Contact Photography Festival

Once the dust from Hot Docs has settled, my May tends to revolve around the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. Contact is an annual event which takes places throughout the month of May at various galleries and public spaces throughout the city. With over 1500 artists showing at 175 venues, it is the largest photography event in the world. One of (many) great things about Contact is that it has a tremendous reach throughout the GTA, so if you live and/or work in Toronto, odds are that you will have easy access to several exhibits. Another plus is that you will likely have many opportunities to take in some of these exhibits because the majority of what shows at Contact is on display for the entire month of May. AND it’s free. F-R-E-E! 

So how do you navigate such a large festival? The best thing to do to start would be to pick up a free Contact program or check out their website, which has a handy Festival Planner to help you keep track of what you want to see. The theme of this year’s festival showcases the relationship between identity and photography. Exhibits at Contact are classified as either “Primary Exhibitions” (major venues, often more established artists), “Public Installations” (shown in accessible public spaces), “Featured Exhibitions” (smaller established galleries, works selected through a call for submissions) and “Open Exhibitions” (works showcased within communities at alternative venues such as cafés, retail stores, restaurants, community centres, educational institutions, etc.). I would recommend trying to see exhibits from all four categories of the program for a representative sample of what Contact has to offer.

The next step is to get out there and see some photography! It’s as simple as making a note of a venue’s operating hours and showing up. No tickets, no reservations required. I tend to pick an exhibit I’m very excited about and then I check the Contact map to see what else is showing in that area, because spending a few hours wandering around the city looking at free photography is an absolutely lovely way to spend an afternoon! Since we are now deep into May, I have seen a nice little chunk of Contact exhibits already. It’s a bit too easy to say “everything is great, you should see it all!” so even though I am always reluctant to “review” art, I will make mention of some specific exhibits I’ve really enjoyed:
 

Backra Bluid - Stacey Tyrell
CREDIT: Stacey Tyrell - 'Letitia, from Backra Bluid series'
Artist Stacey Tyrell poses as subject of her exploration into the duality of identity. Calling upon her Caribbean and Scottish ancestry ("Backra" is a Caribbean slang term for "white person" and "Bluid" is the Scotch word for "blood"), Tyrell reimagines herself as various white women of privileged upbriging in this thought-provoking exhibit.
Featured Exhibition - General Hardware Contemporary, 1520 Queen Street West

 

Contacting Toronto - 2014: Drowning World - Gideon Mendel
CREDIT: Gideon Mendel - 'Sakorn Ponsiri, Chumchon Ruamjai Community, Bangkok'
TTC Riders take note, this (surprisingly large) exhibit can be found inside of Queen's Park subway station. Photographer Gideon Mendel captures images of people around the world whose lives have been devastated by flooding, in a quietly poweful statement on climate change.
Public Installation - Queen's Park Subway Station, College Street & University Avenue

KWE - Rebecca Belmore
CREDIT: Rebecca Belmore - 'Sister'
Artist Rebecca Belmore uses photography, video and sculpture to explore the relationship between her art and her Aboriginal identity ("Kwe" is the Anishinaabe word for "woman"). I was particularly impressed with this exhibit's curation/execution. Very effective for the viewer, if not slightly terrifying (no further explanations, go see for yourself).
Primary Exhibition - Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, 7 Hart House Circle

Material Self: Performing the Other Within - David Favrod, Charles Fréger, Hendrik Kerstens, Namsa Leuba, Meryl McMaster, Dominique Rey, Tomoko Sawada, Mary Sibande
CREDIT: Mary Sibande - 'I Have Not, I Have'
Collected works from 8 different artists which examine how clothing, costume, uniforms and props can be used to assist in communicating ideas of identity. Though they all related to a common theme, each artist represented a unique voice and lent a distinct perspective to the exhibit.
Primary Exhibition - Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), 952 Queen Street West

Portaits - Gordon Perks
CREDIT: Gordon Perks - 'American Gothic, Washington, D.C.'
A collection of portraits focusing on traditionally marginalized subjects by acclaimed photographer Gordon Perks, spanning a 30-year period. All are quite compelling but Perks' photo of a thoughtful Duke Ellington, reflected in his piano while listening to a playback in the recording studio was so beautiful it moved me to tears (no shame).
Primary Exhibition - Black Artists' Networks in Dialogue (BAND), 1 Lansdowne Avenue, 2nd Floor

Through the Body: Lens-Based Works by Contemporary Chinese Women Artists - Lei Benben, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Ye Funa, Jin Hua, Ladybird Theatre, Fang Lu, Ma Qiusha, Fan Xi, Li Xinmo, Chen Zhe
CREDIT: Chen Zhe - 'The Bearable: Birthday'
Works from multiple Chinese female artists, centred around the Chinese concept of "Ti Shi", which translates to learning through bodily experience. Very raw and visceral imagery. Beautiful and powerful. Not for the faint of heart.
Primary Exhibition - University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC), 15 King's College Circle

The Unfinished Revolution - Samer Muscati
CREDIT: Samer Muscati - 'Female protesters'
Human Rights Watch researcher Samer Muscati documents some of the world's harshest conditions for women's rights in this photographic series. Displayed geographically, it was slightly jarring to discover Canada among those being profiled, but after having seen the exhibit it felt heartbreakingly appropriate. A must-see.
Featured Exhibition - OCADU Student Gallery, 52 McCaul Street