Toronto History Museums presents The TRUTH

The TRUTH

September 30 – October 12, 2022, various locations in Toronto
Opening Ceremony: September 30 at 7 p.m. at Garrison Common, Fort York National Historic Site

From September 30 to October 12, Toronto History Museums will present a new travelling public art installation called The TRUTH by artist KWEST including Young Elder Philip Cote, Tyrone Edwards, Que Rock and an original soundscape with Noah “40” Shebib. Presented as part of Awakenings.

Mounted on a 55-foot flatbed truck, this travelling installation will visit more than 20 locations throughout the GTA. It presents opportunities for individuals to reflect on their own truth and the injustices on our planet. The TRUTH is a physical and social movement. Programming may include, but not be limited to, sharing your truths, smudging, performances, movement, talks and reflections.

Created in 2016 and reborn in 2020, The TRUTH stands against injustice and erasure and advocates for worthy self-reflection to honour truths found within. The monumental three-dimensional graffiti-style sculpture is a statement that pays homage and respect to the fact that we are living on Indigenous lands taken over by Colonial Treaties. Given the generations of anti-Black agendas dating from the 1800s to the present day, The TRUTH also reinforces that Black lives matter in all areas of Canadian society.

Contribute to the social movement by posting your photos at #TheTRUTH #Awakenings #TelltheFullStory.

Opening Ceremony
There will be a public opening ceremony for The TRUTH on Friday, September 30 at 7 p.m. at Garrison Common, Fort York National Historic Site, 100 Garrison Rd, Toronto.

Additional Toronto History Museums Programming:

Nuit Blanche at Spadina Museum and Fort York National Historic Site
Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night celebration of contemporary art, returns for its 16th edition on October 1. Toronto History Museums will have three major artworks participating in Nuit Blanche. Dis/Mantle, contemporary artists reimagine Spadina Museum using an Afrofuturism narrative. The TRUTH, a mobile public art project stationed at Fork York. And also located at Fort York, All Power to All People, an enlarged Afro pick sculpture with a power fist cast, is a public art intervention that deals with racial identity and representation. Nuit Blanche details.

Dis/Mantle art exhibit: Detail of: Refashion (Mrs. Pipkin), oil on wood panel, 2022, Gordon Shadrach

Dis/Mantle art exhibit continues
Until December 31, Dis/Mantle, an art exhibit inspired by the efforts of Black abolitionists, reimagines Spadina Museum through an Afrofuturism narrative. The group show includes soundscapes, ceramics and visual art by Canadian artists from the Afro Caribbean diaspora. Visit the art exhibit by joining a free guided tour of the museum.

Market Gallery showcases 60 Works / 60 Years: Toronto Outdoor Art Fair at 60
The 60 Works / 60 Years: Toronto Outdoor Art Fair at 60 exhibit celebrates the history of the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair and features 60 artworks from the City of Toronto Art Collection acquired from the fair over the years.

Awakenings ― We Were Always Here ― A Portrait in Red (A film by Alexandra Lazarowich, 2020)

WATCH: A Portrait in Red and Acknowledgment
Take in We Were Always Here, a film series that is part of the Awakenings program that showcases the short films of 10 Toronto-based Black, Indigenous and people of colour filmmakers. The short films aim to disrupt, discover and display colonial narratives. Each of the filmmakers focuses on one of the 10 Toronto History Museums to bring to light untold stories. Of interest for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, A Portrait in Red and Acknowledgment.

A Portrait in Red deals with themes such as the ongoing colonial violence against Indigenous Women and the environment and intergenerational trauma. Acknowledgment sheds light on how Indigenous people’s lives and histories have shaped Toronto’s origins.

As of May 1, 2022, general admission to 10 Toronto History Museums became permanently free. The museums encompass a cross-section of property types and include: Colborne Lodge, Fort York National Historic Site, Gibson House Museum, Mackenzie House, Market Gallery, Montgomery’s Inn, Scarborough Museum, Spadina Museum, Todmorden Mills and Zion Schoolhouse. The group of museums themselves are as diverse as our communities.

The Toronto History Museums’ Awakenings program is the recipient of the 2021 Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership and recently, the recipient of the 2022 Award of Excellence at the annual American Association for State and Local History conference for Awakenings. Awakenings was the only Canadian program to receive the prestigious award this year.

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