Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has reopened its doors to the public on July 16th. The museum is open Thursday-Sunday from 11am-6pm*, with the exception of Friday, which is open until 9pm.
The museum is free for people under 18, $5 for students/seniors, and $10 for adults. The museum also offers free entry every Friday from 5pm-9pm, and all-day on the last Sunday of the month.
Health & safety precautions: the MOCA has enforced timed ticketing (which can be booked online here), limited capacity, physical distancing & signage (ex. all stairways maintaining one way of traffic), and hand-sanitizer available on each floor; masks are also mandatory while inside the building.
The museum’s current programming runs from its Floor 1-Floor 4. To explore the entire museum would probably take one hour. I would suggest starting on Floor 4 and working your way down.
EXHIBITS
Floor 4: An Embodied Haptic Space by Shelagh Keeley
February 6 – September 27, 2020
Keeley’s multimedia exhibit explores the progress and transformation of the past, present, and future of the spaces we are inhabiting. I especially enjoyed her film essay Jardim do Ultramar / The Colonial Garden, shot in Portugal.
Floor 3: HUSH SKY MURMUR HOLE by Megan Rooney
February 6 – September 13, 2020
I would describe this Floor as a pastel, dystopian wonderland. There is much to interpret about Rooney’s exhibit as she creates characters & scenarios from an assortment of fabrics, paints, and objects (including grocery carts, ropes, & papayas). I left the Floor wanting to imitate the exhibit’s mural onto my own walls.
Floor 2: A Sudden Beginning by Carlos Bunga & Images in Debris by Sarah Sze
February 6 – October 4, 2020
Probably my favourite Floor of the MOCA’s current programming. Bunga’s simplistic and interactive exhibit implores patrons to interact with the piece & their individual physicality. Occupy asks visitors “where to stay and for how long?”
Sze’s exhibit is described by the MOCA as “where light, movement, images and architecture coalesce into a single, precarious equilibrium.” You can easily lose track of time exploring the different angles and creations of the installation.
Floor 1: Archiving Eden: Exchange by Dornith Doherty
November 20, 2019 – August 16, 2020
This exhibit presents x-ray images of 5,000 seeds common to agriculture crops in Canada.
Note, this Floor is always free to the public, and houses the MOCA’s ticketing desk, museum shop (currently closed) and Forno Cultura, which opens one hour prior to the museum.
*Please note that their 11am-12pm time slot is reserved for patrons with greater health risks, such as seniors.