fixed - Art Toronto

The Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor Street West (at St. George Street), Toronto ON M5S 1W7, Canada
Tel: 416 979 7799 Web: www.batashoemuseum.ca
Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Avenue, Toronto ON M5G 2H5, Canada
Tel: 416 599 5321 Fax: 416 599 2911 Email: info@textilemuseum.ca Web: www.textilemuseum.ca
The Textile Museum of Canada is one of Toronto’s most engaging visual arts organizations. With
more than 12,000 objects from more than 200 countries and regions, the TMC’s permanent
collection celebrates cultural diversity and includes traditional fabrics, garments, carpets
and related artifacts such as beadwork and basketry. The Museum offers a broad variety of
exhibitions including themed shows based on our permanent collection and contemporary
exhibitions of the work of Canadian and international artists. Visit fibrespace, our permanent
hands-on gallery where guests are introduced, in both physical and tactile ways, to the many
ways textiles influence their lives. Touch and explore the properties of cloth and see the endless
possibilities of pattern and decoration. In fibrespace visitors will - discover fibre, discover colour,
discover textiles and discover meaning. Open seven days a week, the TMC is in the heart of
downtown Toronto steps from the St. Patrick subway station and several blocks from the Eaton
Centre, Toronto City Hall, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
LEFT: from the ‘Beauty, Identity, Pride’
exhibition.
Sioux, c.1880-90
In addition to fine beadwork,
nineteenth century Sioux women also
produced exceptional quillwork. Shoes
and leggings decorated with elaborate
quillwork in strong geometric designs
were worn by both Sioux men and
women. Quills could be dyed any
number of vibrant colours, but the
Sioux tended to favour bright red and
yellow for their footwear.
© Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto.
Photo: Hal Roth
RIGHT: on display in ‘The Charm of
Rococo’
English, c.1780-85
By the 1760s, attention was often
called to the heel by the use of
contrasting silk. Soaringly high heels
often resulted in weakness under
the instep; to compensate, many
shoemakers employed a wedge-like
structure.
© Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto.
Photo: Hal Roth
HOURS
Monday to Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Thursday: 10am - 8pm
Sunday: 12pm - 5pm
Allow 1.5 to 2 hours to visit
Wheelchair accessible
The Bata Shoe Museum is the life project of a determined individual with a passionate eye for
footwear who has been scouring the globe for unusual shoes for decades. The objects in the
Museum span thousands of years and many walks of life. Relating to birth, childhood, marriage,
religion, societies and styles of the past and present, the diverse collection of footwear, found
nowhere else in the world, promises to enhance your understanding of human cultures and
captivate your imagination.
Beauty, Identity, Pride: North American Footwear from the Bata Shoe Museum
Opening to the public on October 24, this new exhibition displays exquisite examples of
footwear created by North America’s indigenous peoples. Visitors will see up close techniques
and artistry in sophisticated beading and quillwork, the use of decorative metals, different hides,
ribbons and other materials, all of which exemplify the outstanding quality and detail of Native
footwear.
Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum
Imagine yourself stepping ‘behind the scenes’ in the Museum’s vast private storage area and
taking a peek at jewelled golden mojari, extravagant chopines, and even Napoleon’s socks worn
when he languished in exile.
The Charm of Rococo: Femininity and Footwear in the 18th Century
Emanating from the French court, the Rococo aesthetic infused a sensuous charm and delicate
grace into 18th century fashion. In the opulent age of Louis XV, one’s shoes no less than one’s
wit had to sparkle.
All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages
A fascinating look at the many facets of footwear: its evolution and symbolism through the
ages, the methods and materials of its manufacture, and its place in our lives and imaginations.
HOURS
Open daily 11am – 5pm,
Wednesdays 11am – 8pm
Wednesday 5pm – 8pm is Pay-
What-You-Can admission
Exhibition sponsor:
Primavera Furnishings
Media sponsor:
Classical 96.3 fm
Generously supported by:
The Anne Angus Contemporary
Program Fund
Imperial Tobacco Canada Foundation
The Blues
To March 2, 2008
Curated by Patricia Bentley. Reflecting on the symbolism of colour, the globalizing effects
of denim and the haunting sounds of blues music, The Blues tells both the ancient and
contemporary story of blue.
In The Blues, 36 textiles in our permanent collection from West Africa, East Asia and Canada,
along with Canadian denim jeans and Japanese pieces lent from private collections, join works
by six contemporary artists whose working methodologies are embedded in concepts of blue:
Mary Lee Bendolph (Gee’s Bend), Dorothy Caldwell, Judith Fielder, Léola Le Blanc, Chunghie Lee
and Anna Torma.
The Blues examines the powerful symbolism of a colour and a dye that has been viewed with
suspicion and called “the devil’s dye”. Yet blue is also considered emblematic of wealth and
power, as in West Africa; protective against poisonous insects and snakes, as in Japan; and even
effective medicinally, as in many parts of Africa and East Asia. The mystique of the colour blue,
beautiful, elusive, reflecting the sky and the sea, pervades human life and cultures around the
world. In The Blues, you are invited to sample the many shades and tastes of blue.
Indigo is an age-old and up-to-the-minute colouring agent for textiles – familiar to people
around the world in the many shades of ubiquitous denim blue jeans. Originally a uniform for
gold-miners, denim became a symbol of youthful protest in the 20th century and now marks the
trend towards globalization in the 21st. The Blues follows the transition of this wardrobe staple
from its inception to present day where the demand for blue jeans is more than one billion pairs
– annually.
Just as blue denim has become a worldwide uniform, crossing social and cultural boundaries,
“the blues” colours an emotional mood and haunts the airwaves as the originator of popular
western music. Author Richard Wright called blues music the sensualization of suffering. He
captured a key theme of this exhibition. The blues in music form and the blues in textile form
are modes of communication understood through the senses.
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