Sharing stories of migration to Toronto through food
TORONTO, June 13, 2016 /CNW/ - A recent BBC study declared Toronto the most diverse city in the world. This diversity is no more apparent than through Toronto's food scene. From June 22 to 25, 2016 the Toronto Ward Museum, a museum dedicated to telling stories of migration to Toronto, in partnership with Heritage Toronto and Culinaria from the University of Toronto Scarborough, will launch Dishing Up Toronto, a series of food and storytelling tours.
A signature program of the Museum, the tours will take audience members to different pockets of the city. Local residents who have developed the tours will serve as guides and will use the telling of their life stories to introduce audiences to their favorite neighbourhoods and hotspots. Dishes selected by the guides will help bring their migration stories to life and will function as a point of departure for sharing and critical reflection around questions of identity, migration, citizenship and belonging.
Numerous local businesses and restaurants, many owned by immigrants, will also be visited along the way.
Founded by a group of civically engaged, young people and over 10 institutional partners, the Ward Museum seeks to create space for the stories of everyday people to be heard. Co-founder Gracia Dyer Jalea says she was motivated to establish the museum to make history more democratic. "History often gets told by an elite few. The life stories of everyday people are seldom recognized. As a museum dedicated to telling Toronto's migration history, we hope to create space for these stories by partnering and collaborating with communities and individuals whose contributions will help to better shape our understanding of Toronto's migration history," says Dyer Jalea.
Focusing on shared experiences across differences TWM will also challenge Torontonians to connect stories of Toronto's past, not only to their own personal history, but to current issues affecting newcomers today, and what better way to do that than through food. "Food has the ability to open people's minds and hearts," says Dyer Jalea. "It is an intimate experience that can create space for dialogue. It can bring us together!"
To learn more about the museum and the tours, visit: www.wardmuseum.ca/dishinguptoronto
SOURCE Toronto Ward Museum
Andrea Chrysanthou, Tel.: 416-722-3793, Email: [email protected]
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