Not/For the Money Book Launch

A celebratory book launch for the Embassy Cultural House at Critical Distance Centre for Curators

Karl Beveridge,Van Gogh’s Ear, digital photograph, 2025

Not/For the Money Book Launch

Thursday, April 30, 2026, 6 – 9pm
Critical Distance Centre for Curators, Toronto

Critical Distance and the Embassy Cultural House are pleased to announce a celebratory book launch for Not/For the Money, an online exhibition featuring works by artists and cultural workers examining themes related to money, capital, and value.

Featuring contributions from Ron Benner, Karl Beveridge, Lily Cho, Matthew Dawkins, Holly English, Soheila Esfahani, Kelly Greene, Jamelie Hassan, SF Ho, Michael Maranda, Alistair MacKinnon, Patrick Mahon, David Merritt, Mohamed Monaiseer, Sheri Osden Nault, Wanda Nanibush, Shelley Niro, Claudia Sambo, Ruth Strebe, and Jeff Thomas, the Not/For the Money exhibition catalogue will be available for perusal and purchase, alongside artists’ multiples, postcards, and prints by Anahí González, Incé Husain, and others, and a full complement of past publications by ECH.

From Wanda Nanibush’s contribution to Not/For the Money; left image: Taloi Havini, Beroana (shell money), stoneware, earthenware, porcelain, glaze, steel wire, dimensions variable, 2015. Image credit: Sharjah Art Foundation; right image: Hawock Shell Money, Pomo and Chumash First Nations, California, North America. Image credit: Money Museum, Zurich, Switzerland.

Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan and other ECH contributors will be in attendance, and refreshments will be served. As always, admission is free and all are welcome to join us for this celebratory and conversational reception at Critical Distance.

Upcoming

The Embassy Cultural House will be presenting ECH materials at the annual Vancouver Art Book Fair (VABF) 2026 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre from May 15 to May 17. On Sunday, May 17, Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan will be participating on a panel during the VABF which addresses issues of activism / rest / resistance. The fair is free and open to the public.

About Embassy Cultural House

In 1983, artists Jamelie Hassan, Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990), which was located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. In 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as an online collective and arts community by Tariq Hassan Gordon. The virtual and in-person programming is a collaborative effort by contributors, editors, partners and volunteers to celebrate the art community in London, Ontario—its past and present, and its many connections across Canada and around the world.

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.

embassyculturalhouse.ca
embassyculturalhouse@gmail.com
Facebook @EmbassyCulturalHouse
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Embassy Cultural House publications are generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the London Arts Council, the City of London, and the Embassy Cultural House community.

About Critical Distance

Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC) is a not-for-profit project space, publisher, and professional network devoted to the support and advancement of curatorial inquiry and practices in Toronto, Canada, and beyond. With a focus on critically-engaged, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary curatorial practices, experimental and underrepresented perspectives and approaches, and wider public outreach and education on curating and exhibition-making, Critical Distance is an open platform for diverse curatorial perspectives, and a forum for ideas on curating as a way to foster meaningful connections across cultures, disciplines, geographies, and generations.

Critical Distance Centre for Curators
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 122
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8 Canada
criticaldistance.ca
info@criticaldistance.ca
Facebook @criticaldistance
Instagram @critical.distance

Critical Distance is grateful for operating support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Accessibility
Critical Distance is located in Suite 122 on the ground floor at 401 Richmond Street West, a wheelchair accessible building with ramps at both Richmond Street doors, an elevator to all 5 floors, and accessible washrooms throughout. Our gallery is equipped with an automatic door and all programs are designed with access as a priority, including for mobility device users. Updates on any additional measures we develop in relation to available funding, specific audiences, artworks, or events will be posted as it becomes available. For more information, contact us at info@criticaldistance.ca.