Antagonisms

October 20, 2024 2:00PM-4:00PM
Event Location: Top Top Projects, 165 Geary Avenue (side entrance)

Event Information:
Antagonisms is the first event in the Undercurrents Forum. Program hosts Parker Kay and chris mendoza will begin the event with an extended introduction, effectively laying the groundwork and diving into the ways cultural production is imbricated in the city's paradigm of development through public-private partnerships. Parker and chris, will expand on how their previous work together on sites such as the Don River Valley and the Port Lands has informed their understanding of the way cultural spaces are being built into the real-estate driven development of Toronto's landscape and the knock-on effects on artistic production.

Vancouver-based cultural worker, writer and curator Caitlin Jones will then present her research on the rise and fall of Artscape: a personal account and analysis of how larger market and real-estate development approaches are at odds with a healthy arts ecology. This presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with artist, urban designer, theorist and educator Adrian Blackwell, and architect, artist, educator and founding director of SHEEEP--Reza Nik. The ensuing conversation will aim to expand on larger questions pertaining to the impact of neoliberal policy and public-private partnerships, the future of spaces of cultural production, and what collective action as artists can look like. In keeping with its name, this event will also be a forum for a larger discussion and audience conversation following the panel.