{"id":46002,"date":"2020-10-13T17:59:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T21:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=46002"},"modified":"2020-10-19T16:47:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T20:47:49","slug":"interview-with-mia-nielsen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=46002","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Mia Nielsen, Director of Art Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interview with Mia Nielsen (MN), Director of Art Toronto by Phil Anderson (PA)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mia Nielsen. Photo: Franco Deleo <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: It must have been difficult to engage in a re-invention of the art fair. What was your biggest challenge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: We\nsettled on the new direction for the fair in the spring, creating a hybrid\nevent where the whole program will be online with the addition of in-person\nexhibition viewing and socially distanced events across the country. This\nformat allowed us connect communities across the country and create a unique\nexperience for an international fair. To support the show, we have an\nincredible program of over 80 virtual and in-person event, so managing the\ndepth and breadth of the program is the biggest challenge, it\u2019s way more\nprogramming than we have had in the past. But it\u2019s really a wonderful\nchallenge, because it\u2019s allowed us to work with new partners and institutions\nincluding the CAG in Vancouver, the Esker in Calgary, PHI and MAC in Montreal,\nthe National Gallery in Ottawa and many others. So exciting to see it all come\ntogether so beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: How does\nthe hybrid virtual Art Toronto compare to other international art fairs that\nhave gone virtual this year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: Most\ninternational fairs that have gone ahead this year have been exclusively\nonline. With exhibitors across the globe, it\u2019s hard to find opportunities for\nconnection outside the virtual space. One of the exciting aspects of Art\nToronto is that it\u2019s a regional fair with a national identity. With over 60% of\nour galleries based in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, we had a\nunique opportunity to galvanize the national arts community and connect the\nexperience of the fair to the gallery locations to provide in-person exhibition\nviewing and events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Corkin Gallery, Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\nBradley Ertaskiran Gallery, Montreal\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: Was there an opportunity to share with other art fair directors\u2019 ideas on how to engage the public in these strange times?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: Yes! One\nof the benefits of lockdown was the time to connect with colleagues and learn\nabout how other shows are going ahead. It was great to get to know Elizabeth\nDee of The Independent in NYC, we chatted a few times over FaceTime and she\nstarted a group chat where fair directors share strategies and challenges.\nChicago is taking an interesting approach \u2013 rather than doing a virtual fair,\nthey\u2019re promoting a gallery hop weekend in their hometown over the scheduled\n2020 fair dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: How accessible is the hybrid virtual art fair? Is there a charge to stream it? Is there a cap on attendance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: The online fair is completely accessible! There is no cap for attendance and aside from the Preview benefit for the AGO on the 28th (tickets are $30 for a first look at the fair and a host of incredible programs) there is no charge to attend the online fair or the in-gallery events across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

PA: Are\nthere noticeable advantages to having a virtual fair? For example, making it\neasier for galleries to participate without the expenses of shipping and\nemployees working the fair?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: Indeed,\nshipping and installing exhibitions for a centralized fair is challenging,\nexpensive and time consuming. Not to mention travel arrangements for visiting\ngalleries or for local galleries having to be onsite at the fair and keep the\ngallery open at the same time. For exhibitors, this hybrid fair model offers a\nlot of flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: Are\nthere other features that have been added to the virtual fair? Can you tell us\nabout some of them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: We have a number of new features this year. For instance, with have partnered with AGAC to list works from the fair on their app Collecting, using AR, it can picture an artwork to scale on your wall, a way to test out the concept and find the piece that will be a perfect fit for your wall. In addition, we\u2019re hosting artist studio visits with Canadian artists living outside of Toronto such as Curtis Talwst Santiago (Frankfurt) and the Kinngait studios in Cape Dorset. In addition, we commissioned artist Jenn E Norton to create a virtual artwork, an AR sculpture that can be downloaded from Facebook or Instagram, so audiences can \u2018install\u2019 and share it with audiences online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Curtis ‘Talwst’ Santiago in his studio, constructing one of his small artworks. (CBC Arts. November 4, 2015) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: Will the\nArt Toronto be more international this year because of the virtual nature of\nthe fair and how many galleries are participating this year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: We have almost 100 galleries this year, so close in number to what we\u2019ve had in the past. There are some international galleries this year, like Chicago\u2019s Monique Meloche (joining us for the first time), but most have a connection to Canada (in her case she is Canadian and represents fellow Canadian Brendan Fernandes who will be part of our Preview programming, in addition to some of the most important artists working in the US today) as well as Donald Ellis Gallery, with incredible First Nations art and artifacts, much from west coast nations. But as Canada\u2019s art fair, we\u2019re dedicated to connecting audiences to the incredible scene we have right here at home. That goes for national audiences connecting with the exhibitors across the country, as well as providing an entry point for international audiences to learn about art in Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jake Troyli, Don\u2019t Forget to Pack a Lunch!<\/em> Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. Image courtesy of the gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Portrait Mask of Dzila’Qons, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia,
Donald Ellis Gallery. Image courtesy of the gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: Do you think that the hybrid virtual art fair will have an impact on future art fairs after the pandemic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: Yes, I\nthink online strategies will be an important element for art fairs in a\npost-pandemic world. More changes could come too, we\u2019re exploring ways to\nevolve the fair model to reach communities across Canada and beyond when we\nreturn to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Stay tuned to see how it\nevolves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PA: What\nwill you miss the most from the ability of having an actual physical fair? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MN: I love exhibitions, so having everyone in one place is one of the greatest pleasures for me. The serendipity of running into old friends, meeting new people, all while taking in great art \u2013 it\u2019s such a special experience. That said, there are loads of things I\u2019m really excited about this year \u2013 the virtual studio visits, conversations and events, the new galleries that are bringing some incredible work! It\u2019s going to be a different way to experience the fair and I\u2019m sure after this edition, there will be some things that I\u2019ll miss when we return to a centralized exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Art Toronto 2019. Photo: Xiaotong Cao<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: October 28 – November 8, 2020, virtual and in-person installations and programming across the country. For more information please visit https:\/\/www.arttoronto.ca\/en\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Phil Anderson<\/strong><\/p>\n

the whole program will be online with the addition of in-person exhibition viewing and socially distanced events across the country<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-phil-anderson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46002"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46042,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46002\/revisions\/46042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}