For the second in our series of chats with curators for Museum Month, we sat down with the City of Toronto’s new Chief Curator to discuss a shared love of Robert Houle, the tyranny of the object and how museums can further social equity.

It was a surprise and delight for residents of Toronto, when the news broke last week that beginning this month, general admission will be permanently free at all City of Toronto History Museums. There are ten museums, providing home to a collection of more than one million archaeological specimens, 150,000 artifacts and 3,000 works of art, and the move to free admission is only one of several new initiatives the city is undertaking to advance greater diversity, equity and inclusion, and confront the colonial legacies of its sites.

Leading the charge is the city’s new Chief Curator, Armando Perla, who assumed the job in January. A trained human rights lawyer originally from El Salvador, he comes to Toronto following stints as an international advisor on museums, human rights and social inclusion for the City of Medellin, Colombia and at the University of Toronto. AGOinsider caught up with him to find out more about his vision for change and what excites him about Toronto. Read the full interview, here.