Audio tourPortuguese Canadian History Project's: The Portuguese in Toronto, 1953-2013

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Portuguese mass migration to Canada, celebrated on May 13, 2013, the Consul-General of Portugal in Toronto, Júlio Vilela, invited the Portuguese Canadian History Project (PCHP) to curate an exhibition to be included in the 2013 Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. The Secretary-General of Portuguese Communities and the Instituto Camões provided funding to produce the materials, which consisted of twenty historical photos, two stand-up banners with text and illustrations, and catalogues with extensive captions. Other community businesses and organizations provided in-kind support, including photos from their collections.

The launch was held on May 13, 2013, at Toronto’s City Hall and attended by close to 150 people. The event attracted the attention of community and mainstream Canadian media, including Matt Galloway’s Metro Morning show on CBC Radio. Over that week, visitors picked up most of the 850 catalogues and 1,000 postcards available for free.

Designed to be a traveling exhibition, it has been shown at various locations and events, including the Consulate-General of Portugal in Toronto (2013); Dundas West Fest (2013-2016); Toronto Catholic High School Archbishop Romero (2013); Azorean House of Ontario (2013); Lillian H. Smith Toronto Public Library branch (2014); IC Savings, Dundas St. West branch (2014); Scott Library, York University (2014); Victoria College, University of Toronto (2014); and Museum Strathroy-Caradoc (2015). For the latter, we partnered with the Gallery of the Portuguese Pioneers (GPP), the musician Nuno Cristo and the author Anthony de Sa in what became a Portuguese-Canadian history roadshow. Since 2015, this exhibition has been on permanent display at the GPP, whenever not traveling.

This audio guide was produced in collaboration with Alexandra Geropoulos and Nicole Couture, students in Prof. Jennifer Bonnell's HIST4840 Public History course, of York University's Department of History. It was launched on June 11, 2016, at the Dundas West Fest.