Arts and Culture : In The News

The Thompson Toronto, Toronto's newest luxury hotel, has received a rave review in the New York Times Travel Section. The hotel, described "as sleek [and] modern with a cosmopolitan appeal", is applauded for its "happening" location (on Wellington just south of King), its many amenities (including a spectacular wraparound rooftop patio), and its formal and efficient service.

"The aesthetic at the 102-room Thompson Toronto, opened in June 2010, is retro-modern, and the rooftop pool is a party spot in its own right, complete with bouncers and guest lists. The hotel has a branch of Scarpetta, the New York chef Scott Conant's modern Italian restaurant; a lobby bar that serves cocktails with ingredients like elderflower and Campari; and a 40-seat screening room (sure to get some use during the Toronto International Film Festival). Construction has begun on an adjacent Thompson residence tower. "

"The Thompson is a sleek, modern hotel with a cosmopolitan appeal, particularly for those whose trip includes a bit of see-and-be-seen. With rooms starting at 250 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars, it's an easy way to buy into the jet set."

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original source New York Times

The National Post reports on efforts by a group of French-speaking Torontonians hoping to create the city's first "French Quarter". The group--the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO)--are hoping to transform the area around College and Sherbourne into a vibrant strip that would showcase francophone culture, film, art and cuisine.

"It's an idea that has been kicking around for at least 10 years, according to Jean-Pierre Bou�, president of the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO). The group has partnered with local French radio station Choq-FM and, with funding from Canadian Heritage, is asking francophones in the GTA what they think about reviving a French district that used to be on Carlton, between Yonge and Parliament streets. Their response will determine if the group pursues it."

"Mr. Bou� said the original idea was to have it cover a rather large chunk of downtown, from University Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway, from Carlton to the lake. Now, they envision anchoring it around Sacr� Coeur Church, the city's first Frenchspeaking Roman Catholic parish established in 1887, at the corner of Carlton and Sherbourne. College Fran�ais is a few blocks west, at Mutual Street, while the Centre francophone, Boreal College and TFO, the province's only French-language educational public television network, are all at Yonge and Carlton."

"Mr. Bou�, who owns Lafayette Bistro on Queen Street, says part of the challenge is francophones have not settled in a specific place in Toronto. "When an Italian family comes to Toronto they ask where are the Italians and they go where they are," he said. French people will go in the opposite direction of their own kind, he says, because they're independent. "But I can tell you that after a while you are desperate for a confit de canard [duck confit] and you would be delighted if you could find an area where there is not one, but six, seven, 10 restaurants where you can choose."

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original source National Post

The Dallas arts & culture publication D Magazine, writes on what other cities can learn from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's innovative methods for drawing in young adults. Thirty-five percent of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's audience is younger than 35 years old, a figure attributed in large part to the organizations attempts to reach out to younger audiences with after-work concert series, lobby parties, and the "tsoundcheck" program, a program which offers $14 tickets for 18 to 35 year olds.

"Classical music has been characterized in the past few years by labor disputes, bankruptcy scares, and aging audiences. So what is the Toronto Symphony Orchestra doing right? The LA Times' Culture Vulture reports that thirty-five percent of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's audience is younger than 35 years old, and classical music has become part of the normal cultural diet of the city's younger professionals. It is not that the TSO has not seen its share of hardship, but tough times helped the TSO right the ship and emerge as a model for other cultural organizations"

"In 2001 the choice was make massive changes or fold. Choosing the former, and, frankly, with nothing left to lose, the TSO actively reached out to new audiences by fitting programming into their schedule instead of demanding the reverse."

"The musicians have noticed."

"There's been a complete shift in the nine years I've been playing with the symphony", said horn player Gabriel Radford. "For us on stage, that has a tremendous impact. Things seem to come alive. At the end of a show, when you've put in all that work, it's great."

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original source D Magazine

PopMatters raves about Torontonian Stuart Henderson's newest book "Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the 1960s". Yorkville in the 60s was Toronto's preeminent (counter)culture hub -- the hangout place of, among others, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Gordon Lightfoot. In "Making the Scene", Hederson examines the hippies and hipsters who once made Yorkville their stomping ground and who helped redefine what it meant to be "cool" in Toronto.


"In fact, this book astutely charts the transformative effect of Yorkville as a community, revealing it be a place that was greatly changed over the course of a few scant years. In the '50s, the area was a bit of a no-man's land of cheap row houses that attracted both an artistic clientele that would go on to open high-end boutiques in the area, and a displaced immigrant working class, which brought the concept of the coffee house to the region. While Yorkville would eventually be home to literally a couple dozen of these coffee houses by the mid-'60s, when they started to crop up they became home to quiet, intimate folk performances and to a youth market looking for somewhere to hang out. (The legal drinking age in Toronto at the time was 21; it is now 19.)"

"The book serves as a preserver of heritage, considering that the Yorkville of today looks absolutely nothing like the Village of the '60s. That, perhaps, is Making the Scene's greatest strength: offering a detached, non-sentimental and objective account of one of Canada's most lively countercultures and the impact that resonates to this day, despite the fact that the only coffee house you might find near the area today would be a Starbucks. And even though Henderson's observations about what constitutes hip culture might be heady, it's an appropriate examination as one comes to realize through the reading of this book that Yorkville was, in many ways, an act: a place to perform (not only as a musician, but as an individual searching for identity and an authentic experience) and a place to see or be seen. Yorkville, then, is a metaphor for any hip community in the world today, a place that made and remade itself over a turbulent decade of radical change. That, and the take-away of the historical and cultural importance of this little strip of downtown Toronto, is the conduit for some essential reading � no matter if you were there during Yorkville's heyday or not."


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original source Pop Matters

The Chicago Tribune writes on the lessons big cities can learn from Luminato, Toronto's week-long festival of arts, culture and ideas. The festival, the largest multi-arts festival in North America, is lauded for its unique programming and its ability to promote Toronto culture on the international stage. 

"But while there is international work at Luminato, it is not an international festival but a celebration of an international city. A city whose hotel rooms it fills for a good chunk of June. That, perhaps, is a crucial distinction. Luminato doesn't just bring in work from outside; it also creates work from within and then shouts about it globally. Furthermore, as Price noted, festivals are a different beast. They help people follow the arts. "You can't just hit them with a wall of stuff," she said. "You have to provide context."

"Intriguingly, Price argued that free events are actually far more attractive to corporate sponsors like L'Oreal, one of Luminato's biggest supporters."

"If you are in a big, beautiful park getting an artist the caliber of k.d. lang for free," Price said, "you appreciate the sponsor. And you don't mind if you see a couple of banners."

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original source Chicago Tribune

The much-anticipated International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards have come and gone from Toronto. Blog TO writes of the jam-packed weekend of parties, film premieres and concerts that brought so much glitz and glamour to the GTA.

"The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) handed out trophies to its movie megastars on Saturday night, right here in Toronto. They're like a touring version of the Indian Oscars, but for the South Asian diaspora and Bollywood fans all over the world. And, they are a huge show."

"Each year, IIFA picks a new host city and puts on a weekend of "buzz" events (including film premieres, concerts, plus a lot of tie-in exhibits and screenings all over the GTA leading up to the big show). It's a pretty big deal for Toronto to host the 12th edition, after stops in hubs like Macau, London, Dubai, Bangkok and Johannesburg. It's also the first time the IIFA Awards have taken place in North America, which will no doubt raise the profile (and box office share) of Indian cinema in this market."

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original source Blog TO

"Dirty, Drunk, and Punk: The Twisted Crazy Story of the Bunchofuckingoofs", a new book that traces the history of Toronto's most notorious punk band, has hit book shelves to rave reviews. The book, researched and written by Torontonian Jennifer Morton looks at how the Bunchofuckingoofs grew into the stuff of legend after establishing Fort Goof, a series of club houses, speakeasys, music venues and squats that took over Kensginton market in the early 1980s.

"I grew up in the Goofs era, saw them several times at venues like Larry's Hideaway, went to a few late night booze-cans at Fort Goof, and had a good friend who dropped out and more or less moved in with them for a while, and Dirty, Drunk and Punk feels like a true and real account of the band and their weird, storied, anarchic, nihilistic history."

"The thing that made the Goofs such a force was their blend of out-of-control, violent insanity (they'd smash TVs on stage, open beer bottles with chainsaws, dive off Fort Goof into the mountain of empty beer cans in the back yard, get into chain-fights with Nazi skinhead raiders) and their strong ethic of mutual aid, compassion, and social justice. Crazy Steve Goof, the band's founder and non-leader, ran for city council twice, led a campaign to get hard drugs out of Kensington Market, and took in waifs and screwups by the hundreds."

"Dirty, Drunk and Punk's story is told on a backdrop of photos, gig sheets, fliers, news clippings and other detritus and ephemera, artfully collaged behind text that has the screw-you madness of punk band fliers. Morton interviews the Goofs, their friends, their enemies, the law, their hangers-on (even my friend who ended up living with the band), and develops a kind of collective memoir of the band and the era they represented� Dirty, Drunk and Punk is a fantastic trip through the story they made for themselves."

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original source Boingboing

The Hollywood Reporter writes on the resurgence of Toronto's film and TV production industry. While the industry slumped in 2008--due to the rise of the Canadian dollar and film tax credits in southern U.S. states--Toronto once again reigns as Hollywood's premier production destination. To celebrate Toronto's revived production industry a gathering has been scheduled for June 23 at the new Islington Ave William F. White Centre to be hosted by Hollywood director Norman Jewison and "Chicago" producer Don Carmody.

"Big stories and little stories; there's so much going on here right now," Jewison said as Toronto plays host to big-budget shoots like Columbia's remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie Total Recall and ABC/Global's Rookie Blue."

"Canada's biggest city successfully fended off challenges like the Canadian dollar's rise against the U.S. greenback, and stiff competition from film tax credits in southern U.S. states, to return as a production destination for Hollywood."

"Also attending the William F. White bash are local politicians like James Moore, the federal heritage minister, and Ontario cultural minister Michael Chan, whose generous film tax credits have been key to enticing Hollywood production back to Toronto after a 2008 slump.The new William F. White Centre on Islington Avenue is also part of a soundstage expansion westwards in Toronto away from the city's waterfront, where old studio space was shuttered during the economic recession."

"Our celebration responds directly to the renewed spirit and revitalization of Toronto's production industry," Paul Bronfman, chairman and CEO of Comweb Group and William F. White International, said ahead of the June 23 Toronto tribute."

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original source Hollywood Reporter

Toronto Star art critic Martin Knelman writes on the success of Luminato's fifth season and why the annual arts & culture festival  "enhances life in Toronto". Among other thing, Knelman attributes the festival's success to its smart programming, its numerous  free events, and its "unprecedented partnership with The New Yorker".

"Edition number five of Luminato is almost ready to slip into the past tense, with a potpourri of events on Saturday and a quiet footnote of a day on Sunday featuring what turns out to be the final North American performances, at least for now, of that startling two-part Arab epic, One Thousand and One Nights."

"Despite a few hitches and glitches, including soft ticket sales, this year's festival took several major steps forward � securing its position as a key event that enlivens the city every June while also grabbing needed attention from the world beyond the GTA."

"The festival's unprecedented partnership with The New Yorker � surely North America's most prestigious magazine � was one of this year's big success stories, including a memorable doubleheader last Sunday at the St. Lawrence Centre."

"Another plus: the presence in our town of producers, presenters, bookers and agents for the semi-annual "congress of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) � which is bound to pay off in the long term with increased awareness of Toronto's performing arts talent, its glittering culture palaces and its annual arts festival."

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original source Toronto Star

Toronto will soon be home to one of the world's largest--if not the largest--international Indian cultural center. According to India's External Affairs Ministry, the center will showcase the country's rich cultural heritage and will host regular dance and music performances.

"[Toronto's centre] will rival, if not outshine, the Nehru Centre in London,'' said a top official of the Indian ministry of external affairs, who was in Toronto to participate in last week's Pravasi Bharatiya Divas � a gathering of people of Indian origin in North America and the Caribbean."

"The new cultural centre will be ready by next year to cater to the North America Indian diaspora,'' said Sangeeta Bahadur, deputy director at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, an autonomous wing of the ministry. It also runs cultural centres in Almaty (Kazakhstan), Berlin, Cairo, Colombo, Durban, Georgetown, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Moscow, Paramaribo (Suriname), Port Louis (Mauritius), Port of Spain and Tashkent (Uzbekistan), besides London ."

"We are looking for a suitable location in Toronto and once we find it, the centre will come up quickly,'' Ms. Bahadur said. "The proposed centre will showcase India's rich old heritage and traditions to the Indian diaspora and mainstream Canadians. It will regularly host Indian dance and music performances.''

"She said the centre is part of India's thrust to use culture as a tool of its foreign policy. "We want to use our rich cultural heritage to build bridges with the diaspora and Canada and the whole North American region. The Indian diaspora is our biggest asset and we want to use this asset to project India.''

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original source Globe & Mail

The Miami Herald encourages its readers to visit Toronto's Distillery District. The former industrial site turned car-free arts center is lauded for its historic architecture, appetizing restaurants, and its concentration of stunning galleries and sculptures.

"This is a safe, clean, comfortable city. Its eclectic streets and scenic avenues appeal to your inner walker, and few parts are better to explore on foot than the automobile-free, pedestrian-friendly Distillery District.Just off Lake Ontario, with the CN tower and a collage of skyscrapers hovering above, this former industrial area melds the corporate and cultural in a historic setting. Walking through the Mill Street entrance, you'll immediately get the picture, as did virtually everyone I encountered, by either posing for a camera, or employing one, sensing the significance of it all."

"By 2001, the distillery had become mainly rubble when Matthew Rosenblatt and Cityscape, collaborating with Dundee Real Estate Development, began to re-create the area into something that people, a local or a tourist, would return to, Rosenblatt says."

"Viewing business as art, and intent on establishing a neighborhood where you "get a sense of the city's culture," Rosenblatt and his cohorts have taken 44 buildings, the largest collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America, and incorporated business, retail and artist spaces into a setting that exudes small-town charm. Walking these streets is akin to visiting an amusement park, and not having to pay for the rides, as the visual feast is entertainment enough."

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original source Miami Herald

Good Magazine writes on the group of Toronto artists that recently helped to beautify the city's many untended and unkempt planters. Funded by Toronto arts organization FEAST, 17 local artists and designers took part in "Outside the Planter Boxes" renovating and reviving over 30 planters in a 24-hour period.

"Public planter boxes are great in theory. They're a refuge for nature in the city. A way of cleaning our air and beautifying our streets. But in practice, many public planters are untended or empty, too big or too small for the plants they're meant to contain, or simply falling apart".

"Last month, Sean Martindale decided to do something about it in his home city of Toronto. With a grant from the arts organization Toronto FEAST, Martindale organized a project called Outside the Planter Boxes. He rounded up a group of local "artists, designers, gardeners and urbanites" to execute "planter interventions" in sites across the city. In the end, 17 participants made more than 30 projects in a single 24-hour period during the weekend of May 20."

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original source Good

Blog TO writes on the first Kensington Market Pedestrian Sunday of the season. The car-free street festival--a festival that takes place on the last Sunday of every month from June 26th to October 30th--features musicians, buskers and a variety of sidewalk fare.

"So Kensington Market for another season yesterday, and unsurprisingly streets in the area were jam-packed throughout the afternoon. More than just an occasion to walk around the market without the presence of vehicular traffic, Pedestrian Sundays feature performances by artists, musicians and store owners. Oh, and there's sidewalk fare, too � but some of the food lineups seemed to rival those at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant for Doors Open."

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original source Blog TO

The Hollywood Reporter writes on how Toronto became the North American launch pad of Indian Cinema. This June Toronto will play host to 12th annual IIFA Awards, Indian cinema's largest award show. Toronto was chosen as the site for the three-day celebration not only because it boasts a large South Asian population, but because it is a lively city that embraces multiculturalism and diversity.

"Roy Thomson Hall, already an Oscar launch-pad for Hollywood studio pics each September at the Toronto International Film Festival, had suddenly become fan central for hard core Bollywood fans."

"They wouldn't come to Toronto if they didn't expect fans to blow the lid off of the Rogers Centre," the venue of the 12th IIFA Awards, insists Veronica Chail, the Toronto-based host of OMNI Television's national entertainment magazine show Bollywood Boulevard."

"The IIFAs are produced annually by Wizcraft International Entertainment outside India and in rising markets for Bollywood product."

"And OMNI Television, as the official Canadian broadcast partner of the 2011 IIFA Awards, plans wall-to-wall coverage of the Indian film awards to reach and grow its Canadian south-Asian audience."

"When it comes to Bollywood, you're not selling anything. You're not trying to convince anyone. The audience has a core interest," Alain Strati, vp of the OMNI Station Group, explained."

"To celebrate Bollywood ahead of the green carpet style watch at the IIFA Awards in Toronto, OMNI is launching a Best of the IIFAs series, co-hosted by Veronica Chail and Mohit Rajhans.Chail explains the four-part series showcasing Bollywood's leading men and women and greatest IIFA Award dance numbers will also showcase how Toronto embraces diversity and Bollywood."

"The world lives here," she said of Toronto's varied multicultural communities, which each September soak up TIFF's international film lineup."

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original source Hollywood Reporter