Welcome to Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC), a not-for-profit initiative and space dedicated to the support and advancement of curatorial inquiry and practice in Toronto, Canada, and beyond.
Part gallery and publisher, part professional association and network, CDCC exists to: provide opportunities and resources to curators and artists for the production of exhibitions and projects within a critical framework; foster curatorial community and discourse at all levels of professional development; promote education, sustainability, and best practices in curating and exhibition-making; and more.
With a focus on critically engaged, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary practices, underrepresented artists and art forms, and community outreach and education in art and exhibition-making, Critical Distance is an open platform for diverse curatorial perspectives, and a forum for the exchange of ideas on curating and exhibition-making as ways to engage and inform audiences from all walks of life.
Critical Distance Centre for Curators was founded by independent curator Shani K Parsons and opened at Artscape Youngplace in late 2013 (under our former name, TYPOLOGY). Established from the beginning as a not-for-profit space devoted to curatorial and artistic experimentation, we devoted our first three years to providing opportunities for curators and artists to mount fully realized exhibitions within a critical framework. In 2016, having established a locally recognized platform for diverse curatorial practices and perspectives, we relaunched under our new name to signal a more focused commitment to the need, voiced by local and national curators, for a truly vital curatorial community—one that both supports emerging and underrepresented curators and advances curatorial practice and inquiry by foregrounding new ideas and critical connections between artists, ideas, objects, and audiences.
As Critical Distance, we continue to produce a wide-ranging annual program of exhibitions and projects supported by the production of original publications, editions, and related events. At the same time we are actively developing new programs in support of the curatorial community at local, national, and international levels. Anyone interested in participating, building, joining, and supporting a truly dedicated space and centre for curating is invited to get involved.
See this page for more background and information.
Starting Fall 2018, gallery hours are Wed-Fri 12-6 pm, Sat-Sun 11-5 pm, and by appointment when exhibitions are on. Unless otherwise noted, we are open on holiday weekends during exhibitions, and closed for installation between shows. Please be sure to confirm you are within exhibition dates before making the trip.
Office hours are by appointment only. Please email us at info (at) criticaldistance (dot) ca if you would like to schedule a visit.
CDCC is located at [LINK] Artscape Youngplace , a wheelchair accessible building with a ramp at the 180 Shaw Street doors, an elevator servicing every floor, and an accessible washroom on every level. The TTC’s 63 Ossington bus stops nearby and is wheelchair accessible.
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Email us at info (at) criticaldistance (dot) ca.
Critical Distance provides valuable experience and opportunities to curators and artists, administrators, and arts enthusiasts. Please see the relevant pages at left for submission and application guidelines. For submissions and related questions, please contact opportunities (at) critical distance (dot) ca.
A selection of artworks, objects, editions, and publications are available for purchase in the project space and online in the CDCC Shop. Paypal and most credit cards are accepted (as well as cash for in-person purchases), and all proceeds go back toward operations and programming in support of our mission.
We chose Critical Distance for our new name because it is precisely this distance that affords curators the space to engage critically with the work of another. It is this perspective at a slight remove which fundamentally differentiates the curatorial or critical voice from that of the artist or maker. For more information, click the link above for a discussion on Quora.