The World in One City

Colin Boyd Shaffer explaining his project

---

In 2013 I participated in Colin Boyd Shaffer’s Cosmopolis Toronto project where Colin photographed Torontonians from over 195 countries to portray Toronto’s diversity. It was a staggering project that Colin crowdfunded and executed in a record time. I represented India. In 2015 he published a book on the project, which is when I wrote about the project here.

Read the earlier post. Cosmopolis Toronto

See my profile on the project site here: Mayank onCosmopolis Toronto site  

See the short film about the project here: CosmopolisToronto on YouTube

Participants of the Cosmopolis Toronto project with Colin Boyd Shaffer

Earlier this month, Colin unveiled a mammoth exhibition of his project Cosmpolis Toronto: The World in One City in collaboration with the Toronto Reference Library and Myseum of Toronto. The exhibition is a city-wide photo exhibit exploring the journeys of newcomers to Toronto.

“Through photographs exhibits and programs, Cosmpolis Toronto: The World in One City is being displayed at select Toronto Public Library branches across the city, Themes that emerge revolve around the power of family, faith, food, music and the things that remind us of the past as well as the places that feel like home.”

I participated in the inauguration of the exhibition at the Toronto Reference Library. Colin informed the audience that I had been photographed at the library. The panelists who discussed the project at the inauguration included participants from Ghana (Bernice), Macedonia (Vera), England (Eileen), and Guatemala (Eric).

An important aspect of the project was to showcase a part of the participant’s past. I had chosen a photograph of Bombay’s Eros cinema at Churchgate shot sometime in the 1950s.

The exhibition at different libraries deals different themes. 

Here’s a list:

Albion: A Matter of Taste

Brentwood: Water is Lief

Richview: Make Yourself at Home

York Woods: More than Just A Game

Barbara Frum: All in the Family

Don Mills: On the Job

Fairview: Keep the Faith

Maria A Shchuka: Weaving Tradition

Northern District: The Power of Art

North York Central: Cosmopolis Torontp

Bloor / Gladstone: Finding Refuge

Lillian H. Smith: Every Picture Tells a Story

Toronto Reference Library: Cosmopolis Toronto Hub

Agincourt: School in Session

Albert Campbell: Iconic Toronto

Cedarbrae: Welcome to the Neighbourhood

Malvern: Nature Revives Us