What else?

Went to the Framing Factory this afternoon to pick up my photographs and then dropped them off at the gallery. They’re being nailed to the wall as I write! Must say the work of my peers is quite somethin’ to behold, and I can’t wait to see it all at Raw Memory’s opening night later this week.

Just to recap, some of my G20 Detainees portraits will be shown at Gallery 1313 as part of the Raw Memory exhibit beginning Wednesday, May 11. As many of you know, there was an invasion of sorts last June when nearly 20,000 cops descended onto the streets of Toronto to protect politicians at the G20 summit.

According to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, 1,105 people were arbitrarily arrested and detained at the makeshift prison on Eastern Avenue in Toronto’s east end. The vast majority were released without being charged with any offences. For a breakdown of Canada’s largest mass arrest, visit ccla.org.

I thought it be good to show the faces of some of the people they arrested and detained, particularly since the federal auditor general will be releasing her report shortly after Parliament resumes in early June on the G20 security costs, which were estimated to be nearly $575 million of the total $1.2 billion budget. To provide some perspective, the 2009 G20 summit in Pittsburgh was about $12 million.

These portraits will be featured as part of the Raw Memory group exhibit at Gallery 1313 during CONTACT 2011 from May 11-22. Look forward to seeing you at the opening reception on May 12, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.