"A Revolution of Love" Artist Mentorship

This series of live performances and in-person art installations showcase new, custom works created by eight artists from Toronto History Museums' Awakenings Artist Mentorship Program under the guidance of Mentor Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director. These works are site-specific and members of the public can experience in-person (in small groups) free of charge.

Awakenings artists reflected on these points:

How do we acknowledge our colonial past?

Where do we go from here?

Let's imagine a revolution of love and healing

Awakenings is a series of art projects created within Toronto History Museums by Black, Indigenous and artists of colour, operating under the principles of anti-oppression, anti-colonialism, and anti-racism. This program is the recipient of the 2021 Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership. Learn more at toronto.ca/museums.

Image: "Soiled" by Sam Davilmar – part of the Awakenings Artist Mentorship: A Revolution of Love Performance Series. Photo by Andrew Williamson.

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Learn at Zion Schoolhouse

October 20, 21, 22 register now

Learn asks a simple question what if 1+1 never equalled 2. This is the journey of a little school kid, that's not exactly a kid and not exactly a human. What happens when what keeps us away from learning is being told to learn the right way?

For Sale at Colborne Lodge

May 7 & 8 thIS EVENT HAS PASSED

For Sale cheekily turns history on its side, placing the true ownership of the land where Colborne Lodge sits within the premise of a real estate open house, and bidding war among audience members. Powerful and playful, For Sale sheds new light on issues of reconciliation and the concept of “ownership”, the housing market as well as the complexities of colonial (museum) cultures and how we understand and pass down histories.

Choreographer / dance artist Aria Evans has conceived the piece and leads the team of performers and collaborators Sam Brown, Liz Der, Aria Evans, Kiah Francis, Sofi Gudino, Nicole Leveck and Jarrett Siddall, as well as Sue Balint, Charissa Wilcox, Helin Gungoren, Aj Morra. With funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Please Note: High Park is closed to vehicle traffic on weekends. No parking is available, we recommend attendees to travel by TTC or bike.

Good Housekeeping at Spadina House

May 14 & 15 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

What is the relationship between ownership and stewardship? Why and how do we take care of places that aren't ours? Good Housekeeping offers a tour of Spadina Museum through the perspective of a modern, queer, custodian to imagine decolonial possibilities of belonging.

Lowest Common Democracy at Market Gallery

May 13, 14 & 15 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

Join and interact with artist Natasha Adiyana Morris for a social experiment, inside the Council Chamber of Toronto's first City Hall. This mock city council session invites everyday residents to reignite the founding principal of democracy through active participation.

Please Note: this performance is interactive and features audience participation.

Add Sugar to Taste at Scarborough Museum

June 20, 22, 24 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

This immersive and interactive culinary experience at the Scarborough Museum explores the unique spaces, architecture, and its history of migration. The performance will engage with sensory and tactile ways of making and experiencing food.

Soiled at Todmorden Mills

June 28 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

We cover our streets in metal. Gut our rivers to pour fresh payment. Prod and poke our bodies until they shine the way we desire. But what of our streets, rivers, and body’s. What becomes of them?

Spaciousness at Fort York Visitor's Centre

MAY 25 & 26 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

Revealing unheard voices (songs and stories) embodying them within actual Black characters in the site to create a closer connection and understanding how much African culture is strongly influenced North American life.

Drawing the Line at Gibson Museum

July 29, 30 & 31 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

I began this piece by questioning whose voices are most often heard and whose voices are left out from history, especially in colonial narratives. I then began to investigate what predates the colonial histories; what was here before? What does the land tell us and if she had a voice what stories would she tell of her experiences. By highlighting the land as a body, my exploration is to amplify how the mistreatment of land bodies is directly linked to colonial violence inflicted upon Indigenous bodies. We are the land, there is no separation.

Awakenings is shining a light on the stories and history that belong in our city’s collective narrative. Soulpepper is proud to be collaborating to support artists in sharing these stories, and with the mentorship program, ensuring the next generation of artists play a key role in building our collective culture
- Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director

Toronto History Museums is excited to be expanding its reach by creating programming that shares space and authority with community partners, such as Soulpepper Theatre Company. The Awakenings Artist Mentorship program gives new energy and vitality to the City's historic sites and provides opportunities for BIPOC artists to be supported by established BIPOC artists
- Cheryl Blackman, Acting General Manager, Economic Development & Culture, City of Toronto

As of March 21, 2022, Ontario has lifted provincial masking provisions for Museums and Heritage Services with the City of Toronto. The Museums and Heritage Services with the City of Toronto's mandatory mask by-law is no longer in effect. The general public is not required to wear a mask but may choose to wear a mask in any settings they wish and will be supported in doing so. Museum visitors are treated with respect and understanding, regardless of their decision to wear a mask.