CONTACT

Nicole Stewart

Transforming Toronto into an artistic haven, CONTACT attracts over one million visitors to the galleries and public installation shows around the city during the month of May.

“There are surprises everywhere you go,” says CONTACT executive director Darcy Killeen. “Everyone is always outdoors in Toronto, so CONTACT takes over the entire city from the galleries to the streets – restaurants and coffee shops, to subway stations and transit shelters, and almost everything in-between – and turns the city into a virtual gallery for a month.”

CONTACT is the largest photographic festival in the world with over 600 artists converging. “The festival brings together professional photographers, amateurs, dealers, collectors, and curators,” says Darcy. “You could say it’s the glue in the photographic community.”

The images are presented in a thought-provoking way. “It provides our audience with the unique opportunity to see new work and interact with the internationally acclaimed artists, photographers and industry professionals that we bring to Toronto," notes Darcy.

“This year, I’m really excited about several things, like the Primary Exhibition of MOCCA that highlights the theme of this year’s festival: Between History and Memory,” says Darcy. “The largest project we’ve ever taken on is transforming the cold concrete columns of the Gardiner Expressway […] into a virtual forest of inverted trees by Rodney Graham.”

As if that isn’t cool enough, CONTACT will have selections of work from controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe and Black Star Collection. Both exhibits are sure to bring big crowds.

The much talked-about Magnum Photos Agency is bringing six of their 50 members to CONTACT for five days to present Magnum Workshops for 85 specially selected participants. This exclusive workshop is coming to Canada for the first time and is expected to be packed with photography aficionados.