888
A collaboration between Younger than Beyoncé and SHEEEP
October 18 – November 23, 2025
Gallery hours: Saturdays, 3-7pm and by appointment on Fridays.
Book here, we would love to hear from you!
This exhibition is a proposition for a different 888 Dupont. The now-demolished live-work space holds a legendary status in our urban history. Within its crumbling walls, artists launched their careers, roamed the halls of their idols, took artistic risks, traded equipment and skills, and opened their spaces for community use. When all the residents were eventually evicted in 2021, many left without a fight, either due to a lack of resources, or accepting that this way of life was never meant to last.
This exhibition proposes answers to: How do we create and maintain enduring spaces for artists to make and develop work in a deeply communal and human way? What spatial, financial, and governance structures need to be in place?
The site of 888 Dupont now sits empty. TAS, the developer who demolished the building in 2023, recently sold the land to another developer, Carttera, after their project went into receivership due to the recent downturn in the condominium market. While markets are speculative, the needs for housing and culture are permanent. We can learn from the long trajectory of cooperatives, community land trusts, and other solidarity economy practices that we don’t have to rely upon the benevolence of those in power to build the spaces we need. When we draw our own plans and create our own budgets, we can provide greater autonomy and sustainability for our communities. This exhibition takes the stories that held 888 Dupont together and imagines its continuation as a vibrant live-work building, in a city that privileges its inhabitants’ safety and economic stability.
888 is an extension of our ongoing research, HATCH: Housing affordability tactics for creative humans, in collaboration with SHEEEP.school. HATCH is a series of discussions and workshops with the arts community to learn alternative strategies to co-create the conditions to meet our basic needs. We have presented co-learning sessions on artist housing co-ops, community land trusts, co-ownership models, and social housing architecture.
Collaborators
SHEEEP is a Toronto-based experimental art and architecture studio primarily working within community, education, activism, culture, public art and spatial design. SHEEEP.studio members currently include Reza Nik, Anaïs Trembling and Sam Cruxton. SHEEEP.school is stewarded as a collective and the active members currently include Nam Hoang, Lily Jeon, Reza Nik, Dana Prieto and Dana Salama.
Graphic design by Philip Leonard Ocampo.
Acknowledgements
This exhibition would not have been possible without conversations with former 888 Dupont tenants, Peter Venetas, Ami Patel, Celia Wandio, Doug Simpson, Steven Webber, Maggie Flynn, Tom Clement, Ric Amis, Lillian Radovac, Alexandra Hong; technical support from Lan “Florence” Yee, Petrina Ng, Matt King; and translation by Zi Wang. Many thanks to Adam Labadie for footage of 888 Dupont before demolition.
This exhibition is part of a programming series supported by Collective Collective, a project between eight visual arts collectives with majority racialized membership. As a response to the systemic racism and exploitative labour conditions in the arts, as well as the interrelated lack of sustainability within the sector, we are testing out organizational and curatorial practices that centre values of collectivity, solidarity, and mutual aid through resource and labour sharing. Learn more here.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council of the Arts.
Younger than Beyoncé 与 SHEEEP 联合呈现
2025 年10 月18 日 至 11 月23 日
开放时间：每周六下午3 点至7 点，每周五可预约参观
本次展览旨在为Dupont 888号构想另⼀种可能。这座已然拆除的艺术家⽣活⼯作空间，在多
伦多的城市历史中有着传奇的地位。众多艺术家们在这斑驳的墙壁间开启了他们的职业⽣涯。穿
梭于艺术家前辈曾经的创作空间，进⾏艺术试验、相互交换技能和各类器材，也向社区开放他们
的创作空间。当2021年所有住户最终被迫搬离时，许多⼈未作抗争便离去，或许是因为资源匮
乏，或是早已接受了这种⽣活⽅式本身就注定短暂。
本次展览回应了以下命题：如何以更具社群性与⼈性化的⽅式，为艺术家创造并维系长期发
展的创作空间︔为此需要建⽴怎样的空间、财务与治理结构。我们收集了关于Dupont 888号的集体记忆，从⽽构想出在⼀座重视居民安全与经济稳定的城 市⾥，这座⼤楼将如何继续作为⼀个充满活⼒的居住创作综合体存在。
如今的Dupont 888号⼤楼于2021年被开发商TAS拆除，原本的住宅开发项⽬由于近年来低
迷的房产市场被迫进⾏了破产托管，最近被转⼿卖给另⼀家开发商Carttera。市场或许具有投机
性，但居民的住房需求和城市的⽂化需求始终存在。与此同时，我们可以借鉴合作社、社区⼟地
信托、以及其他互助经济模式，无需依赖当权者的恩赐来创造所需空间。当我们⾃主进⾏社区规
划并制定预算时，便能赋予社区更⼤的⾃主与可持续性。
本次展览是我们与SHEEEP.school正在合作开展的研究项⽬《HATCH：⽂化艺术从业者住房
可负担性策略》的延伸。该项⽬通过系列讨论会和⼯作坊，与艺术社群共同探索满⾜基本需求的
替代⽅案。我们已开展关于艺术家住房合作社、社区⼟地信托、产权共有模式及社会性住房建筑
设计等多领域的学术活动。
Translation: Wang, Zi 王紫
