Sneak Peek of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA this weekend!

One weekend every year, Doors Open Toronto provides an opportunity to explore some of the most architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings across the city – many of which are not usually open to the public.

Akin would like to invite you to join us this weekend at 158 Sterling Road as the doors open to a sneak preview of the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA). Featuring all five floors of the museum. MOCA will be open 12pm-5pm Saturday and Sunday for Doors Open Toronto. Last entry will be at 4:30pm.

This preview of the building will highlight the architecture of the exhibition and programming spaces. Take the opportunity to join MOCA as a member and learn about upcoming exhibitions. An Akin staff member will be on site on Floor 4 to answers questions about Akin. 

Akin will facilitate the rental of artist studios on Floor 4 of the museum through the Akin Studio Program. Selected artists will be moving their studio into the museum for a term of one year and will share their practices with the museum’s visitors through programs such as open studio events.

Floor 4 of MOCA will integrate these studios, with residencies and a workshop space for educational programs. The studios will vary in size from approximately 50 to 250 square feet and will be designed by Akin to create a light and welcoming environment for artists to develop their work. Similar to Akin’s other seven locations, the space will foster a community atmosphere and the exchange of ideas.

For more information about the Akin Studio Program please visit akin.art/moca

Akin Visits the Textile Museum of Canada - October 7

Saturday, October 7 / 1pm / Textile Museum of Canada - 55 Centre Avenue, Toronto / $10 per person (includes admission to the museum and guided tour) - attendance is limited, please register at www.universe.com/textiles

Akin invites you to join us for a special visit to the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC). Participants will go on a guided tour of current exhibitions: ‘Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles’ and ‘Tied, Dyed and Woven: Ikat Textiles from Latin America’, both from TMC’s permanent collection. These two exhibitions demonstrate the strength of the Textile Museum of Canada’s exhibition programming with a focus on both traditional techniques and contemporary practice. 

The Textile Museum of Canada is the only museum in Canada that explores ideas and builds cultural understanding through the universally relevant media of textiles. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the Museum’s permanent collection spans nearly 2,000 years and consists of more than 13,000 artifacts. The TMC presents rotating exhibitions, changed throughout the year including the work of local, national and international contemporary artists. The TMC also hosts touring exhibitions and guest curators through various partnerships and collaborations. While objects from the TMC’s permanent collection are often featured, our full permanent collection is not always on display. www.textilemuseum.ca

The Textile Museum of Canada is a fully accessible facility.
 

Akin Sunrise invites you to visit the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum

Akin Sunrise invites you to join us as we visit our neighbors at The Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum for a day of learning, inspiration, exploration and fun!

June 24 / 12:30pm / Meet at the Ismaili Centre - 49 Wynford Drive / $15 per person

Participation is limited, please register in advance at www.universe.com/agakhan - price includes a guided tour of the Ismaili Centre and admission to both institutions.

We will meet at the Ismaili Centre (situated just north of Eglinton off Don Mills Road) at 12:30pm for a guided tour. The tour will last approximately 1 hour. We will then walk to the Aga Khan museum where we will have a brief introduction to the museum from the museum staff then you can explore to your heart’s content! (Museum closes at 6pm).

You are also invited to join us prior to the tour at 11am near the infinity pools for a picnic (bring your own picnic). The picnic is optional, but you are encouraged to explore and enjoy the Aga Khan Park and Museum courtyard before or after our visit to the Museum.

SCHEDULE:
11:00am - (Optional) Meet in the gardens by the infinity pools for a picnic (Bring your own picnic)
12:30pm - Everyone meets at the Ismaili Centre (49 Wynford Drive)
1:45pm - The group will walk to the Aga Khan Museum (77 Wyndord Drive)
2:00pm - Introduction to the museum followed by free time to explore

The Aga Khan Museum is a museum of Islamic art, Iranian art and Muslim culture. It houses collections of Islamic art and heritage, including artefacts from the private collections of the Aga Khan, which showcase the artistic, intellectual and scientific contributions of Muslim civilizations. For more information visit www.agakhanmuseum.org

The Ismaili Centre Toronto is one of only six such centres in the world. It facilitates the promotion of cultural, educational and social programs from the broadest, non-denominational perspectives within the ethical framework of Islam. A central purpose of the Ismaili Centres is to encourage mutual exchanges and understanding between diverse peoples, communities and faiths. For more information visit: www.theismaili.org/ismailicentres/toronto

We hope you can join us!

Free Contemporary Art Bus Tour on April 30

Free Contemporary Art Bus Tour! The tour begins at 12 noon at the Koffler Gallery (Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street) and continues to the Doris McCarthy Gallery and the Art Gallery of York University, returning to the Koffler Gallery by 4:15 pm. Guided tours will be offered at each venue.

The bus tour is FREE, seats are limited. To reserve, contact the Koffler Gallery at 647.925.0643 x 221 or ssaad@kofflerarts.org

Please note that light snacks and refreshments will be provided throughout the tour; guests are welcome to pack their own lunches.

For more information about the specific exhibitions you will see during the tour click here.

ARTbus: Exhibition tour to the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Blackwood Gallery and Oakville Galleries
Sunday 8 June 2014, 12:00 pm–5:00 pm
Pick-up and drop-off at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (Hart House, University of Toronto, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto)
$10 donation includes admission to all galleries and afternoon refreshments by Trafalgar Brewing Company and Whole Foods Market
 
For reservations, contact artbus@oakvillegalleries.com or 905.844.4402, ext. 27 by Friday 6 June, 4:00 pm



Ride the ARTbus and discover some of the summer’s best exhibitions in the GTA!
 
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

The summer ARTbus begins at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery with a tour of KWE: Photography, sculpture, video and performances by Rebecca Belmore, co-presented by Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Curated by Wanda Nanibush, KWE delves into the complicated and fertile relationship between Indigeneity, art and feminism. Kwe (woman) is a term of respect and marks out a territory of cultural resurgence. Belmore's photography, sculptures and performances assert what it is to be an Anishinaabe-kwe artist. Violence against Indigenous women as well as their power and perseverance has been the subject of much of her work. Belmore engages her family stories on the role of women while keeping Indigenous self-determination central. 

Blackwood Gallery

The ARTbus continues to Blackwood Gallery for a tour of Incident Light: Gendered Artifacts and Traces Illuminated in the Archives, curated by Leila Pourtavaf and featuring work by Tara Najd Ahmadi & Hannah Darabi*, Ala Dehghan*, Maryam Jafri, Jumana Manna, Nahed Mansour, The Otolith Group, and Tejal Shah (*works commissioned by Azar Mahmoudian). In photography, the term “incident light” refers to both the source emitting the direct light which illuminates a subject, as well as secondary sources which redirect light onto it to reveal unseen details. Incident Light features a group of Middle Eastern and South Asian artists whose works focus on traces of gender and sexuality within various archives from the region. The exhibit questions the authority that nationalist historiographies hold in relation to their subjects through a repositioning of the cultural artifacts from various historical depositories. Building new stories from fragmented knowledge, the exhibition harnesses generative forces that anticipate, foresee and fantasize about what was and could have been.

Oakville Galleries

Next, at Oakville Galleries at Centennial Square and Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens, participants will visit the opening reception of the group exhibition You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me. On the occasion of her retirement from Oakville Galleries, Curator Marnie Fleming organizes a selection of works from the Galleries’ permanent collection that have moved her, challenged her and encouraged her to think in new and unexpected ways. While these pieces do not adhere to a simple unifying narrative, they do tell a notable story: not only of Fleming's two decades at the Galleries, but of the history of the institution and the diversity of art practices that have unfolded since the early 1990s. Featuring work by thirty artists, including Kim Adams, Stephen Andrews, Paterson Ewen, Angela Grauerholz, Susanna Heller, Micah Lexier, Ken Lum, Liz Magor, David Merritt, Kim Moodie, Paulette Phillips, Ian Wallace, Colette Whiten, and many others.


SCHEDULE

11:45 am: Meet outside the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery for sign-in.

12:00 pm: Justina M. Barnicke Gallery. Tour of Rebecca Belmore exhibition.

1:30 pm: Blackwood Gallery. Tour of Incident Light exhibition.

2:45 pm: Oakville Galleries at Centennial Square. Visit opening of You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.

3:30 pm: Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens. Visit You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me. Opening reception with refreshments.

5:00 pm: Drop-off at Justina M. Barnicke Gallery.

In-kind support provided by Trafalgar Brewing Company and Whole Foods Market, Oakville.




Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Hart House, University of Toronto, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto
416.978.8398
www.jmbgallery.ca

Blackwood Gallery
University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga
905.828.3789
www.blackwoodgallery.ca

Oakville Galleries
Oakville Galleries at Centennial Square: 120 Navy St, Oakville
Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens: 1306 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville
905.844.4402
www.oakvillegalleries.com

Images (left to right): Rebecca Belmore, sister, 2010. Installation view: Audain Gallery, Vancouver, photo: Kevin Schmidt. Courtesy of the artist; Jumana Manna, video still from A Sketch of Manners (Alfred Roch's Last Masquerade), 2013. Courtesy of the artist and CRG Gallery, New York; Ken Lum,What is it Daddy?, 1994. Collection of Oakville Galleries.