The Archives hosts exhibits and events throughout the year. Find out what’s on.
Have you ever wondered who lived in your home before you? Or, when it was built? Learn how you can research your home using the wealth of archival resources available at the Toronto Archives. Our archivists will walk you though how to uncover the story of a building using maps, photographs and city directories. You’ll also explore our current exhibit, If These Walls Could Talk, which presents the stories of 11 fascinating homes from across Toronto. The workshop is free but space is limited to 20 spots per session. Email archivesoutreach@toronto.ca to reserve your spot today. The workshop will be held at the Toronto Archives at 255 Spadina Road.
The early 2000s are too recent to be “history” but distant enough to inspire nostalgia and reflection. During this decade the City’s staff photographers first began capturing Toronto with digital cameras, changing the way City government documented itself. This new exhibit showcases selections from the digital photography collection received by the Archives in 2017 from Strategic Protocol and External Relations. These images depict the City’s priorities and initiatives, preserving the environment, embracing technology, and hosting diverse festivals and celebrations in the early days of the new millennium.
Every home has a story to tell. No matter the location or the income or origin of its residents, there are stories to be discovered in the traces buildings leave behind in the archival record. This new exhibit from the Toronto Archives explores the unique stories of 11 homes from across Toronto, ranging from a Georgian house in the downtown core to a strip mall in the inner suburbs. Each property features a variety of archival resources used to plot key points on its timeline – the building blocks used to assemble the home’s history. As you’ll discover, you don’t need to be an archivist or a historian to do this kind of research. Your starting point is an address and your own curiosity.
Today, technology is the tool we use to create and experience photography. Increasingly, photographs arrive at the Toronto Archives not in slide carousels but on hard drives. Our newest photography exhibit showcases recent digital donations from three Canadian artists, April Hickox, Vik Pahwa and Avard Woolaver. Featuring photos of Toronto from the 1980’s to the late 2000’s, the show explores how contemporary artists use photography to capture the ever-changing city. Hickox’s vernacular photographs document the uniqueness of the Toronto Island community. Pahwa surveys the city with a camera, photographing its architecture and neighbourhoods. Woolaver, whose collection is comprised of digital photos created from colour slides and black and white negatives, explores composition and repetitive likeness. Toronto is a city seen in shadows, shapes and store window reflections.
