We are celebrating What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life with a talk and a book launch September 9, 2022

What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life, an impactful exhibition showcasing a collection of images of African-American family life, opened at the AGO August 27. The landmark exhibition features Fade Resistance, a collection acquired by the AGO in 2018, of more than 4,000 Polaroids and other instant prints dating from the 1950s to the early 2000s.  Collected by Toronto Artist and Educator Zun Lee, these lost, discarded or abandoned images of birthdays, graduations and family reunions contain powerful glimpses of African-American life and community. 

On September 9,  poet and essayist Dawn Lundy Martin will be at the AGO for a conversation about What Matters Most with artist and exhibition co-curator Zun Lee, and AGO Curator of Photography and exhibition co-curator Sophie Hackett. They will explore the role of photographs in creating and maintaining a sense of Black identity, memory and loss, and the worlds that these photographs open up for us today. In addition, the event will officially launch the hardcover publication, co-published by the AGO and Delmonico Books/D.A.P.

Can’t make the book launch? The exhibition runs until January 2023.