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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 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

Coming to The Power Plant this May are June Clark: Witness, the first survey exhibition of the Toronto-based artist, and Terence Gower: Embassy, an ambitious research-based project.

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is delighted to announce its upcoming Summer 2024 exhibition season with two comprehensive solo exhibitions dedicated to the work of Canadian artists June Clark and Terence Gower.  
  
Both exhibitions present a significant insight into these artists’ careers and include works showcased here for the first time. Through a range of media, including sculpture, photography, installation, and video, Clark and Gower explore how our shared and collective histories have formed us and led to the unique conditions of our time. The exhibitions run from May 3 to August 11, 2024. Admission is free.  
  
“It is a great privilege to present these two thought-provoking exhibitions at The Power Plant this summer. At this moment in time, the voices and visions of artists are needed more than ever to offer insights and new perspectives into recent histories, both personal and collective. We hope that Witness and Embassy will inspire new ways of looking at and engaging with the world.”  
 — Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs  
   
An engaging lineup of free public programs will accompany the Summer 2024 exhibitions, with visitors invited to participate in activities, including tours, talks, and workshops. Extended hours on Thursday evenings throughout the summer months will allow visitors to make the most of the longer days by the waterfront. We welcome families to join Power Kids sessions, our free creative workshops for children aged 7–12 on select Sundays and explore the Power Plant Creative Hub on the second floor of the gallery. View all programming details in The Power Plant’s [Event Calendar](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/calendar).  

June Clark, Harlem Quilt, 1997. Photo transfers on fabric, light fixtures. Courtesy the artist and Daniel Faria Gallery. Installation view: Witness, The Power Plant, Toronto, 2024. Photo: LF Documentation.

**June Clark: _Witness_**
  
[June Clark: _Witness_](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/exhibitions/witness) is the first-ever survey of the Toronto-based artist, who, since the late 1960s, has developed a unique and groundbreaking practice spanning photo-based work, text, collage, installation, and sculptural assemblages. Clark was born in Harlem, New York and immigrated to Canada in 1968, and subsequently made Toronto her home. Questions of identity formation and the connection to our points of origin fuel her practice. In this deeply personal exhibition, the artist explores how history, memory, and identity—both individual and collective—have established the familial and artistic lineages that shape her work.
  
June Clark: _Witness_ brings together four significant bodies of work that stretch from the 1990s to the present, many of them seen here for the first time. These include her formative installations _Family Secrets_, 1992, and _Harlem Quilt_, 1997, a series of photo-based works from 2004 titled _44 Thursdays in Paris_, _Perseverance Suite_ (a new project the artist began in 2021), and _Homage_, a collection of sculptural assemblages that, in Clark’s words, “gave me permission to be the artist I am today.”  
  
June Clark: _Witness_ is presented in tandem with another solo exhibition of the artist’s work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, focusing on Clark’s iconic series _[Unrequited Love](https://ago.ca/exhibitions/june-clark-unrequited-love)_. 

Terence Gower, Embassy, 2024. Installation view: The Power Plant, Toronto, 2024. Photo: LF Documentation.

**Terence Gower: _Embassy_**
  
[Terence Gower: **Embassy**](https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/exhibitions/embassy) is the largest presentation in Canada of this ambitious research-based project by Terence Gower, who has lived and worked internationally for many years. The artist employs a range of media to investigate postwar material and intellectual histories, particularly as they connect to art and architecture.  
  
The exhibition features over a decade’s worth of work stemming from his investigation into the diplomatic architecture of the United States. Four multi-part installations form a larger study of American embassy buildings that have played important roles in recent international events in Baghdad, Havana, and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), as well as one unbuilt project for Ottawa. These expansive artistic constellations, including archival documents, sculptures, videos, and works on paper, are the outcome of the artist’s extensive research process.  
  
Gower considers the exhibition itself as an embassy sent from the past, from a formative period in U.S. history where much of the current geopolitical landscape was formed. Considering the urgencies and uncertainties of our current moment, Terence Gower: _Embassy_ asks how we might work with history to better understand the present.  
  
June Clark: _Witness_ and Terence Gower: _Embassy_ exhibitions will be accompanied by comprehensive full-colour publications featuring new contributions by curators, authors, and other leading voices.   

June Clark, Harlem Quilt, 1997 (detail) Fabric, photo transfers, light. Photo: Silvia Ros. Image courtesy of the artist and Daniel Faria Gallery

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The Power Plant announces its Summer 2024 exhibition season, focusing on the work of two established Canadian artists

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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

Coming Soon

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Canada’s leading public gallery devoted to contemporary art, ideas, and conversations.

Welcome to The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

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Give the gift of art

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Garden of Magical Thinking is a garden-inspired gala celebrating growth, sustainability, and transformation. This extraordinary event supports The Power Plant’s mission to showcase groundbreaking contemporary art, helping shape and enrich Toronto’s cultural landscape. Guests will indulge in a one-of-a-kind dining experience by Griot’s Table, where Afro-history is brought to life through an immersive, multi-sensory journey—from the shores of West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas. This exceptional meal highlights sustainable food practices, perfectly in line with the evening’s themes of possible futures.  
  
The night will be filled with captivating performances by musicians, poets, and artists, guiding you through a lush, imaginative "garden of possibilities." By attending and supporting this event, you help sustain the creative energy that makes The Power Plant a beacon of contemporary art in Toronto—fostering artistic innovation, community, and meaningful conversations.  
  
**[BUY TICKETS NOW](https://sales.thepowerplant.org/overview/41124)**  
  
 

**The Power Plant Garden of Magical Thinking Gala 2024 Committee  
**  
**Honorary Chair: Daniel Faria**  
Chair: Jaime Shulman  
Committee: Craig D'Arville, Dr. Nandini Gupta, Radhika Maheshwari, Pamela Meridith, Mila Miller, Jordin Mimran, &  Melanie Trojkovic  
  
**Garden of Magical Thinking** is a fundraiser that focuses on supporting and strengthening the future of contemporary art in Toronto.  
  
Align your brand with The Power Plant’s Gala, Garden of Magical Thinking, and demonstrate your commitment to Toronto’s arts communities. Your support plays a key role in shaping the future of contemporary art in Toronto. For more information on how to become a sponsor click here. 
  
For further inquiries, please contact **[sguzder@thepowerplant.org](mailto:sguzder@thepowerplant.org)**.  
  
  
  
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The Power Plant Gala

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The Power Plant Gala: Garden of Magical Thinking 

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Inspired by Charles Campbell’s exhibition _How many colours has the sea_, Nickeshia Garrick will lead a workshop that offers an embodied exploration of the bonds that physically and emotionally bind lived experiences by inviting participants to discover or connect with their inner storyteller.  
  
This program is developed and presented in partnership with the Toronto Biennial of Art. 

Workshop

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Dance Workshop: The ties that Bind Us, the ties that Bond Us

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Each elaborate costume in Lap-See Lam’s _Floating Sea Palace_ tells its unique story. In this workshop, participants will use these vibrant costumes as inspiration to craft their mythological narratives using felt. Through creativity and imagination, kids will design their legendary characters and bring their stories to life through their creations.  
  
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: Felt and Fantasy

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After exploring Charles Campbell’s Breathe Portraits and engaging in a meditative exercise, participants will dive into the world of watercolour painting. Experimenting with various techniques, kids will create their unique artworks inspired by the calming and reflective aspects of Campbell’s work.   
  
Registration for this workshop will open five weeks ahead of the event.

The Power Plant