The 29th edition of SummerWorks Festival was curated through the lens of many questions. Faced with increasingly polarized views on equality, the climate, land rights, immigration, gentrification and freedom of speech circulating on the news and media, we found ourselves asking: Is this for real?

Running through the works was also a consideration of ‘public’: what is public space, how is it made and negotiated? What is the impact of making something public? And what is the power of the public to enact change? Many works considered new possibilities for the public sphere, animating space to rediscover, engage with, and celebrate the Festival neighbourhood in new ways.

Continuing to push the boundaries and explore the possibilities of performance, SummerWorks 2019 invited audiences to go on a digital scavenger hunt in a public library, get paid to contribute to a meditation on labour and consent, imagine possible futures at the ends of the earth, hear the words of children from the mouths of adults, attempt to form a democracy in a time of scarcity, and travel the streets and consider how the city has changed.

The SummerWorks Exchange offered conversations, workshops, pitch sessions and more focused around the concept of ‘making space’ as it related to accessibility and sustainability practices, reconnecting with the land through an Indigenous lens, and site-specific creation.

SummerWorks continues to be a space for openness to question, for bold new ideas, for reimagining what’s possible together, and for making change. During this Festival, it felt like this room for inquiry, this openness, this space for public discourse, was more important than ever.

des echoes - photo by Henry ChanWorry Warts - photo by Henry ChanI AM A GENIUS DOES ANYONE ERE KNOW ME - photo by Henry ChanGender Reveal Party - photo by Henry ChanAudible Songs from Rockwood - photo by Henry ChanGreenland - photo by Henry ChanCHILD-ISH - photo by Henry Chanhiraeth - photo by Henry ChanThe BReath Between - photo by Henry ChanFadeout - photo by Henry ChanThe Nine Brains of the Human Mind - photo by Henry ChanClowns Kill Empires - photo by Henry ChanCloser - photo by Henry ChanCHILD-ISH - photo by Henry ChanAntarctica - photo by Henry ChanInfo Fair - photo by Henry ChanIndustry Welcome - photo by Henry ChanWah Wah Wah - photo by Henry Chanburn, burned - photo by Henry ChanThe Archive of Missing Things - photo by Henry ChanReservations to Revelations - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanCloser - photo by Henry ChanBlack Ballerina - photo by Henry Chan8054821 - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanDeafy - photo by Henry ChanWorry Warts - photo by Henry Chanrochdale - photo by Henry ChanPublic Good - photo by Henry ChanFadeout - photo by Henry Chan8054821 - photo by Henry ChanCloser - photo by Henry ChanOpen Studios - photo by Henry Chanphoto by Henry ChanReeces Pieces - photo by Henry ChanFootnote Number 12 - photo by Henry ChanReservations to Revelations - photo by Henry ChanSt Peon of Parkdale - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanPitch Seassion - photo by Henry ChanWorry Warts - - photo by Henry ChanRohinton Mistry's The Scream - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanAudible Songs from Rockwood - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanLate Night - photo by Henry Chanrochdale - photo by Henry ChanGreenland - photo by Henry ChanMoving Publics - photo by Henry ChanThe Breath Between - photo by Henry ChanIndustry Welcome - photo by Henry ChanSafe and Sorry - photo by Henry ChanClowns Kill Empires - photo by Henry ChanCrossing Into Lullaby - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanI AM A GENIUS DOES ANYONE ERE KNOW ME - photo by Henry ChanGreenland - photo by Henry ChanBonjour, Hi - photo by Henry ChanClowns Kill Empires - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry Chanhiraeth - photo by Henry ChanRohinton Mistry's The Scream - photo by Henry ChanThe Archive of Missing Things - photo by Henry ChanCliff Cardinal's CBC Special - photo by Henry ChanSafe and Sorry - photo by Henry ChanSt Peon of Parkdale - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanFly Lady Di - photo by Henry Chandes echoes - photo by Henry ChanThe Nine Brains of the Human Mind - photo by Henry ChanCreating Sign Language Magic - photo by Henry ChanBonjour, Hi - photo by Henry ChanGender Reveal Party - photo by Henry ChanCreating Sign Language Magic - photo by Henry ChanOpening Night - photo by Henry ChanEncumbrance - photo by Henry ChanThose on the Surface - photo by Henry ChanLong Table - photo by Henry ChanBlack Ballerina - photo by Henry ChanOpen Hours - photo by Henry ChanInfo Fair - photo by Henry ChanFootnote Number 12 - photo by Henry ChanDeafy - photo by Henry ChanDeafy - photo by Henry ChanThose on the Surface - photo by Henry Chan