Provocative speaker series returns for a timely discussion on Art and Nationhood, with moderator Matt Galloway and singer Tanya Tagaq.

After a sold-out launch last fall, AGO Creative Minds at Massey Hall returns to address Art and Nationhood through the eyes of four acclaimed artists. Architect Sir David Adjaye, visual artist Christi Belcourt, author Junot Díaz and filmmaker Paul Gross join moderator Matt Galloway, host of CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning, for an evening of inspired conversation on the nation-state and its impacts. The discussion will address current global politics and how art shapes our understanding of place, history and progress.

The event, taking place on April 21, 2017 at 8 p.m., kicks off with a performance by JUNO Award-winning Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and will be live-streamed at cbc.ca/arts and broadcast nationally on CBC Radio One.

With the rapid rise of nationalist movements in the West following Brexit and the election of Donald Trump—and as we mark the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation—there is no better moment to ask, “What makes a nation?” Galloway will lead the artists in a discussion that begins with the ways each has approached this question in their practice before opening up the conversation to debate broader questions about today’s political moment, including issues of migration, colonialism, protest and how we might find connection across difference.

A landmark partnership between the Art Gallery of Ontario, Massey Hall, CBC and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Creative Minds is supported by Series Presenters Jonas and Lynda Prince, whose leadership inspired the development of the project. The semi-annual series aims to examine the present and imagine our futures through the eyes of some of the world’s most innovative and socially-engaged artists, while celebrating the vitally important role their work plays in shaping our lives.

Tickets for AGO Creative Minds at Massey Hall will be available through the Roy Thomson Hall box office, and range from $19.50 to $79.50. Tickets go on sale to members of AGO Curator’s Circle, AGO Next and Massey Hall Friends First on March 8 at 12 p.m.; to AGO Members on March 9 at 12 p.m.; and to the public on March 10 at 12 p.m. (*please note there is no discounted AGO volunteer pricing for this series, as Creative Minds is a program offered jointly by four host institutions. Tickets are purchased through the Roy Thomson Hall box office, not AGO) 

For more information, please visit www.AGOCreativeMinds.ca.

Creative Minds is supported by Series Presenters Jonas and Lynda Prince.