At our third Biennial, local multidisciplinary artists have been commissioned as Storytellers to develop participatory sessions informed by their personal insights and experiences of the city and will lead visitors through the exhibition artists’ installations, research, and perspectives. They will offer both booked and drop-in walks and conversations to intergenerational audiences regularly throughout the duration of the Biennial.

Contact us at learning@torontobiennial.org to book a free group Storytelling tour for your school, organization, or community space.

Image Caption: Nicole Markland leading a Storytelling Session at Small Arms Inspection Building for the 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art. Photography: Rebecca Tisdelle-Macias.

Date

September 21, September 22, September 28, September 29, October 5, October 6, October 12, October 13, October 19, October 20, October 26, October 27, November 2, November 3, November 9, November 10, November 16, November 17, November 23, November 24, November 30, December 1

Time

10:00am – 6:00pm

A photo portrait of Jingshu Yao. She is a Chinese woman with mid-length black hair, brown eyes and square-shaped metal wire glasses. She is wearing a beige trench coat in front of a roll of trees.

Artist Bio

Jingshu Yao: Storyteller

Born and raised in Nanjing, China, Jingshu Yao is a writer, artist, and museum professional based in Toronto. She holds a Master of Museum Studies degree from the University of Toronto and works as an Emerging Historian at Heritage Toronto. Jingshu’s writings focus on the intersectionality of identities. The common themes she focuses on include food, immigration, language, and queerness. Currently, she is working on a novel project about Asian queer immigrants in Toronto. Jingshu’s short stories were published in creative journals such as Tint Trails, Rabid Oak, and Block Party. Her poetry pieces can be found in What Color is a Heartbeat Anthology. She also produces multimedia work focusing on the visualization of written words.

Image credit: Jingshu Yao. Photography: Shirley Yue.

Artist Bio

Siki Soberetonari: Storyteller

Siki Soberetonari (she/her) is an Artist and Urban farmer living in Toronto. Her art practice seeks to use language, movement and clay as vessels to question and understand the human experience. Siki has been published in Pitch Black Magazine (May 2023), Youth Organize anthology (2024) and Black LIves Matter Zine. She has performed poetry across the City of Toronto and worked in various roles in the arts and culture, research, education and housing sectors. As a self acclaimed Earth fairy, she is re/un-learning ways to be in relation with other beings and the earth; a process that informs her art practice and creativity.

Image credit: Siki Soberetonari. Photography: Gerald Eze.