Series Season: 2022

Moderator: Celeste Pedri-Spade  Speakers: Waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy and Janelle Wawia  From an Indigenous perspective, the fur trade was not just a business. It was and is a way of life. Historically, Indigenous women were integral to the success of the fur trade. Their roles ranged from being trappers, tanners, artisans and traders to playing an […]

Moderator: Jason Ryle  Speaker: Kent Monkman   Fashion is at the centre of art, media, commerce and day-to-day life. Its influence can reinforce or liberate social constructs, artistic expression and cultural sovereignty. How? Fashion is a complex, exclusive and simultaneously accessible medium activated by the performance and performativity of its messenger, bringing attention to the […]

Moderator: Shayla Stonechild  Speakers: Adeline Bird, Kairyn Potts and Scott Wabano  From TikTok to online retail, new technologies transform the fashion industry to support diverse representation, propagate authentic expression and create accessible professional opportunities. Millennials, known for their technology use, and Gen Z, the first digital natives, thrive in this context. Still, broader Indigenous communities […]

Moderator: Riley Kucheran  Speakers: Justine Woods and Mandee McDonald   Indigenous Nations worldwide have sustained complex governance systems to manage their citizens and territories since time immemorial. Today, many Indigenous systems are gaining greater prominence and expanding colonial processes and communications notions in many industries. For example, Indigenous fashion systems often contrast the mainstream industry […]

Moderator: Kerry Swanson  Speakers: Devyani Saltzman, Dusty LeGrande & Justin Louis  Relationships are essential for any initiative: strong connections secure trust, confidence and commitment to mobilize a successful partnership. Moderated by seasoned fundraiser and IFA Development Consultant Kerry Swanson, this panel will explore the nuances of maintaining professional relationships, upholding one’s values, emphasizing reciprocity and […]

Join us for a four-day hands-on brain hide tanning workshop with Amber Sandy and Kanina Terry. Brain hide tanning is the art of preserving animal hides using emulsifying agents in the animal’s brain, which helps break up the membranes that cause animal hides to harden. Interestingly, each animal’s brain has enough enzymes for its own […]

Participants will learn two-needle applique beading and make medallion-stye earrings. In a “drop-in” style workshop, facilitator Rosary Spence will teach the class in English and James Bay Cree, teaching students essential words related to beading. Participants interested in deeper learning are encouraged to view the IFA Digital and On-Demand programming and “Let’s Make Moccasins” videos […]

This introductory workshop on applique for regalia will let you try traditional applique methods for Pow Wow regalia. The ways are raw edge (or zig zag) and free-motion embroidery. Rhonda Doxtator will lead participants through the process of design and colour selection, which is significant in regalia making. Participants will choose their favourite method to […]

Indigenous-led and in collaboration with several partners, the 2022 IFA Festival features over 100 Indigenous artists and designers. It offers audiences an opportunity to connect with a diversity of contemporary cultural expressions. This year’s curatorial theme is Walking with Light, a journey with our community and our relational undercurrents of visionaries, stewards, knowledge keepers and […]

Experience the beauty of music from the past with this intimate chamber concert featuring members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Presented with introductions from the musicians, this program features music connected to Tafelmusik’s Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon, who passed away in June 2021. Tafelmusik’s presentation of Baroque and Beyond is supported by The McLean Foundation. Handel, Sonata […]

In this introductory workshop, students will learn the beginner ins and outs of eco-printing and the art of printing with nature. Collect leaves in the area around the studio or bring your own plant life in, and we will explore various eco-printing methods and how they are used. Coming away from this workshop, students will […]

In this one-day workshop, students learn how to make screen positives, coat and shoot silkscreens. Students take home their own original screen prints at the end of the day. No experience necessary. 

Bring in your damaged and aged textiles and learn various techniques to repair your clothing! This workshop will cover multiple repair techniques and focus on those specific to the piece you need to fix. You’ll leave the course with new knowledge of sustainability in clothing and a unique repaired textile piece!

This workshop focuses on exploring stitched shibori techniques and patterns. We will cover multiple beginner techniques to create your own silk pieces. This workshop is a space for students to experiment with this Japanese textile technique and come away with several different designs to go forward with.

Celebrating strength, resilience, and virtuosity; Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre presents VERGE. This exhilarating mixed-program presents World Premieres by internationally acclaimed choreographers Jennifer Archibald, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, and features a new creation by Artistic Director Deborah Lundmark set to live jazz music by Thompson Egbo-Egbo. The performance also includes audience favourites ARENA (2009) by Colin Connor, featuring […]

The love, betrayal and revenge of real people stretched to the limits of human feeling by real life. Intense and beautiful music. Great pathos and dramatic tension flow from Mascagni’s achingly beautiful score in this quintessential verismo opera about the fateful events that take place on an Easter Sunday under the Sicilian sun. After Turiddu […]

The Art of Time Ensemble and Writers Collective of Canada invite you to experience the transformative and healing aspects of writing, of creativity. We hope the personalities and respective experiences of these writers will grab your imagination as it has for ours. How can writing transform a life? Of the writer, of the listener?  How […]

A new global film celebrating our soul connections to each other across the world during the pandemic. Direction, Choreography and Music by Peter ChinEditing by Henry Mak & Peter Chin  With the collaboration and performances ofMarina Acevedo (Mexico)Oos Koswara (Indonesia)Chanborey Soy and Chy Ratana (Cambodia)Andrea Nann, Bonnie Kim, Heidi Strauss, Naishi Wang, Jake Ramos, Tanveer […]

The critically acclaimed Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company returns to the stage with Ayer y Hoy, Celebrating 40 Years! Esmeralda Enrique’s renowned flamenco dance company has been an integral part of Toronto’s dance and theatre culture for the past 40 years and celebrates a triumphant return to the stage after a long absence. Ayer y Hoy (Yesterday […]

The Istituto Italiano di Cultura explores “Pasolini the poet” in this staged reading by renowned Canadian actor RH Thomson (Avonlea, Anne with an E) and from Italy, actor Nestor Saied who has worked with some of the most iconic figures in theatre, including Robert Lepage. The reading will be preceded by a brief introduction on Pasolini by Rhodes Scholar […]

Twenty-one thoughtfully curated digital postcards telling the stories of artists within the Deaf and disabled community living through the self-isolation and quarantine period of COVID-19. This glimpse into the lives of artists from around the globe, is sometimes quirky, sometimes heart-wrenching, often unexpected, always genuine. 

Music. Robots. Bleeps and blorps – It’s a robot dance party! Step one: build your cardboard robot costume (all materials provided). Step two: hit the dance floor and show off your robot moves as world-renowned DJ Kid Koala spins a set of his favorite electro-vocoder tracks. Have fun at this not-to-be-missed robot event of the […]

Kids will have the chance to create their own rockin’ robot figurine – with its own musical instrument – out of various materials with the help of their adult in this quick and accessible drop-in activity presented by School Visits at Harbourfront Centre! 

Do you know where the word Tipi comes from?   Listen to a storyteller share teachings about the Tipis (also known as a tepee). Traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles, tipis are intended to protect the families within through the spirit of the trees and buffalo around them. The flap at the top is […]