Inspired by the play Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi My Story is You is a public exhibition highlighting the stories of 8 family businesses owned and run by first, second and third generation immigrants in Toronto.
Featuring analog photography by Mexican lens-based artist Ernesto Cabral de Luna, My Story is You celebrates the preservation and evolution of cultural heritage in diaspora and the social bonds that form the foundation of our city. From the first Hakka restaurant in Toronto to a butcher shop in Little Portugal celebrating its 50th year, the exhibition offers a glimpse into storefronts, stockrooms, kitchens and counters rich with continuing legacies of creativity, resilience and community.
My Story is You was curated by Jacqui Arntfield, Community Activator at Soulpepper, and is co-presented in partnership with Museum of Toronto.
About the Artist
Ernesto Cabral de Luna is a Mexican lens-based artist working in Toronto. Working through both analog and digital processes, he is interested in documenting diasporic communities in Toronto. Ernesto merges experimental photography techniques with sculpture and installation, often printing onto unconventional and manipulated surfaces to emphasize the materiality of the image.
Ernesto holds an Honours BFA in photography from OCAD University, where he received the 2024 Barbara Astman Photography Award and the 2021 Wendy Coburn Art and Social Change Scholarship. A recipient of the 2024 Gallery44 Residency Award and the 2024 Partners in Art's Artist-Direct Grant, Ernesto has exhibited at Ada Slaight, Xpace Cultural Center, and Abbozzo Gallery. In summer 2024, he was commissioned for a public mural by Luminato Festival at Finch Station, as well as a public billboard outside Artscape Youngplace for Critical Distance Centre for Curators. Ernesto has worked on corporate commissions for The Toronto Raptors, Coors Light, and Walmart Canada.
For questions email Jacqui Arntfield, Community Activator: jacqui.arntfield@soulpepper.ca