The Social Collective’s past events, collaborations and sponsorships:
Drawing to, and from
Date: April 3, 2019
Venue: Soho House Toronto
Where do drawings come from? Where do they go? As children, we effortlessly draw, to make marks, to communicate, to record, and to express ourselves. We draw to urgently tell stories. This remarkable ability we possess in childhood disappears for most people as they begin to read and write. Where does it go, and can we get it back? During this talk, we will be looking at what happens mentally, emotionally, and physically when we draw, and examining the interdisciplinary practice of drawing. Be prepared to get your hands dirty!
The talk is organized in conjunction with Naz Rahbar’s exhibition, ‘water, air, stones and stains’, which runs April 23-28, 2019, and is sponsored by The Social Collective. This exhibit consists of immersive installations of hundreds of drawings containing non-linear and ambiguous narratives of fluidity, belonging and becoming; speaking to the construction of a transnational queerness, which exceeds the boundaries of gender, sexuality, and place.
Speaker: Naz Rahbar
Songbook VII
Hosts: The Social Collective in collaboration with Tapestry Opera
Date: February 23, 2017
Venue: Ernest Balmer Studio, Toronto
Description: Tapestry Opera production of 'Songbook VII'. Some of Canada’s brightest emerging artists performed highlights and hand-picked vignettes of Tapestry's repertoire alongside operatic masters, such as Krisztina Szabó, Keith Klassen, and Steven Philcox. The performance preceded by a reception and a talk by Tapestry Opera's Artistic Director, Michael Mori, who examined the creative process and contemporary classical opera pedagogy.
Tapestry's Songbook is a collection of absurd, tragic, and beautiful works exploring contemporary life through music. We will discuss the history and development of some of the key works of the evening, and detail the journey that emerging artists take on their career to become professionals. What is the skill set of the successful professional in Canada? How much more does one need than simply having a beautiful voice? What signs can the untrained eye and ear look for in a young emerging artist so as to guess the future of their career?
Speaker: Michael Mori, Tapestry Opera's Artistic Director
Deconstructing Fashion
Date: November 2, 2016
Venue: Soho House, Toronto
Description: We often look to fashion as a means of expression — a reflection of identity, individually or as part of a broader community. What happens when we unpack the meaning behind the fashion and delve more deeply into the world that lies beyond the product and its aesthetics?
Speakers: Sofi Khwaja and Nicholas Horekens of the ethical fashion and lifestyle brand Alice+Whittles.
Rocking Horse Winner
Hosts: The Social Collective in collaboration with Tapestry Opera
Date: May 31, 2016
Venue: Berkley Street Theatre, Toronto
Description: Tapestry Opera production of 'Rocking Horse Winner', a new opera co-commissioned by Scottish Opera and Tapestry. The event preceded by a reception and a panel discussion on the topic of opera genesis, led by Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Director (and Artistic Director of Tapestry); Gareth Williams, Composer; and Jordan de Souza, Conductor. The speakers introduced the world of new opera and take us through the creation and development of this work, right up to its production and staging.
A modern adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s short story, 'Rocking Horse Winner' explores the relationship between Paul, a young man with developmental challenges, and his emotionally distant mother. Paul becomes dangerously obsessed with solving the "bad luck" of his family in order to win his mother’s love. His pursuit awakens a strange magic that connects him to luck, but also to powerful voices only he can hear. In our new age of entitlement, 'Rocking Horse Winner' is an intimate, psychological look at love, luck, and greed.
Speakers: Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Director (and Artistic Director of Tapestry); Gareth Williams, Composer; Jordan de Souza, Conductor
The Marriage of Figaro
Hosts: The Social Collective in collaboration with Canadian Opera Company
Date: February 22, 2016
Venue: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto
COC's Ensemble Studio performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro. The event preceded by photographer Veronika Roux-Vlachova introducing her current exhibition, 'Opera: Faces and Words'
Opera: Faces and Words
Using photography, Veronica Roux-Vlachova aims to bring forth another aspect of opera by working with dual elements which create stillness within the traditional performing art form: portraits and words. Presenting portraits of opera singers alongside their selected operatic pieces presents each as a performer and as a person, adding an elevated dimension to the experience.
Speaker: Veronica Roux-Vlachova, Independent Photographer
Utopia
Date: August 27, 2015
Venue: Soho House, Toronto
Throughout history, a number of philosophers, thinkers, artists, architects, and filmmakers have put forward highly provocative and interesting ideas of Utopias, describing ideal arrangements in our everyday world. The initial impression of utopia as a concept could be an empty wish, an outrageous and impractical dream, a wild and imaginative idea. By that token, Utopias offer us a grander vision of what there is to aim for and, in some way, present fundamental problems of their respective 'time and place' in the most engaging and tangible fashion. It could be argued that the result of a great idea presented in an attractive and beautiful way is art; Hegel, for example, suggests that 'art' takes the 'good' ideas of our collective society and makes them unforgettable. The question is what we could add to or learn from these ambitious utopian ideas today in our attempt to create the ‘ideal’ space and effect change.
Speaker: Nazli Salehi, Member of the Ontario Association of Architects and co-founder of Ten-2-Four Architecture
Nostalgia, Newness & The Internet
Date: May 20, 2015
Venue: Soho House Toronto
We are living in the most technically advanced eras in human history. Yet, as our technological capabilities evolve at an almost alarming rate, culture is simultaneously overrun with nostalgia-soaked revivals and the mimicking of styles and looks from nearly every decade pre-2000. In the wake of sometimes feeling like we may be running out of new ideas, perhaps it is time to ask some questions: what exactly are we producing; how are we producing it; and why are we producing so much of it?
Speaker: Aliyah Shamsher, Features Editor of Elle Canada and Founding Editor of the arts and culture publication ISSUE28
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Date: May 1, 2015
Venue: Hot Docs Cinema
As part of the Hot Docs Film Festival 2015, The Social Collective invited a group of movie lovers to watch 'What Happened, Miss Simone?'. The subject matter, Nina Simone, is among the grand dames of jazz and, to us, a singer whose incomparable music has accompanied the highs and lows of our lives. The documentary received its Canadian premiere and promises to deliver a compelling story. The event was followed with an intimate dinner to casually debate the topical movie subject.
Subtraction
Date: January 29, 2015
Venue: iYellow Wine Cave, Toronto
Subtracting is the act of taking away something or a part, as from a whole; a removal of things unnecessary—to create emptiness. Yet emptiness does not mean nothingness; rather in many cases, it indicates a condition, which will likely be filled with content in the future. As we subtract, it allows us to refine, refill, and recreate—to rediscover something better.
Speaker: Lisa Mok