The Gardiner is now open from Thursday - Sunday, including free weekend admission! There's plenty of space to reconnect and amazing art to discover in all corners of the Museum. Clay Restaurant is still open Tuesday - Sunday. Reservations fill up fast, so book your table early. Please read our new health and safety policies before you visit.
From sticky to crusty, pliable to powdery, and shaped to shapeless, clay’s ability to transform in real time is prompting a new generation of artists to explore the possibilities of this ancient material. RAW features new work by four artists who are pushing boundaries with unfired clay: Cassils, Magdolene Dykstra, Azza El Siddique, and Linda Swanson. See it now!
We're firing up the kilns again! Join us on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 - 3 pm for drop in clay classes in our pottery studios. We've reduced our class sizes to allow for safe physical distancing, and instituted new health and safety protocols. Registration opens online at 10 am on the morning of the class. We can't wait to see you back in the studios!
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
As we begin to welcome visitors back to the Gardiner, we need your support to continue offering innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects on site and online. Make a donation and help us build community with clay.
Co-presented with Ken Moffatt, The Jack Layton Chair, and Melanie Panitch, The Director of The Office of Social Innovation, Ryerson University
Inspired by the exhibition Ai Weiwei: Unbroken, this unique series in collaboration with Ryerson University will transform the exhibition into a site for social action. Four interdisciplinary workshops, focused on documentary media, spoken word, performance, and online journalism, will be offered free with registration. These workshops, co-led by artists, facilitators, and writers, will activate the exhibition by connecting its themes to the practice of public citizenship.
March 5: Embodied Narratives March 19: Documenting Dissent April 2: Fake News April 16: Extreme Music Therapy June 4: AWW Free School Final: 6/4/89
FREE REGISTRATION
Writer and video artist RM Vaughan and NOW Magazine Life and Social Media Editor Michelle da Silva co-lead an in-gallery workshop on post-truth culture writing in the social media and fake news era.
Michelle da Silva is a journalist in Toronto specializing in lifestyle and culture writing. She has a particular interest in millennials, race, gender, mental health and technology, and how these themes intersect. As the Life and Social Media editor at NOW Magazine, her work has been nominated for the National Magazine Awards and Digital Publishing Awards. She was also the recipient of a Next Generation/Diversity Scholarship through the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. Michelle’s byline has appeared in Bustle, House & Home, Food Network Canada and the Georgia Straight, and she been a guest on film podcasts We Really Like Her and the Royal Canadian Movie Podcast.
RM Vaughan is a Canadian writer and video artist based in Montreal. Born and raised in New Brunswick, Vaughan is the author of 11 books and a contributor to over 60 anthologies and catalogs. Vaughan writes about art and culture for a wide variety of publications, and his collaborative video works play in festivals and galleries around the world.
About the exhibition
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, as well as one of China’s most formidable critics. Known for smashing conventions—and ceramics—with iconic works like Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, he upends the cultural traditions and materials of his native China.
This highly-anticipated and timely exhibition explores the breaking of boundaries, both physical and symbolic, and considers how the artist’s ceramic works form a basis for his ongoing exploration of urgent social justice themes, including immigration, freedom of speech, and the repression of dissent. Learn more
Presenting Sponsor
Exhibition Partners
PHIL LIND & ELLEN ROLAND
THE ROONEY FAMILY FOUNDATION
Media Partner
Programs Sponsor
ELEANOR & FRANCIS SHEN
AWW Free School Partners
Photo: Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995, Courtesy of Ai Weiwei’s studio