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The Power Plant is currently open with exhibitions Lap-See Lam: Floating Sea Palace and Charles Campbell: How many colours has the sea.

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is delighted to announce our upcoming exhibition season with two solo presentations by artists Fatimah Tuggar and Emmanuel Osahor. Through immersive installations that use either traditional mediums or interactive new technologies, both artists consider the fragility, solace, and promise of the natural world. Osahor’s large-scale painting environment invites visitors to contemplate beauty in the seclusion of a night garden, while Tuggar’s thought-provoking reflections on the historical, current and imagined uses of the calabash gourd ask us to contemplate other possible futures. The exhibitions will run from **April 11 to September 7, 2025**. Admission is free.
  
 “With this upcoming season, spanning from spring to fall, we are thrilled to present two exhibitions that invite us to consider the abundance of beauty, hope and inspiration that nature provides even in the most difficult of times. The work of these two accomplished artists will, without doubt, resonate with our audiences at a moment when the promise of spring turns into the profusion of summer.”  
  —Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs  
   
The new exhibition season will be animated by engaging, free public programs, including thematic talks, workshops, and tours. We’re also excited to welcome families and kids aged 7–12 for an engaging new series of creative Power Kids workshops on select Sundays. Visit The Power Plant’s Event Calendar on our website for programming details.  

Fatimah Tuggar, Light Cream Pods, 2024. Calabashes, Architectural Façades, Animatronic Sculptures, AR, AI Generative Imaging, Two Channels Digital Video, Dimensions Variable. Courtesy of BintaZarah Studios. Photo: Matteo Visentin 

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**Fatimah Tuggar: _Light Cream Pods_**  
Curator: Frances Loeffler, Curator of Exhibitions  
  
_[Light Cream Pods](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/exhibitions/light-cream-pods)_ is a new exhibition by Fatimah Tuggar that uses the calabash as a metaphor for and container of ideas. Using augmented reality, artificial intelligence and animatronic sculptures, the exhibition offers interactive encounters that reflect on the meanings, uses, and possible futures of this culturally significant fruit, set within architectural facades inspired by the Tubali vernacular design of the Hausa people of the Sahel region of the African continent. Known for its versatility, the decorated pods of the calabash can be used for a wide variety of utilitarian and aesthetic purposes. However, its associated crafts and economies are currently under threat as indigenous customs are displaced by global commodification, petrochemical pollution, and poisonous plastics. _Light Cream Pods_ examines this situation through a multi-layered approach that sees centuries-old traditions sitting alongside new technologies. Tuggar introduces the strategies and technologies of the calabash as a solution to some of the most urgent environmental, technological, and cultural challenges of our time and a radical prompt to imagine other, possible futures.  
  
_Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, co-produced with The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada, with the support of the University of Florida School of Art + Art History, USA. Courtesy of BintaZarah Studios. _


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**Emmanuel Osahor: _To dream of other places_**  
Curator: Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs  
  
Toronto-based artist Emmanuel Osahor’s practice focuses on beauty as a necessity for survival, respite, and sanctuary. Known primarily for his paintings of lush, verdant gardenscapes—inspired by real and imagined locations—these works meditate upon the complicated histories of these sites that entail the domestication of lands, plants, and individuals alike. _[To dream of other places](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/exhibitions/to-dream-of-other-places)_ is the artist’s first major solo presentation in his home city of Toronto and includes paintings, drawings, prints, ceramic sculptures, and a new, site-specific photographic wallpaper. Conceived as a night garden, the exhibition presents Osahor’s work in a unique environment intended to immerse the viewer in a contemplative space where feelings of delight and sorrow coexist as reflections of human experience. The artist’s poetic yet critical approach to a subject that has been well represented throughout art history reflects a practice that is profoundly engaged with beauty, painting, and the everyday at a time when meaningful encounters with art are needed more than ever.  
  
  
**Save the Date **  
Press Preview: Thursday, April 10, 2 PM–4 PM  
Public Opening: Thursday, April 10, 8 PM–11 PM  
  
**About The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery ** 
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted to contemporary art, ideas, and conversations. Located at Harbourfront Centre on Toronto’s waterfront, The Power Plant is a vital forum for the creative culture of our time, sharing inspiring and transformative experiences with audiences through free admission to exhibitions and public programs. The Power Plant is guided by the commitment to provide a platform for artists from diverse backgrounds, drawing attention to pressing issues and connecting communities in Canada and worldwide through contemporary art. 

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The Power Plant’s new season offers contemplative and interactive exhibitions that reflect on our relationships with the natural world

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is delighted to announce its upcoming exhibition season with two solo presentations of works by Swedish visual artist Lap-See Lam and Canadian multidisciplinary artist Charles Campbell. Through immersive installations, both artists reflect on concepts relating to memory, movement, and the ocean. The exhibitions run from September 21, 2024, to March 2, 2025. Admission is free.  
  
“This season, we are delighted to present two extraordinary exhibitions that invite us to consider diverse narratives that inform our current historic moment. From a profound engagement with nature and its healing powers to a personal exploration of the diasporic condition, the themes of these two exhibitions will undoubtedly captivate the imagination of our visitors.” — Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs  
  
The exhibitions will be accompanied by a vibrant lineup of free public programs, encouraging visitors to engage through artist talks, workshops, and tours. We look forward to welcoming families to a series of creative Power Kids workshops designed for children aged 7–12. Join us on select Sundays to partake in art activities that include natural materials, theatre, and play. Visitors are also invited to enjoy our Creative Hub for reading, drawing, and reflecting. For programming details go to the **[Event Calendar](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/calendar)** page on The Power Plant’s website.  

Lap-See Lam, still from Floating Sea Palace

**Lap-See Lam: _Floating Sea Palace_**  
  
**Curators**  
Julia Paoli, Director & Curator, The Vega Foundation  
Kate Whiteway, Assistant Curator, The Vega Foundation  
Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs, The Power Plant  
Frances Loeffler, Curator of Exhibitions, The Power Plant  
  
Lap-See Lam creates mythical video installations that draw on traditional storytelling forms such as Cantonese opera and shadow play puppetry. Her work takes a magic realist approach, creating alternative representations of Chinoiserie as defined by imperialist history, while simultaneously reflecting on her own family history of migration from Hong Kong to Sweden, to both claim and complicate cultural heritage. This exhibition, her first in Canada, presents her newest film, _Floating Sea Palace_ (2024), in which Lam draws on the folklore tale of Lo Ting, a mythical human-fish hybrid who is believed to be the ancestor of the Hong Kong people. The film is presented within an immersive environment built of bamboo scaffolding, which has been used for centuries as an integral material in the celebrated art form of Cantonese operas. _Floating Sea Palace_ reflects on transformation, translation, and the longing to return to an ever-shifting home that remains out of reach.  
  
  
_Floating Sea Palace_ is co-commissioned by The Vega Foundation, Studio Voltaire, and The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. Produced in partnership with Moderna Museet. **Floating Sea Palace** is concurrently on view at Studio Voltaire in London from September 18 to December 15, 2024.  
  
The exhibition at The Power Plant is organized and developed in partnership with The Vega Foundation. The Vega Foundation provides critical support for artists’ film and video through meaningful investments in the production of ambitious new work, collaborations with Canadian and international institutions, and the stewardship of a growing collection. For more information, visit thevegafoundation.com. 

Charles Campbell, Breath Portrait series, 2024. C-print on aluminum composite panels, 20 in x 144 in. Courtesy the artist. 

**Charles Campbell: _How many colours has the sea_ **  
  
**Curators**  
Dominique Fontaine, Curator, Toronto Biennial of Art  
Miguel A. López, Curator, Toronto Biennial of Art  
Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs, The Power Plant  
Frances Loeffler, Curator of Exhibitions, The Power Plant  
  
Charles Campbell is a multidisciplinary artist whose diverse body of work challenges traditional notions of time and delves into possibilities arising in the aftermath of colonization. For _How many colours has the sea_ (2024), he creates a portal into a realm where the spirits lost in the Middle Passage—the harrowing journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic—find solace. The exhibition consists of newly commissioned works, including a large-scale sculpture that recreates the submerged terrain where African and North American tectonic plates converge, and nine monolithic panels, or “Breath Portraits” that visualize the breath of members of the Black community. It also includes an audio installation capturing the tranquil and tumultuous atmospheres of the sea using hydrophones (underwater microphones), and filling the gallery with the sounds of an ocean journey, both stormy and calm. An additional work available on headphones offers personal reflections on reconnecting with the lost. With these deeply resonant works, Campbell creates a sanctuary for private contemplation and collective healing that confronts the profound consequences of systems designed to divide and oppress.  
  
_How many colours has the sea_ is co-commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art and the National Gallery of Canada and co-presented with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. The Toronto Biennial of Art is on from September 21 to December 1, 2024 at 11 venues across the city. For more information, visit **[torontobiennial.org](https://torontobiennial.org/)**.  
  
  
**Save the Date **  
Press Preview: Friday, September 20, 2 PM–4 PM  
**[Public Opening: Saturday, September 21, 3 PM–6 PM](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/opening-party-of-new-exhibitions-tickets-982123155797?aff=oddtdtcreator)**  
  
**About The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery ** 
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted to contemporary art, ideas, and conversations. Located at Harbourfront Centre on Toronto’s waterfront, The Power Plant is a vital forum for the creative culture of our time, sharing inspiring and transformative experiences with audiences through free admission to exhibitions and public programs. The Power Plant is guided by the commitment to provide a platform for artists from diverse backgrounds, drawing attention to pressing issues and connecting communities in Canada and worldwide through contemporary art. 

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The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery Announces New Exhibition Season Featuring Two Immersive Installations

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery collaborates with an innovative design lab and women immigrant sewists to create one-of-a-kind fashion accessories made from recycled marketing materials

This Earth Day, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is thrilled to partner with [DESIGNwith](https://www.designwith.ca/) and unveil **Form Follows Care**, a collection of unique products made from recycled marketing banners.  
  
Production and marketing significantly contribute to social and environmental challenges. Conventional marketing practices have been criticized for their wasteful use of natural resources, especially in creating and disposing of materials destined for landfills after a single use. The Power Plant, a non-profit institution located at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, is taking strategic action to tackle these challenges by buying back its marketing waste and supporting the local initiative.  
  
Together with DESIGNwith, a Toronto-based collaborative design lab at the forefront of the circular economy and social innovation, The Power Plant is upcycling discarded marketing banners by transforming them into a collection of zero-waste products, including one-of-a-kind tote bags, pouches, and wallets. Handcrafted by a team of talented women sewists from the Regent Park Sewing Studio, an initiative of the Toronto Centre of Learning & Development, the product line utilizes every part of the banner to eliminate waste. In addition to mindful design that promotes social and environmental sustainability, each item features a unique pattern, showcasing artworks from The Power Plant exhibitions.  


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Since climate change affects marginalized communities the most, it is important to consider people and the planet during the design process. This innovative project exemplifies this principle with an exceptional result of a zero-waste collection promoting a more equitable future. From theory to practice, DESIGNwith lab embodies a caring design practice that considers people, undervalued skills, materials, and the environment as vital parts of an alternative economy.    
   
“We are excited to engage communities in rethinking marketing waste and to add beautiful new items to The Power Plant Shop. We’re finding new ways to make marketing materials part of the circular economy, new ways for social innovation, and new ways for building a more equitable and sustainable future.”  
—Carolyn Vesely, Executive Director of The Power Plant  
   
“We are thrilled about this partnership, as it calls for a collective effort to foster a circular economy and promote social change. The collection, Form Follows Care, celebrates our grassroots collaboration with Regent Park and our dedication to inclusive design practices aimed at zero waste. Our design strategy honours the original structure of the banner by deliberately using the entire edge for straps, the middle section for the tote, and the remaining material for wallets and pouches.”  
—Ranee Lee, Founder of DESIGNwith  
  
"We at the Toronto Centre of Learning & Development are immensely proud to be part of this groundbreaking initiative. Through our Regent Park Sewing Studio, we’ve seen first-hand the transformative power of combining traditional skills with innovative design to reduce waste and empower our community. This project aligns with our mission to enhance employability and community engagement and serves as a beacon of hope for sustainable practices in the industry. It's a testament to what we can achieve when we come together to support social innovation, environmental sustainability, and community development."  
—Alfred Jean-Baptiste, Executive Director of the Toronto Centre of Learning & Development  
  
All products will be available at **[The Power Plant Shop](https://shop.thepowerplant.org/)** beginning May 2, 2024. Visit the gallery in person to see the variety of fashion accessories and choose your favourite!  
  
To activate the Form Follows Care campaign and create space for wider audiences to engage with the idea of a circular economy, The Power Plant and DESIGNwith invite you to a series of interactive events at the gallery. This May, join us for an educational talk with the founder of DESIGNwith, Ranee Lee, and a hands-on workshop with the DESIGNwith lab’s Managing Creative Director, Katya Koroscil, and Regent Park Sewing Studio members. Learn more about the programming and sign up [HERE](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/calendar).  
  
**[SHOP FORM FOLLOWS CARE](https://shop.thepowerplant.org/Form-Follows-Care-c168174301)
**

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From Landfill to Limited Edition  Zero-Waste Design Collection

From Landfill to Limited Edition Zero-Waste Design Collection

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Discover The Power Plant Archives

Lap-See Lam: Floating Sea Palace

Floating Sea Palace

Charles Campbell: How many colours has the sea

How many colours has the sea

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Welcome to The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

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Give the gift of art

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In this workshop, families will have the chance to work together to create a scene of a play. Inspired by Lap-See Lam’s storytelling in_ Floating Sea Palace_, participants will collaborate in groups to make costumes, backdrops, and props for a mythological story. This hands-on experience encourages creativity and teamwork as families bring stories to life on stage.  
  
Registration for this workshop will open five weeks ahead of the event.

Power Kids

Power Kids takes place on select Sundays throughout our exhibition seasons and includes a guided tour in or outside the gallery followed by a short creative activity. Each workshop is different, so kids can return throughout the season and be inspired every time.

Power Kids is a series of free creative workshops for children aged 7–12, led by skilled and dynamic artist-educators and inspired by our current exhibitions.


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Power Kids: From Story to Stage

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In preparation for the Lunar New Year, we invite families to this special Power Kids workshop, inspired by Lap-See Lam’s work _Floating Sea Palace_. On Sunday, January 26, we will host the drop-in session from 12 to 4 PM, where participants will create felt collages inspired by Chinese mythology and storytelling. No registration is required - simply drop in!  

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Power Kids: Lunar New Year Drop-In

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Inspired by Charles Campbell’s sculpture _How many colours has the sea_, this workshop invites families to create their 3D hanging mobiles using wire and straws, reflecting the dynamic forms found in the sea. Dive into the creative process and make your own suspended sea-inspired artwork.  
 
Registration for this workshop will open five weeks ahead of the event.

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Power Kids: Floating Mobiles

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We invite families to the special Family Day Long Weekend Power Kids workshop, inspired by Charles Campbell’s exploration of bathymetry, the science of mapping the ocean floor. On Monday, February 17, we will host the drop-in session from 12 to 4 PM, during which participants will create unique, colourful bathymetric layered foam collages. No registration is required—simply drop in!

The Power Plant