves a fluid imprint acknowledged by the ears.
The Splash Pad
Water spouts activate the quiet intimacy of everyday objects, alongside a chorus of gurgles, sputters, and pitter patter.
The Landing
Cement framework, container of negative space, air passing through, revealed under the crumblings of saltworks. Metal conduit pipes hold a secret world of tones, textures, like the traffic, coming and going.
The Canon
A clamorous canon of words. A gentle slam-poetry mashup of text from the Bathurst and Fort York intersection, mixing slow-mo mode VHS tape, gregorian-chant-esque melismas, mingling with a spoken excerpt from Margaret Atwood’s poem The Planters (read from the Fort York branch library exterior).
The Playground
A percussive playground under the expressway. The built environment becomes an exploded drum set of lamppost snare drums, parking barrier bass drums, and singing metallic harmonics.
The Rocks
An everyday rock concert older than music for attentive ears and passers-by, honouring the sounds ranging from tiny raindrop-sized pebbles, to avocado-sized stones. Tapping, scraping, thumping over a bed of the swooshing expressive-expressway.
Canoe Landing Park
A gathering of different groups at play. A vibrant reflection of the sounds of community, intersecting rhythms of musical tag, hand clapping, basketball against pavement come together to paint a colourful sound parade.
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About the Artists
Germaine Liu
Germaine Liu (b. Hong Kong) is a scenario-maker and percussionist based in Tkaronto. Liu is interested in exploring and sharing things she finds joyful in collaborative settings, with hopes that participants are open and willing to participate. She loves tactile, movement, sonic, and physical explorations of found objects and percussion.
Scenarios she composed include: Still Life, a 45-minute sounding installation for found objects; Puzzle Piece for prepared violin; Water Music, pieces for water and found objects; See and Draw exploring live-interactive notation with open instrumentation ensemble; Quarantine Playground, co-composed with Joe Sorbara using Zoom Video Communications Software as the score; and UnDrum-set Solo for Duo with collaborators – Susanna Hood, Bea Labikova, Stacy Lee, Elysha Poirier, and Mark Zurawinski.
Liu is also a co-founder and co-curator along with Parmela Attariwala and Nicole Rampersaud for Understory, a web-based, inter-provincial series dedicated to showcasing improvising artists working across Canada, and to building a network between the artists and their audiences.
In addition to her interest in sounds/movement/touch, she also makes jewellery as handmade by germaine.
Mark Zurawinski is a Toronto-based percussionist, improviser, and sound designer with an eclectic palette, and fondness for left field music, which takes him to interesting and diverse sonic places – from contemplative chamber music to free-jazz freak outs, minimalist groove to digital noise. Mark is inspired by the tangibility of sound and has a keen interest in exploring the fluidity of texture and time, and the space where composition and improvisation meet.
A regular collaborator as a percussionist and sometimes band-leader in Toronto’s vibrant creative music scene, over the course of the pandemic Mark has been deepening his engagement with sound in the digital domain, focusing his attention on audio post-production and sound design for dance, theatre, and multimedia projects through collaborations with Understory, MOCA, UnDrum Festival, Indoor Jogging, Canadian Creative Music Network, and partner Germaine Liu.
On May 27th & 28th, 2022, The Bentway’s season kicked-off with The Street Summit, a two-day event hosted at The Bentway’s Strachan Gate that challenged traditional understandings of city streets and asked how we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and joyful public realm.
Equal parts conference, workshop, artistic intervention, and celebration, this free public event assembled local and international neighbours, urbanists, designers, researchers, city-builders, and artists alike to collectively explore familiar arteries and their potential for broader social, cultural, and political transformations.
Panels, presentations, and performances featured guests including: “Hip Hop Architect” Michael Ford; the Commissioner of Chicago Department of Transportation, Gia Biagi; a creative partnership with New York-based WXY Studio; Dane Gardener-Williams; Hayden King; Susan Blight; Adam Nicklin of PUBLIC WORK; a panel discussion on the renewal of our city’s streets presented in partnership with Doors Open Toronto; and a social event on Friday night featuring a hip hop/breaking battle with MC Switch B.
Interactive and drop-in workshops for participants of all ages included a pop-up exhibition of Myseum of Toronto’s 36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto; an exploration of the various flavours of street food across the city led by Tasha Shea and Howard Tam; a participatory roundtable focused on community care and mutual aid, led by Chemi Lhamo and Miru Yogarajah; a facilitated conversation on the subtle language of queer sexuality in urban ecologies guided by The Bentway Public Space Fellow Jess Misak and artist Maximilian Suillerot Wilke; and a workshop that unravels the processes and tools that define street and place-names, led by Bespoke Collective and The Bentway Public Space Fellow, Faizaan Khan.
Live Magazine is a project by Frontier, a Toronto design studio, that offers smart distillations of stimulating gatherings.
Each issue gives readers insight into an event’s most powerful ideas and conversations. This issue takes place at The Bentway Street Summit where we take to streets and public spaces to think with others about city life.
Want to learn how to transform fabric with the art of Shibori dyeing or direct dyeing?
Join visual and performing artist and designer Robin Van Lear (Cleveland, Ohio) for a silk-dyeing workshop and help her create the vibrant silk banner installation Caribbean Sea for The Bentway Studio Atrium and a series of banana banners to decorate The Bentway Studio Terrace.
In Japanese, Shibori means “to wring” or “to squeeze.” The art of Shibori is one of the simplest yet most satisfying approaches to resist dyeing. More controlled than Tie-Dye, and with more options, Shibori consists of folding and binding techniques that attain orchestrated patterns of brilliant colours by using cold water and Procion MX dyes. The banners will be dyed using three popular Shibori techniques: Konoko (Elastic Bands), Miura (Binding with String), and Arashi (Pole wrapping). The dyeing technique used on the banana banners is a simple process of applying dye directly to the fabric with a brush.
Direct Dyeing Banana Banners
JUNE 11 | 1:00pm-3:00pm The Bentway (Strachan Gate) 250 Fort York Blvd.
Robin Van Lear migrated in 1990 from California to Cleveland Ohio where she created Parade the Circle Celebration in the Department of Community Arts for the Cleveland Museum of Art and other annual festivals: the Chalk Festival, the Winter Lights Lantern Festival, and the Community Festivals program. These signature events drew an annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people. In her personal practice, Van Lear has designed numerous puppets, costumes, and kinetic sculptures as well as taught at colleges and universities across the USA and internationally. She currently maintains a large studio in Cleveland Heights where she creates installations, costumes, theatrical sets, and giant puppets.
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