Black Artists' Networks Dialogue - BAND

06/06/2026

Thato Toeba is one of the artists featured in A Kind of Order at Union Station. Visit their work in The Oak Room.

An artist, lawyer, and social sciences researcher, Thato’s practice draws on archives and architectural space to explore themes of power. Working with images in public circulation, their works recontextualize and disrupt the visual scripts of documentary photography through mixed-media photomontage and assemblage.

In the Oak Room Thato’s sculptural collage is built in depth across three layered panels. Cut-outs choreograph the fragments as a gathering of people across different times and places, while silhouette mirrors keep the composition in motion. The mirror reflects the station’s passing bodies and folds us into the work, showing how quickly images travel without context, and how urgently context is sought.

A Kind of Order also features the work of Timothy Yanick Hunter, Aaron Jones, and Hazelle Palmer.

www.bandgallery.com/a-kind-of-order
This exhibition is presented by Union and sponsored by TD, and remains on view until August 31, 2026. Photo Credit: Spring Morris

06/02/2026

What an extraordinary evening.

Last week, BAND gathered with artists, supporters, cultural leaders, and friends for Dinner & Dialogue, a special fundraising event in support of our future House Museum at 19 Brock Avenue.

Hosted in partnership with Ferrotype Collective as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations, the evening brought together a room full of people who believe in the power of art, dialogue, and community. Guests joined us for a thoughtful conversation between Janine Gaëlle and Gaëtane Verna, whose reflections on grassroots cultural institutions, collaboration, space-making, and collective care resonated deeply throughout the evening.

The evening also marked the launch of BAND’s inaugural annual International In Dialogue series, a new program dedicated to creating space for exchange across geographies, practices, and communities. Stay tuned for more.

To everyone who attended, purchased tickets, sponsored tables, donated, volunteered, and helped bring this evening to life: thank you. Your support is helping build a lasting home for Black artists and communities in Toronto.

Special thanks to Ferrotype Collective for celebrating their 10th anniversary in support of BAND, to our partners at Ricarda’s and Nicholas Metivier Gallery, and to Janine Gaëlle and Gaëtane Verna for their generosity, insight, and inspiring conversation.

We are honoured to be building this future together.

📸 Dawit Tibebu

05/28/2026

Join BAND in conversation with Thandiwe McCarthy exploring Black arts and cultural spaces, and the ecosystems that sustain them.

Together, we’ll reflect on the architectures — literal and figurative — of Black Canadian communities, while discussing how we build connected networks and activate spaces collaboratively.

Location: Monica's in Little Jamaica (1553 Eglinton Ave W)
Date & Time: Wednesday June 3 from 6:00 to 7:30pm.
RSVP: https://TalkwithTJMcCarthyxBAND.eventbrite.ca

Thandiwe McCarthy is a seventh-generation African Canadian spoken word poet, writer, public speaker, and culture correspondent for Maritime EDIT magazine. McCarthy is co-founder of the New Brunswick Black Artists Alliance, and played a key role in having August 1 recognized as Emancipation Day in New Brunswick. His Still Here Initiative celebrates fifteen multigenerational Black New Brunswick families.

The initiative will launch nationally in August 2026 with a major exhibition at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and a book published by Goose Lane Editions. Learn more about the Still Here initiative: https://stillherefestival.ca/

Presented in partnership with Monica’s, with support from CAPF and CIBC.

05/01/2026

We are pleased to announce a $200,000 gift from The Michael Young Family Foundation in support of our renovation. This contribution funds the creation of a public garden at the corner of Brock and Noble. Designed for pollinator ecology, community seating, and seasonal art installation, this space serves as a vibrant threshold between the street and the gallery.

This redesigned public realm strengthens our local ecology and provides new opportunities for artists to engage with the public. We are grateful to The Michael Young Family Foundation for their investment in a sustainable cultural landscape for Black arts in Parkdale.

We look forward to welcoming you to this new community space. Share your thoughts on this new development in the comments below.

04/30/2026

For CONTACT 2026, BAND is proud to present An Abundance of Plenty by Kenyan photographer Thandiwe Muriu, a work from her acclaimed CAMO series.

Join us to celebrate the unveiling of BAND’s billboard on Thursday, May 7, 2026. Meet at 460 King St. W at 5:30 PM.

In CAMO, Muriu explores identity, visibility, womanhood, and cultural inheritance through textile, pattern, proverb, and the transformation of everyday objects. Known for her vibrant and often surreal portraiture, Muriu creates striking optical illusions that blend her subjects into richly patterned backgrounds while keeping them powerfully in focus.

An Abundance of Plenty is on view as a billboard at 460 King St. W until May 31, 2026.

Afterward, continue the evening with us as we celebrate CONTACT openings across the city, heading to the opening of A Place of Ours, by Delali Cofie, curated by Emilie Croning (EMC Contemporary), at United Contemporary and Hints of Orange, by Jamaal Owusu-Ansah at The Black Canary.

More details: https://AnAbundanceofPlentyUnveiling.eventbrite.ca

Presented in partnership with CONTACT Photography Festival and 193 Gallery. Documentation: Toni Hafkenscheid.

04/23/2026

Aaron Jones is one of the artists featured in 𝘼 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 at Union Station. Jones works across media, often using found images and collage to create unique and immersive environments.

On the façade of Union Station, Jones stages 𝘓𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 as a weathered window, life held under glass. Split across seven vertical banners, one image is both continuous and interrupted, mirroring the station’s arrangement of places within places and the patterned movement of bodies. The glass case becomes a double gesture: shelter and display, protection and framing. In a space built for passing through, 𝘓𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 asks what it takes for life to persist, and what we choose to keep alive in transit.

Aaron also has a new site-specific installation, 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤, on view at the McMichael. Join him on May 3, at 2pm in conversation with curator John Geoghegan, where he’ll share insights into his process, influences, and the ideas behind this new commission.
RSVP: https://mcmichael.com/event/artist-talk-aaron-jones/

𝘼 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 also features the work of Timothy Yanick Hunter, Hazelle Palmer, and Thato Toeba. Learn more: www.bandgallery.com/current-exhibitions-and-events/a-kind-of-order-timothy-yanick-hunter-aaron-jones-thato-toeba-and-hazelle-palmer

This exhibition is presented by Union and sponsored by TD, and remains on view until August 31, 2026. Installation Documentation: Spring Morris

04/09/2026

BAND Arts Excursion: Hotel Confidential, Prince Edward County 🚌✨

Saturday, April 18, 2026 (All Day)
Pick-up: Downtown Toronto (401 Richmond St. W.)
Destination: The Royal Hotel & Slake Brewing (Picton, ON)

Spend the day exploring Hotel Confidential—an immersive exhibition revealing hidden narratives and reimagining the hotel as a space of fleeting encounters, private worlds, and passing lives.

Join an artist talk with Dainesha Nugent-Palache and Joséphine Denis to learn more about Dainesha’s photographic installation.

Plus, discover the charm of Picton—PEC’s largest community.

🎟 Check out the full itinerary + secure your spot!
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/arts-excursion-field-trip-to-prince-edward-county-tickets-1984415073905?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

For more info on participating artists and their work: https://countyarts.ca/hotel_confidential/

Images: Red Earth of St.Elizabeth (What Brought Us Here) (2020), Soil (2024), & Gift (2023). Dainesha Nugent-Palache.

04/08/2026

✨Opening Next Week ✨

Hotel Confidential, is a three-day contemporary art exhibition, bringing together 16 local and international artists to reimagine The Royal Hotel’s Annex building in Picton, Prince Edward County as a site for artistic experimentation and encounters.

BAND is thrilled to be a presenting partner, curating Room 103 with artwork by Dainesha Nugent-Palache.

Drawing on the hotel room’s role as a temporary site of passage, Dainesha Nugent-Palache’s installation, curated by Joséphine Denis considers the space as a container for fleeting encounters, layered narratives, and the unseen stories that move through the architecture of travel.

📍Annex Building, The Royal Hotel, (6 Ross St, Picton, ON)
🗓 Opening: April 17, 7:30–9 PM
🕚 Exhibition: April 18–19, 11–5

Learn more & plan your visit: https://www.bandgallery.com/current-exhibitions-and-events/hotel-confidential

A collaboration between Prince Edward County Arts Council and The Royal Hotel, Hotel Confidential is curated by Christina Zeidler and Stacey Sproule. Partners: Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University, Cultivate Arts Commons. Presented with support from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

Hotel Confidential , is a new three-day contemporary art exhibition, bringing together 16 local and international artists to reimagine The Royal Hotel’s Annex building in Picton, Prince Edward County, as a site for artistic experimentation and encounters. BAND is thrilled to be a presenting partne

03/31/2026

THIS THURSDAY | 6–8PM | It’s Ok Studios
Screening + conversation: Josepha (1975)

How do we preserve and carry African cinema histories forward?

Josepha is a 13-minute film on beauty, Black womanhood, and resistance in 1970s Europe, set inside a Paris beauty salon founded by Josepha Jouffret, entrepreneur and early figure of the natural hair movement.

Join us for a screening of the film, followed by a conversation with artist Antoine Akouissonne-Duqueroix, who is restoring his father’s films and bringing them back into circulation. We will discuss the film, his restoration process, and his involvement in Les Héritiers Engagés, a network of heirs to African cinema pioneers, including the children of Ousmane Sembène and Sarah Maldoror, working to restore and circulate African cinema histories.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/restoring-josepha-a-conversation-with-antoine-akouissonne-duqueroix-tickets-1985740117145?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

This screening is in French with English subtitles, followed by a conversation in English. This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

03/23/2026

This Wednesday, March 25: Join us at the Brampton Arts Organization for a conversation between BAOxBAND artist studio resident Dainesha Nugent-Palache and BAND Co-Director Joséphine Denis, marking the close of this mentorship residency.

Come hear about Dainesha’s practice and her residency experience. We’ll be taking the 5:22 GO Train from Union Station to the Brampton Innovation District: join us for the ride, visit the open studios, and stay for the talk at 7 p.m.!