About Memory Work
Situated at the Strachan Gate entrance to The Bentway, Memory Work is a speculative monument that commemorates Toronto’s potential.
Twelve embellished photographic portraits depict members of a future-fictional movement, the Mothers of Invention, honouring their roles in nurturing Toronto’s transition to a regenerative economy. A work of foresight, Memory Work extrapolates from signals of change and glimmers of hope. The individuals photographed are luminary figures, present-day seeds of the characters they portray. An audio tour, available by calling a toll-free number, offers an additional narrative layer and a portal to the possible city.
Memory Work is co-presented by From Later and The Bentway with support from the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022. Additional support by the Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto, and the Toronto Arts Council.
The Bentway
Address: 250 Fort York Blvd, Toronto, ON M5V 3K9 (At street level on the East side of Strachan Ave. under the Gardiner Expressway)
Exhibition Webpages
Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
Memory Work project site
Acknowledgements & Credit Lines
Memory Work Collective @memorywork_ (Rajni Perera, Tala Kamea, Naomi Skwarna, Omii Thompson, Macy Siu, Robert Bolton, Emily Woudenberg, Erica Whyte, Jac Sanscartier, and Sydney Allen-Ash)
@rajniperera @talatintin @naomisk @studioonstrike @omii_film @_macysiu_ @arowbe @whyteerica @jacsanscartier @from_syd
About Memory Work Collective:
Memory Work Collective is a community of artists and writers. Concerned equally with the relational and the imaginary, the Collective engages in the mutual recounting and reconstruction of lived experience to contemplate possible worlds. Their research-based practice creates material for meditation, critique, and new ways of living — negotiating ethical and moral imperatives across (past, present, and future) time.
Exhibition Credit Line:
Memory Work is co-presented by From Later and The Bentway with support from the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022. Additional support by the Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto, and the Toronto Arts Council.
@memorywork_ @since21xx @thebentway @contactphoto @Culture_TO @torontoartscouncil @canada.council @cityofto
Models
Mecha Clarke, Jennifer Maramba, Xiyao (Miranda) Shou, Zanette Singh, Cheyenne Sundance, and Dori Tunstall
@mechaclarke @jenmaramba @miluandashou @gutflora_ @sundanceharvest @dori_tunstall
Exhibition Essay by: Mandy Harris Williams (@idealblackfemale)