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Urban Planner: September 7, 2010
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 [email protected].
Georges Méliès’ Le voyage dans la Lune serves as the inspiration for, and screens in tandem with, William Kentridge’s Journey to the Moon at Gallery TPW, in collaboration with TIFF’s Future Projections.
Today in Toronto: Jonathan Demme shares his art collection, William Kentridge journeys to the moon, and A.W. Stencell takes you to the circus.
ART: Academy Award–winning director Jonathan Demme will be lending his personal collection of Haitian and Jamaican art to the Gladstone for Candid Aspirations, an exhibit curated by Wail Qattan. Although popularly known for helming such films as The Silence of the Lambs and Rachel Getting Married, Demme also directed The Agronomist, a documentary on the life of prominent Haitian activist Jean Dominique. In addition to the free exhibition of his art beginning today, Demme himself will be hosting a screening of his documentary on September 12 for twenty dollars a ticket, with proceeds going to the Haiti relief effort. Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West), 12–5 p.m., FREE.
FILM: For those eager to begin their festival experience, Gallery TPW is offering a taste of things to come with their screening of South African multimedia artist William Kentridge’s Journey to the Moon. Presented in collaboration with the Toronto International Film Festival’s Future Projections program, Kentridge pays homage to the 1902 French short Le Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Méliès, widely considered to be the first science fiction film (which will play in conjunction at the gallery). The exhibition will also include an essay written by Kentridge describing his inspiration and process of making the film. Gallery TPW (56 Ossington Avenue), 12–5 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: The Garrison will be masquerading as the Big Top tonight for the release of A.W. Stencell’s new novel Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo. Having began working in the carnival circuit at only twelve years old and going on to own several circuses himself, Stencell shares his considerable experience with vaudeville acts, freak shows, and everything and anything in between. Presented by This Is Not a Reading Series and hosted by author Derek McCormack (whose novel The Haunted Hillbilly was adapted as a popular SummerWorks musical), the launch promises a “carnival atmosphere” for attendees to enjoy. The Garrison (1197 Dundas Street West), 7 p.m., $5.