The name “Mesopotamia” derives from a Greek term meaning “land between the rivers.” The Royal Ontario Museum’s latest major exhibit, which opens on June 22, takes this literally, as visitors flow between painted representations of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers on the floor.

Presented by the British Museum and rounded out with pieces from institutions in Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, Mesopotamia: Inventing Our World covers 3,000 years of human development in the cradle of urban civilization. Most of the 170 artifacts on display have never been shown in Canada.

There are a lot of chefs in the kitchen for the Canadian premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play, a triptych set in three time periods that tells the stories of amateur actors (played by real actors) involved in staging performances of the story of Christ. Three different Toronto independent theatre companies, all with reputations for innovative staging and creation in their past work, each tackle one of the three acts. Ordinarily, such a complicated arrangement would be to a show’s detriment, but not in this case. While you need to be prepared for a marathon of theatre (the show runs four hours, incluing two intermissions), you’re certainly going to get your money’s worth.

“A cross between Woodstock and the Algonquin Round Table,” is what Michael Redhill called it. Dorothy Parker grinding out an electric cover of “The Star Spangled Banner”? Well, not quite. Rather, Redhill, the literary curator for Luminato 2013, was describing A Literary Picnic, the annual festival’s celebration of storytelling, creativity, and the written word.

The 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival descends on the city this Friday with a huge “free for all” event. That means all of Friday’s programming at every Jazz Festival venue is, yes, completely free of charge. There will be concerts from local favourites Molly Johnson and Mary Margaret O’Hara, plus a show by Smokey Robinson and Martha Reeves, who will be launching the fest from its epicentre, Nathan Phillips Square.

Here’s a rundown of some of the shows worth checking out on Friday—and during the rest of the festival, when you’ll actually have to pay.

Folks who are planning on having a swim in the pool at Scadding Court Community Centre over the next few days may find themselves a little disappointed. Those who want to go fishing, however, will probably be ecstatic.

For the rest of the week, the Community Centre will be holding its annual Gone Fishin’ event, meaning its indoor pool will be an indoor fish pond. The pool has been drained, dechlorinated, and refilled with 2,000 rainbow trout, to be caught by local children and families.

John Southworth and Andrew Downing from Easterween. Photo by Emma-Lee Photography.

TOWN HALL: The Ford ferris wheel may be dead, but the next phase in consultations on the Port Lands is moving full steam ahead. Following an initial consultation in December, the Port Lands Acceleration Initiative is back to test ideas at feedback workshops. After an open house last weekend, the first workshop took place last night and the second one is scheduled for tonight. Don’t sweat it if you can’t make it down to the meeting itself; you can join the discussion online too. Westin Harbour Castle, Metro West Ballroom (1 Harbour Square), 6:30–9:30 p.m., FREE.

ART: It’s a battle that’s been played out many times before—as far back as Aesop’s fable about the country mouse and city mouse. An art exhibit, which is holding its opening reception today, focuses on the comparisons between country and city living. HERE and THERE touches on the city’s environmental footprint and the impact urban expansion has on wildlife. Five artists will have their pieces on display, including Thomas Lappano, Kellen Hatanaka, Jim Mezei, Alexa Hatanaka, and Adrian Forrow. Steam Whistle Brewing (255 Bremner Boulevard), 7 p.m., FREE.

LITERATURE: Horse racing has been in the news recently thanks to the provincial government , but you can see a different side of the sport tonight. Kevin Chong will join journalist Douglas Bell to discuss his new book My Year of the Racehorse: Falling in Love with the Sport of Kings. The book is a look at life behind the scenes of the racing world, complete with a primer on betting. Gladstone Hotel, 2nd floor gallery (1214 Queen Street West), 7:30 p.m., $5 (FREE with book purchase).

MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE: What is a cabaret-opera styled song cycle you ask? Well, we’re not entirely sure, so you should head to the Lower Ossington Theatre today or tomorrow to check it out yourself! What we do know is that Andrew Downing and John Southworth’s Easterween will feature a seven-piece orchestra with video projections that will tell the “magic-realist tale of a mythological egg hunt set during an eternal winter.” The performance includes a dozen songs that will guide the musical narrative of young love in its quest to save springtime. Lower Ossington Theatre (100A Ossington Avenue), 8 p.m., $15.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Andrew R. Hutchison’s Beaver Tales.

Andrew R. Hutchison’s painted series Beaver Tales dusts off the icons of our historic Canadian identity. He says that “Canadian history is a little like an attic. Sometimes it’s forgotten, but when you enter it, you quickly realize it’s filled with wild and fantastic stuff.” With a bit of irreverence and a good balance of affection, he writes satirical but quite plausible descriptions of some of the main characters in our national narrative.

What comes next?

“Well… it’s a little nerve-wracking of course, but the ideas are flowing. I’m painting a lot, exploring new work, and working hard at it. I’m also very much welcoming, to be honest, a bit of a break. A chance to travel again and develop further shows and relationships with galleries and clients is something I’m very much looking forward to. Grant applications and researching my grad school choices are all on the horizon as well. I’m glad to be done school for now and the next step, I suppose, is scary, but oh-so exciting and filled with opportunities.”

Ryan Livingstone’s The Crow’s Nest.

Ryan Livingstone plays out contradictions in his work. He references the domestic aesthetics of quilts and patterns, but operates on a scale that is more monumental than familial. He describes his work as “personal and private,” but then creates this massive mixed-media piece using illuminated birds and candy colours. The Crow’s Nest is at once irreverent and yet somehow haunted.

What comes next?

“A two-week visit home to New Brunswick to see family, I will be making it back there early this year, just in time to pick and eat some fiddleheads. There is talk of a year-long exhibit with Daimler Financial Services, where I will be installing one of the pieces shown during the OCAD graduation show. I am also in the middle of finalizing a large public art work that will be installed here in Toronto next spring….I hope to spend the summer here in Toronto collaborating with friends on some new and exciting art projects.”

Kirk Wynter’s Eating Out.

Kirk Wynter is photographed eating soup on a folding chair and TV tray-table in some of the least accommodating places imaginable in his series Eating Out. He realized that he is “opposed to many of the daily rituals in modern society implemented to increase efficiency in a fast paced world.” This includes the way we tend to eat…often in a strange sort of public solitude, consuming the quickest and easiest thing we can find. His photographic multiples and videos tell a story of someone simply incompatible with the world around him.

What comes next?

“Well, more than anything, I am excited to begin making art outside of the institutional constraints that I found often stifled my creativity. It’s going to be wonderful to be free of critiques, and deadlines, trends and relevance. I’ll finally be making art that is truly my own, and I couldn’t be happier!”

Jen Mann’s I-thou series.

Jen Mann’s I-thou print series takes a look at our tendency to define ourselves through the objects we own and the things with which we surround ourselves. This quiet suite of eleven copper-plate etchings makes the weight of our belongings seem suddenly too much to bear.

What comes next?

“I hope, and I have always hoped to continue making art as the major focus in my life. Since classes ended at OCAD and the graduation ceremony quickly approaches I have had a bit of time to relax and think about things. Thought generates action and I have already started to really expand with my artistic practice and start working in different mediums, bigger formats and really enjoying the freedom of painting and drawing. The laborious process of making multiples can be frustrating to say the least, and after working in printmaking for four years its very liberating to finally paint again. The idea of multiplicity has had a great effect on my art making process and has motivated my current series of paintings based on twins. My only limitations in the future will be money and I am not too sure how I will afford to continue making art, to be honest. The drop in the economy, cutbacks in funding to the arts, and loss of jobs when there were already so few jobs in the arts to begin with certainly makes this a stressful time to come out of university. I think though, if you love something enough, and you are true to yourself, everything will work out in the end.”

Taliya Cohen’s Spatial Construction.

Taliya Cohen’s installation, Spatial Construction, creates a kind of forced interaction with the viewer with its sheer scale and presence in the room. Concerned with the way we navigate the structures that dominate the urban experience, she hopes to make us aware of the give-and-take relationship between architecture and people.

What comes next?

“My next step is to get a job and a studio. My intention is to create site-specific proposals for multiple locations in the Toronto area so that I can start showing my work around the city. I would love to take over an entire room with my constructions and really explore the experience I started to create in the Grad-ex.”

Michelle Galletta’s The Penitent Flesh.

Michelle Galletta is the 2009 medal winner for printmaking at the graduate exhibition. Her work, The Penitent Flesh, looks at the attempts of the devoted to seek grace from God through craft and votive offerings. Her small constructions are mysterious and emotional, with unknown hopes hidden within them.

What comes next?

“I’m off to Italy in the fall to work for the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (!!). Enjoy winter & make art in a warmer climate and find my way back into printmaking when I eventually come back to Toronto.”

Megan Speers’s Wanderlust.

Megan Speers has compressed her teenaged experiences in northern Ontario into the story of “one long, full night.” She tells this story as a wordless narrative, a book called Wanderlust that uses only the visual language of wood-cut prints. Her memories are filtered through this highly graphic medium, which lends a playful honesty to her tale.

What comes next?

“As for what comes next for me, I’m currently working on getting my book published as part of a series of wordless graphic novels by Porcupine’s Quill—it may be in publication as soon as 2011. I’ve been working on a couple of new wordless stories as well, which should keep me busy for a while. I’m also going to continue to sell my work at book and zine fairs as well as showing in galleries whenever the opportunity arises. A couple of my prints will be shown in a group print show later this month…at Whippersnapper here in Toronto.”

Teresa Aversa’s The Catholic Goods Sale.

Teresa Aversa won OCAD’s 2009 medal for Criticism and Curatorial Practice. Her installation, The Catholic Goods Sale, puts on display the aesthetic language of mass-produced faith. Commodification and consumerism collide with the icons of the church in a sea of red velvet, revealing the unholy marriage of marketing and spirituality.

What comes next?

“I am constantly pursuing artists and projects that interest me while developing my mixed-media studio practice. I plan to apply for curatorial residencies around the world, and eventually complete a masters program. I’m excited for the future, further exploring our media and consumer saturated world in my art practice and being able to facilitate the work of artists that I admire.”

Dani Nash’s Just Say “OV.”

Dani Nash was the subject of a March interview in NOW, where she describes working on her piece, Just Say “OV”, for the graduating exhibition. While the title references a vintage Old Vienna beer campaign, the scenes depicted in her work are derived from old family photographs that she found in a box. Her layered installation suggests the aesthetic of a museum diorama, putting her family history playfully on display as the archetype of life in the Canadian north.

What comes next?

“I am currently working on a commissioned portrait for Morgan Mavis, Director of the Contemporary Zoological Conservatory of Toronto. In August, I will be installing work at Relative Space at Dupont and Spadina. Other than that, my country band The Sure Things will be going on tour around Canada beginning in September. I will be taking my art with me, in hopes that I can get into some galleries across these vast lands!!! The world is my oyster, and I’m gonna eat it with some butter and salt.”

Karolina Malek’s Structures.

Karolina Malek approaches her Structures paintings in the formalist tradition, focusing on shapes, colour, and space. She allows her medium, working first by drawing and then by painting, to direct the development of the composition. The result is layered works that are at the same time logical and complex, rigid and expansive.

What comes next?

“Continuing to observe, to discover, to paint. Propelling the ideas I have begun to scratch at the surface vigorously forward, unearthing the relationships between painting and drawing, abstraction and representation. Catching up with the pile of books waiting by my bedside to be read. Travelling to Europe, visiting the paintings I have learned so much about through lectures and slides in person. And eventually, returning to school, to homework and sleepless yet gratifying nights to work on my masters.”

Adrian Forrow’s Harmful If Not Swallowed.

Adrian Forrow’s installation of illustration and sculptural works, Harmful If Not Swallowed, is like an animated daydream. He states that his work deals with “the common trials and tribulations encountered during adolescence,” and his subject matter of choice includes unicorns, rainbow stripes, and fluffy clouds. It is as if the symbols of the young mind have broken through into adult life.

What comes next?

“Keep on trucking! I haven’t had much time to stop and reflect on the grad show because I’ve been super busy preparing all new work for an up coming group show with two other OCAD thesis grad students (Kellen Hatanaka, Jim Mezi). The show is called “TRANSPORT” and is based around the theme of transportation and how it affects our human existence. The show is taking place at a gallery called Keep Six Contemporary….The opening reception will be on Friday, May 15 and run until May 30. It should be a lot of fun! And if that wasn’t enough: I am also in another group show called “MADE it yesterday”, which has its opening reception on May 30 and runs to June 13 at The North Liberty Center….After these shows I’ll probably pack up the canoe and head to Algonquin for a much needed recharge and some fun in the sun.”

Katherine Farnworth’s O’Canada.

Katherine Farnworth uses a medium traditionally associated with craft to make portraits of the provinces in her series O’Canada. Suggestions of nostalgia and location-based pride dominate these patterned, embroidered maps.

What comes next?

“I’m not sure: mostly art, work, and hopefully some travel. Two summers ago I hitchhiked from Toronto to Vancouver, and each canvas has one of those provinces embroidered on it. I’d really like to continue this piece so some day I’ve got to make it out east of Quebec and through the Territories.”

At top: A collection of work from previous years by the graduating class of designers. At bottom: A visitor to OCAD+ and Caylee Alzner’s photographs.

Even if imagination is no longer everything, the goal more complex, and the steps unclear, there are artists and designers among this graduating class with the deep well of determination and creative intuition to make whatever they want of what comes next.
Photos by Michael Chrisman/Torontoist.