Curatorial Statement

A series of festivals that run from June through September, World Routes 2009 at Harbourfront Centre explores ideas in contemporary culture. The city of Toronto is viewed as a 'laboratory' of creativity. Cultures from all over the globe have converged on this city and with them they have brought rich artistic traditions. One could say that Toronto is the ideal example of emerging globalized cities. As we can easily observe if we look at culinary innovations and 'fusion' cuisine, this phenomenon is mirrored in artists who innovate and hybridize artistic forms. Through World Routes 2009, Harbourfront Centre will explore the cultural alchemy that makes Toronto unique.

In World Routes 2009, Harbourfront Centre will bring together an innovative and eclectic multidisciplinary exploration of diverse ideas, forms and communities. Through the curatorial lens of the World Routes season, visitors will see that the Harbourfront Centre staff have selected artists from a wide array of forms such as, music dance, visual arts, craft, theatre, film and video, spoken work and literary, culinary arts and fashion to present ideas related to emerging identities; beyond contact and beyond borders; and shifts.

As Ryan Rice, one of our curators writes, "This exhibition is about the day-to-day shifts in traditional and contemporary Indigenous cultures and societies. It is about reaction and distraction, oppression and sovereignty, and absence and presence."

Hybridized identities, artistic forms, and innovation is not a new phenomenon. Since the beginning of time people have immigrated and migrated, and borders have shifted throughout history as a result of conflict and occupation. If we reflect on recent shifts, these seem accelerated tenfold as a result of new technologies and scientific break throughs. It is through this acceleration and these "quantum shifts" that artists continue creating new work to challenge as well as make us reflect on the issues, beauty, histories and narratives that surround us.

Join us for World Routes 2009 at Harbourfront Centre where you will be entertained, stimulated, provoked, and will experience new ideas.

Melanie Fernandez
Director, Community & Educational Programmes
Artistic Director, World Routes 2009