SILO NIGHTS at Public Pier: "The Shape of Memory"
Event
Public
SILO NIGHTS at Public Pier is curated by OCAD University as part of Public Pier, presented by The Bentway, Harbourfront Centre, OCAD University, and Waterfront BIA.
Marina Quay West, 539 Queens Quay West
8 - 11 p.m.
Marina Quay West, 539 Queens Quay West
8 - 11 p.m.
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SILO NIGHTS AT PUBLIC PIER, CURATED BY OCAD UNIVERSITY
For six nights only, Toronto’s waterfront lights up after dark. Starting September 18, SILO NIGHTS transforms the iconic Canada Malting Silos into a giant canvas for immersive art and storytelling — featuring international artists, student collaborations, and Canadian and world premieres. SILO NIGHTS at Public Pier is curated by OCAD University as part of Public Pier, presented by The Bentway, Harbourfront Centre, OCAD University, and Waterfront BIA.
On Saturday, September 26, from 8 to 11 p.m., the world premiere of The Shape of Memory will be featured on the Canada Malting Silos.
Technology for SILO NIGHTS projections provided by Panasonic, with special thanks to AVA Animation & Visual Arts and the City of Toronto.
ABOUT PUBLIC PIER
Public Pier is a collaborative public-realm pilot exploring the future potential of Marina Quay West as a vibrant waterfront destination for culture, gathering, and public life. Led by The Bentway, Harbourfront Centre, OCAD University, and the Waterfront BIA, the project uses temporary placemaking and cultural experiences to test how an underused waterfront site can contribute to community life, economic activity, and the future of Toronto’s public realm.
World premiere
"The Shape of Memory" by OOOPStudio
The world premiere is presented by Instituto Italiano di Cultura – Toronto and the Consulate General of Italy, Cultural Section, in collaboration with the European Union (EU) through its Delegation to Canada.
The Shape of Memory treats a city's memory not as history to archive but as intelligence to activate, the raw material from which communities build their next version of themselves. Projected on the Canada Malting Silos, it returns Toronto's memory of land and water to its waterfront.
The concept for The Shape of Memory was created by OOOPStudio, with photogrammetry, animation and editing by Alessandro Grisendi and 3D by Marco Noviello. OOOPStudio is a contemporary scenography studio working across video, architecture and collective experience, immersive works for theater, facades and urban space worldwide. Photography is set and location selection for photogrammetry was developed in collaboration with Lucas Piperias and Menita Sriharsha from OCAD University.
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SILO NIGHTS AT PUBLIC PIER: PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
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Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19
8 to 11 p.m.
World premiere: Decomposition No. 7: Undergrowth by transmedia artist Ali Phi
Curated and presented in partnership with The Bentway.
This work imagines Toronto as a city shaped by what lies beneath it: root systems threading beneath the street grid, connecting trees across the city, and holding the ground where new growth begins. This new immersive artwork reads the city's street-tree records, including species, trunk diameter, and location, as a score, transforming data built for maintenance into light, sound, and a portrait of slow, ongoing urban growth.
Friday, September 25
8 to 11 p.m.
Canadian premiere: Breathe (2026) by Faisal Anwar
Presented in partnership with The Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
In the Canadian premiere of Breathe, by Pakistani-Canadian hybrid artist Faisal Anwar, the Purple Martin’s 5,000-mile migration from Brazil to North America transforms the Canada Malting Silos into a living sky. Through generative visuals, animation, sound, and poetic storytelling, the work follows the birds through changing climates and disrupted ecologies.
Saturday, September 26
8 to 11 p.m.
World premiere: The Shape of Memory by OOOPStudio
The world premiere is presented by Instituto Italiano di Cultura – Toronto and the Consulate General of Italy, Cultural Section, in collaboration with the European Union (EU) through its Delegation to Canada. The Shape of Memory treats a city's memory not as history to archive but as intelligence to activate, the raw material from which communities build their next version of themselves. Projected on the Canada Malting Silos, it returns Toronto's memory of land and water to its waterfront. The concept for The Shape of Memory was created by OOOPStudio, with photogrammetry, animation and editing by Alessandro Grisendi and 3D by Marco Noviello.
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Saturday, September 26
8 to 11 p.m.
World premiere of animation collaboration workshop project
Presented in partnership with the French Embassy of Canada and Institut français du Canada, in collaboration with the European Union (EU) through its Delegation to Canada. This is the world premiere of an animation collaboration workshop project, led by French projection mapping artist and educator Pablo Gracias with OCAD University students in Experimental Animation and Graphic Design.
Friday, October 2
8 to 11 p.m.
Toronto premiere: Carnet de voyage d'une particule/Travel Diary of a Particle
Presented with support from the Arts Council of Ontario | Conseil des arts de l'Ontario, Ministère des affaires francophones de l'Ontario, Délégation Wallonie Bruxelles, Wallonie Bruxelles International, and Wallonie Bruxelles Enseignement.
The Toronto premiere of Carnet de voyage d’une particule/Travel Diary of a Particle is a 7-minute animated journey following a photon from the sun to earth, through space and underwater environments. Exploring light, nature and ecology, the project brings together students from OCAD University’s Experimental Animation program and students from two ARTS² programs in Mons, Belgium: Digital Arts within Visual Arts and Applied and Interactive Music within the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Saturday, October 3, SILO NIGHTS at Nuit Blanche
7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (October 4)
Canadian premiere, The Light
World premiere, Melting Temporalities
Two artworks, projected on the Canada Malting Silos, will be unveiled for Nuit Blanche Toronto, presented in partnership with the European Union (EU) through its Delegation to Canada and the Global Centre for Climate Action at OCAD University.
The Canadian premiere of The Light, by Paul Murnaghan, follows a solitary human as she reconnects the consciousness of the Deep Ocean with the subterranean forest floor, reaffirming humanity’s entanglement with worlds that exist beyond our perception. Filmed entirely in natural light, with underwater sequences captured on a single breath, the work unfolds as an animist odyssey through water, land, and light. Murnaghan is an Irish multidisciplinary artist, working with the substance of belief. He has been exploring, researching and exhibiting internationally for over twenty years. Current projects focus on animism and interspecies communication, attempting a less human-centric view of existence.
The world premiere of Melting Temporalities, by Claire Brunet and Johnny Ranger, transforms the Canada Malting Silos into a monumental glacier that slowly fractures to reveal forests, waterways, geological formations, and microscopic life. As the frozen landscape dissolves into digital meshes before reassembling, the work reflects on climate change, resilience, transformation, and regeneration.
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