Event Details

Amalgamated in 2017, TO Live (formerly Civic Theatres Toronto) is a City agency which manages and operates the City’s three major civic theatres: the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (1967), Toronto Centre for the Arts (1989) and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (1960). The mandate of TO Live is to provide quality performance and event facilities and to promote its contribution to the artistic, cultural and social vitality of Toronto and its communities. The three City-owned major civic theatres provide a broad range of performing arts, theatrical and concert events. The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts is the largest soft-seat theatre in Canada. The Sony Centre serves as a cultural hub which presents and promotes local, national and international performances and events. The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts houses two theatres and serves as a home to several Toronto-based not-for profit theatre and music companies. Toronto Centre for the Arts has four theatres that host a wide range of live performance events including theatrical productions, orchestral performances and community events. The TO Live Board consists of 13 members appointed by City Council. It comprises 10 public members appointed through the City’s Public Appointments process and three City Council members, one of whom is the Mayor or Council member-designate. The Board Chair is appointed by City Council and the Vice-Chair is appointed by the Board from among its members. Currently, council members on the board are Gary Crawford, John Filion, and Paula Fletcher.

This application is for “Mandela: Struggle for Freedom” a museum exhibition and a series of ancillary activities taking place in the galleries and lobbies of the Toronto Centre for the Arts, October 10, 2019 to January 7, 2020. Programming includes:

(1) The exhibition will use an immersive series of artifacts, sounds, photographs and films to tell the story of racism, oppression, resistance and reconciliation. Visitors will explore what was happening on the streets during Mandela’s lifetime, with five sections representing the periods of apartheid, defiance, repression, mobilization and freedom. The exhibition draws from the decade-long exhibition at Johannesburg’s Apartheid Museum and re-imagines it with a Canadian and global context. Created by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights – in collaboration with Apartheid Museum – the exhibit draws attention to the numerous Canadians who joined the struggle for equality and mobilized against apartheid, inviting reflection on our own civic and global engagement. TO Live is working with producer Karen Carter (founding Executive Director of Myseum of Toronto and co-founder and Volunteer Director of Black Artists' Network and Dialogue) to root the exhibition within Toronto;

(2) “A Man of Good Hope” (musical theatre) at the Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, November 14-17, 2019. Presented by the award-winning Isango Ensemble, “A Man of Good Hope” follows the true story of Asad, an eight-year-old street-smart survivor escaping the ravages of civil war. The production includes ensemble singing, marimba, djembe drum and dance. The production will be accompanied by outreach programs, workshops and public discussions at both the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and Toronto Centre for the Arts; and

(3) “Ancillary Community Programming”, at various venues from October 2019 through February 2020. Though details have yet to be confirmed, ancillary programming will include guided tours, school programs, special events, film screenings and forums. Working from templates provided by the CMHR, organizers will create study guides for students that explore parallels between Indigenous experiences in Canada