Winter Stations is an international design competition bringing temporary public art installations to The Beaches to celebrate Toronto's winter waterfront landscape.


2019's theme is migration, exploring many aspects of the word, including the complex social issues that surround humanity, the flight of animals, or the exchange of ideas.

Ultimately, migration is a story, much of it yet to be told.

Visit Winter Stations exhibition from February 18 to April 1, 2019, at Woodbine Beach.

Cavalcade

• Victor Perez-Amado, John Nguyen, Anton Skorishchenko, Abubaker Bajaman and Stephen Seunwon Baik from Toronto, Canada

Cavalcade is an installation that reflects the collective spirit of human movement:

Not just in the contemporary political sense of global migration, but in the consensus that the human quest for a better life is one that is timeless and universal. Cavalcade depicts people migrating towards something better.

The visitors can walk midst of this movement as their reflection off a mirror at the centre of the installation reaffirms this collective connection.

Chairavan

• Audrey Assad, Brendan Boers, Mae Garcia, Jennifer MacDonald, Matthew Mcintyre and Curtis Mohrhardt from Oakville, Canada

The installation reimagines the lifeguard tower as a migratory species, with original proportions being stretched, shrunk and distorted, to create a pleasing array of characters:

Wide and narrow, tall and short, fragile and strong the community assembles and a powerful impulse takes hold. The migration begins. Strife and opportunity, joy, and sorrow, hopes and fears are hurdles that will be faced and endured as the journey unfolds.

Above The Wall

• Joshua Carel and Adelle York from Somerville, USA

In the current global political climate, the idea of a wall as a literal physical boundary between countries is reemerging as a nationalist tool to prevent migration.

Above the Wall installation positions visitors, physically and symbolically, above a barrier constructed around the lifeguard stand. They are encouraged to ascend the staircase along their walk and engage with others that have approached from the opposite side.

The Forest Of Butterflies

• Luis Enrique Hernandez from Xalapa, Mexico

Representing the forest of Michoacán, Mexico, this installation pays homage to an insect with the longest migration in the world - the monarch butterfly. Millions of these butterflies migrate year after year for more than 4000 KM, from Canada to Mexico, to paint the Mexican winter with their colourful wings. 4 generations of these butterflies are needed to finish this round trip, each represented in the installation with an orange tone, admiring their strength and courage.

Mind Station

• Tomasz Piotrowski and Łukasz Chaberka from Łomianki Dolne, Poland

The Mind Station pavilion gathers guests inside, where they, after taking a step onto the pedestal, move to the higher "soul" state and appear in the hole over an isolated surface. By rejecting the "body" state, information and emotions interchanges between users without any obstacles. The pavilion favours making new relations by opening to another person, as well as helping to concentrate on thoughts and emotions.

LRBELR