IEC takes Canada, Eh? to the AGO
A trip to one of Toronto’s premier art museums with the Canada, Eh? team.

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On October 9, about a dozen staff and students set off for the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) for the third leg of the International Education Centre (IEC)’s Canada, Eh? field trip series. Nestled in the heart of the Grange Park neighbourhood of Toronto, the AGO is home to one of Canada’s foremost collections of art from across the country and abroad. On Wednesday, it played host to the IEC’s initiative to familiarize newcomers to the GTA and its local culture.

From 12:40 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., students had free reign of the museum after arriving together on a bus straight from UTM. Most opted to pair up or form small groups and promptly broke off to explore each level at their leisure.

The bulk of the students immediately gravitated towards the upper second level, where they encountered rooms full of paintings by the Group of Seven, an iconic art collective dating back to the 1920s, in the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art. Here, the students traversed through stark landscapes of the far reaches of Canada, from the budding sprawl of 20th century Toronto, to the swathes of the Prairies, to the frigid fjords of the High Arctic.

Interspersed throughout the floor were a number of works by Indigenous artists, inviting guests to contrast as well as to relate Western and native contributions to Canadiana. Stone carvings featured heavily throughout the collection, such as argillite poles by Haida Chief Charles Edenshaw next to paintings by Emily Carr, as well as an entire exhibit dedicated to Bill Nasogaluak’s carvings depicting the clash between Inuvialuit and southern Canadian life.

Photo provided by Aaron Calpito

Many of the students were pleasantly surprised by some of the AGO’s large temporary exhibits, such as an infinity mirror room by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama which surrounded guests with floor-to-ceiling mirrors and a scattering of mirrored balls. Another standout was an immense showcase of paintings by European impressionists such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin which the AGO acquired from the Dallas Museum of Art.

Photo provided by Aaron Calpito

The IEC chaperones on the trip also took the chance to explore the AGO themselves. Local artist Ranbir Sidhu’s debut exhibit was particularly endearing to Team Lead Yash, with its massive futuristic metal sculptures inspired by Sikh history in a dimly lit room. “My ‘90s Rock Photographs” by Montréalaise musician Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins was Assistant Timothy Trevor Aogon’s favourite. The exhibit comprised bold colours, hundreds of pictures and relics from the 1990s music scene, and a display of stacked TV sets surrounded by triangular walls with light bars that made for a very “Star Wars-y” vibe.

Photo provided by Aaron Calpito

Notwithstanding its impressive assortment of artworks on display, the AGO conveniently acted as an open environment for students on the trip to connect with one another and make friends; a fact that was not lost on the student-staffers. “I think Canada, Eh? as a program provides a really good opportunity for students to come and explore Canadian culture through a safe and secure lens,” Yash said in an interview with The Medium on the bus ride back to campus. 

“The students come as strangers to these trips, but by the time they come home they’re always thinking of each other as friends or someone they know from this point onwards,” she related. “I have seen a couple students exchange their Instagram accounts or email addresses so they can keep in touch. That was very heartwarming to see.”

Aogon echoed those sentiments, adding that the AGO’s downtown location provided a unique opportunity for the IEC to encourage students to explore more of what the region has to offer. “The whole journey here allows you to see all these kinds of things that you can come back to later,” he expressed. “So it’s not just the museum that’s important, but the whole aspect of the city as well.”

The IEC will continue the Canada, Eh? series with the Fall Photo Challenge, which invites all UTM students to submit photos that capture fall campus life from November 1 to 30. Moreover, on November 17, the Canada, Eh? team will co-host Canadian Cuisine at the Student Centre for International Education Week, where students will be able to enjoy quintessential Canadian snacks and board games for free.

You can view all of the IEC’s upcoming events, as well as opportunities to gain Co-Curricular Record credits on the IEC web page.

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