TORONTO, ON - April 24, 2014 /CNW - The 2014 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, one of Canada's premier cultural events, will showcase Canadian and international artists and photographers exhibiting at 200 venues throughout Toronto. During the month of May, an extensive range of exhibitions, public installations, films, lectures, and workshops will be presented to more than one million people.

Now in its 18th year, the Festival includes 13 Primary Exhibitions, 9 Public Installations and 34 Featured Exhibitions, with a diverse range of artists exhibiting their work at 150 Open Exhibitions across the city.

"The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival celebrates an impressive lineup of exhibitions across the city," says the Festival's Executive Director, Darcy Killeen. "This year will be outstanding, with work by artists from around the world, including China, Africa,the Caribbean, and Russia, to name a few. We are also thrilled to feature such prominent Canadian artists as Michael Awad,Rebecca Belmore, Dana Claxton, Stan Douglas, and Scott McFarland, among others, as part of this year's Festival."

Scotiabank CONTACT's 2014 theme "Identity." is explored in the Primary Exhibitions and Public Installations. These presentations reveal a shared interest in exploring individual and collective attributes through works that address issues of character, nationality, migration, race, class, gender, feminism, masculinity, and sexuality. CONTACT 2014 emphasizes the power of photographs to reveal the complex personal, social, environmental and political layers that exist within the process of shaping identity.

"We are proud to be the title sponsor of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival for the fifth year," said Jane Nokes, Director, Scotiabank Corporate Archives & Fine Art, Executive Director, Scotiabank Photography Award. "We at Scotiabank are happy to support CONTACT's goals of celebrating contemporary visual art and making it available for all of us to enjoy. We believe that arts, culture, and heritage add so much to our lives and to the vibrancy of our communities." 

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is pleased to showcase 13 Primary Exhibitions:

Material Self: Performing the Other Within
David Favrod, Charles Fréger, Hendrik Kerstens, Namsa Leuba, Meryl McMaster, Dominique Rey, Tomoko Sawada, Mary Sibande
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
May 1-June 1. Opening and Festival Launch May 2, 7-11pm, Artist Talks May 3, 11:30am.
Curated by David Liss and Bonnie Rubenstein. Organized with the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. Supported by BMW Canada.

In Character: Self-Portrait of the Artist as Another
Bill Burke, Sophie Calle, General Idea, Rafael Goldchain, Rodney Graham, Yasumasa Morimura, Shelly Niro, Cindy Sherman
The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
May 1-June 1. Opening May 2, 7-11pm
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein and Jonathan Shaughnessy. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

Stan Douglas: Scotiabank Photography Award
Ryerson Image Centre
May 1-June 1. Kodak Lecture Series: Stan Douglas April 30, 7:30pm, preview 4-7pm 
Curated by Robert Bean. Presented by Scotiabank. Organized by the Ryerson Image Centre.

Zanele Muholi: Faces and Phases
Ryerson Image Centre
May 1-June 1 and June 18-August 24. Artist talk June 17, 7:30pm
Curated by Dr. Gaëlle Morel. Organized by the Ryerson Image Centre.

Michael Awad: The Entire City Project: Royal Ontario Museum 
Royal Ontario Museum
May 3-September 28. Opening May 9, 6-8pm
Co-presented with the Royal Ontario Museum.

Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography
Ewan Atkinson, Marvin Bartley, Terry Boddie, Holly Bynoe, James Cooper, Renee Cox, Gerard Gaskin, Abigail Hadeed, Gerard Hanson, Nadia Huggins, Marlon James, Roshini Kempadoo, O'Neil Lawrence, Ebony G. Patterson, Radcliffe Roye, Alex Smailes, Stacey Tyrell, Rodell Warner
Shipping containers behind The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
May 1-25. Opening May 3, 5-7pm
Curated by Melanie Archer, Mariel Brown and Kenneth Montague. Organized with Wedge Curatorial Projects. Presented in partnership with Robert & Christopher Publishers and The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. Supported by Canada Council of the Arts, the Ministry of Tourism, Trinidad & Tobago and Giant Container Services.

Scott McFarland: Snow, Shacks, Streets, Shrubs
Art Gallery of Ontario
May 14-August 10. Artist talk May 21, 7pm
Curated by Kitty Scott. Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Steve Payne: False Fronts
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
May 8-July 26. Opening May 8, 7-10pm
Curated by Scott McLeod. Co-presented with Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art.

Rebecca Belmore: KWE
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery 
May 15-August 9. Opening May 15, 6-8 pm
Curated by Wanda Nanibush. Presented with the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery.

Through The Body: Lens-Based Works by Contemporary Chinese Women Artists
Lei Benben, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Ye Funa, Jin Hua, Ladybird Theatre, Fang Lu, Ma Qiusha, Fan Xi, Li Xinmo, Chen Zhe
University of Toronto Art Centre
April 29-June 28. Opening May 15, 7-9pm 
Curated by Matthew Brower, Fu Xiaodong, Yan Zhou. Organized with the University of Toronto Art Centre.

Gordon Parks: Portraits
Black Artists' Networks in Dialogue (BAND)
April 25-August 3. Opening April 25, 6-8pm
Organized with The Gordon Parks Foundation. Presented in partnership with BAND. Supported by Scotiabank.

Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen: The Sochi Project: An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus
CONTACT Gallery
May 1-31. Opening May 3, 2-5pm, Artist Talk 3pm.
Organized by Aperture Foundation, New York and The Sochi Project. Made
possible, in part, with generous support from Mondriaan Funds and the
Consulate General of the Netherlands.

Arctic Exposure: Photographs of Canada's North
Lachlan T. Burwash, A. A. Chesterfield, Robert Flaherty, Norman Hallendy, Richard Harrington, Jimmy Manning, Donovan Wylie
McMichael Canadian Art Collection 
May 3-June 1. Opening May 10, 4-8pm, Curatorial Tour 2pm
Curated by Sharona Adamowicz-Clements and Bonnie Rubenstein. Organized with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is pleased to present 9 Public Installations:

Jim Naughten: Hereros
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, courtyard
April 21-August 18
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein. Presented in Partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

Martina Bacigalupo: Gulu Real Art Studio
Émilie Régnier: Passport
Toronto Pearson International Airport, Terminal 1
April 24-September 1
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein and Sabrina Maltese. Presented in partnership with Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Dana Claxton: Indian Candy
Billboards along Dundas Street W and across Canada
May 1-31
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein. Supported by Pattison Outdoor Advertising and Nikon Canada. A part of PATTISON's ongoing Art in Transit programme.

Rebecca Belmore: X
Billboards at Spadina Ave and Front Street W
May 1-31
Curated by Wanda Nanibush. Presented in partnership with Justina M. Barnicke Gallery. Supported by PATTISON Outdoor Advertising and Nikon Canada. A part of PATTISON's ongoing Art in Transit programme.

Annie MacDonnell: Pictures Become Objects, Objects Become Events
Toronto Reference Library
May 5-30. 
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein. Presented in partnership with the Toronto Reference Library.

Owen Kydd: Retail Compositions
Brookfield Place, Allen Lambert Galleria
April 30-May 30
Curated by Sabrina Maltese. Presented in partnership with Brookfield Place. Supported by Ernst and Young LLP and Pattison Outdoor Advertising. A part of PATTISON's ongoing Art in Transit programme

Richard Renaldi: Touching Strangers
Metro Hall
April 30-June 1
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein. Supported by the City of Toronto.

Contacting Toronto 2014. Gideon Mendel: Drowning World
Queen's Park subway station and LCD Screens in 63 subway stations
May 1-31
Curated by Sharon Switzer. Co-produced by PATTISON Onestop and Art for Commuters with support from the Ontario Arts Council. A part of PATTISON's ongoing Art in Transit programme.

Aleesa Cohene and Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay: The Same Problem 5
Ryerson Image Centre, Salah J. Bachir New Media Wall
May 1-June 1
Organized and produced by the Ryerson Image Centre

Featured Exhibitions
Through a public call for proposals 34 Featured Exhibitions present a wide range of photographic works that speak to the vitality of the medium today. Participating galleries are: Alliance Française Gallery, Arsenal Toronto, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Bau-Xi Photo, Birch Contemporary, Campbell House Museum, Corkin Gallery, Daniel Faria Gallery, Evergreen Brickworks, Gallery 44, Gallery TPW, gallerywest, General Hardware Contemporary, Harbourfront Centre, I.M.A. Gallery, IX Gallery, Jessica Bradley Gallery, Katzman Contemporary, Koffler Gallery, Le Labo at Collège Boréal, O'Born Contemporary, OCADU Student Gallery, Olga Korper Gallery, Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain, Stephen Bulger Gallery, The Gladstone Hotel, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto Image Works Gallery, and the UTAC Art Lounge.

Open Exhibitions
In response to an open call, more than 350 artists & photographers exhibit their work at 150 venues throughout the community.

CONTACT Portfolio Reviews 
May 4-5 
The Gladstone Hotel
CONTACT continues to provide an opportunity for up to 80 emerging artists to meet with some of the most important professionals in the field. Reviewers include: Mauro Bedoni Photo Editor, Colors, Milan; James Estrin Senior Staff Photographer, New York Times, New York; Kristen Gresh Assistant Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Stefano Stoll Director, Images Festival, Vevey to name a few. 

Portfolio Reviews Exhibition Award One artist will be awarded with a solo exhibition presented at the CONTACT Gallery in January 2015. The award includes a $1000 credit at Vistek, and a $2500 credit at Toronto Image Works. The program was created to support and advance the careers of talented emerging photographers. 

Ryerson Image Centre Symposium
Collecting and Curating Photographs: Between Private and Public Collections 
May 1-3
Ryerson University - Rogers Communication Centre
Collectors, curators and scholars will gather to discuss how the photograph has become a collectible item and subject of academic study since the nineteenth century. Participants include: Quentin Bajac (Museum of Modern Art, NYC); Howard Greenberg (Howard Greenberg Gallery, NYC); and Ann and Harry Malcolmson (collectors, Toronto); as well as 17 other renowned photography experts from around the world. Organized by Dr. Thierry Gervais. Supported by CONTACT, Ryerson University, School of Image Arts, and the Consulat Général de France à Toronto.

About Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
CONTACT fosters and celebrates the art and profession of photography with an annual festival in May and year-round programming in the CONTACT Gallery.

CONTACT, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 and granted charitable status in 2011, is generously supported by Scotiabank, Nikon Canada, BMW Group Canada, La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, Torys LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Pattison Outdoor Advertising, Vistek, Grolsch Premium Lager, Stratus Vineyards, Transcontinental PLM, 3M Canada, Four By Eight Signs, Beyond Digital Imaging, Giant Container Services, Toronto Image Works, The Gilder, Hotel Le Germain, The Gladstone Hotel, The Globe and Mail, The Grid, and BlogTO.

The Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of Celebrate Ontario, Ontario Arts Council, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Ontario, Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Hal Jackman Foundation, and all of our other funders and partners.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through Bright Future, our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level across six pillars: health, education, social services, arts and culture, environment and sports. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has contributed on average some $50 million annually over the last five years to community causes around the world. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

For more information on CONTACT or to interview a CONTACT spokesperson or artist, please contact NKPR: Lisa Kwong | 416.365.3630 x242 | lisa@nkpr.net

CONTACT: 
Lisa Kwong 
416.365.3630 x242  
lisa@nkpr.net