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Edward Burtynsky’s In The Wake Of Progress
Following the world premiere at Yonge-Dundas Square, In The Wake of Progress moves indoors for an intimate immersive experience.
Edward Burtynsky’s In The Wake Of Progress
A New Epic Immersive Experience
On the heels of the public world premiere of Edward Burtynsky’s new multimedia art piece, In the Wake of Progress, on the screens surrounding Yonge-Dundas Square during the opening weekend of Luminato Festival, this powerful new project has been transformed into a ticketed indoor immersive experience at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre on Front St. in Toronto for a limited run from June 25 – July 17.

Enveloped by 30 foot screens, audiences will be taken on a journey through images and films from throughout Burtynsky’s 40 year career bearing witness to the stark impacts of human industry on the planet, choreographed to a striking original score.
Photo by Marzieh Mohammadmiri

Audiences will then be invited into a specially-curated gallery of Burtynsky photographs and high-resolution murals, including some new and never-before-seen work and two unique augmented reality (AR) experiences that explore the impacts and legacy of the internal combustion engine.
Photo by Marzieh Mohammadmiri

The experience will also include a space called the Change Station, where visitors will be encouraged to become positive agents for change in their own local environments. The Change Station will present simple, tangible and engaging calls to action from select organizations, supported by the artist, all of which are designed to answer one question:” what can I do now?”
Photo by Cassandra Popescu

Co-produced by Canadian music legend Bob Ezrin, featuring an original soundtrack by Phil Strong with vocals by award-winning Cree Métis artist iskwē and performances by musicians of The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music, In the Wake of Progress marks Burtynsky’s most extensive and ambitious retrospective project to date and challenges us to have an important conversation about our legacy and the future implications of sustainable life on Earth.
Photo by Cassandra Popescu
Conceived, Directed, Filmed and Photographed by Edward Burtynsky
Commissioned and Co-produced by Luminato Festival Toronto
Commissioning support for Edward Burtynsky’s In the Wake of Progress
Presented by RBC, Sandra and Jim Pitblado, Gretchen and Donald Ross, O.C., The Michael Young Family Foundation
With Support from Louise MacCallum and Michael Barnstijn, The Hal Jackman Foundation, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Richard W. and Donna Ivey, Joan and Jerry Lozinski, Medcan
Media Highlights
THE GLOBE AND MAIL ‘We’re All Incriminated:’ Behind the Scenes with Ed Burtynsky as He Prepares to Mount His Immersive, Scathing New Film, In the Wake of Progress
CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC Edward Burtynsky Discusses New Installation: In the Wake of Progress
NOW PLAYING TORONTO Chronicling the Scars of a Ravaged Earth
CBC Q with TOM POWER Edward Burtynsky on Finding His Calling, Plus His Biggest Project Yet In the Wake of Progress
TORONTO STAR Edward Burtynsky’s ‘In the Wake of Progress’ lets visitors get up close to nature’s destruction
Read more of the latest news at edwardburtynsky.com/news
These images are meant as metaphors for the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire, a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption, and our concern for the health of our planet, sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.”
Edward Burtynsky
Dates
June 25 – July 17, 2022
Thursday: 2pm, 2:45pm, 3:30pm, 4:15pm, 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm, 7:15pm, 8pm
Friday: 2pm, 2:45pm, 3:30pm, 4:15pm, 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm, 7:15pm, 8pm, 8:45pm
Saturday: 12noon, 12:45pm, 1:30pm, 2:15pm, 3pm, 3:45pm, 4:30pm, 5:15pm, 6pm, 6:45pm, 7:30pm, 8:15pm, 9pm
Sunday: 12noon, 12:45pm, 1:30pm, 2:15pm, 3pm, 3:45pm, 4:30pm, 5:15pm, 6pm, 6:45pm, 7:30pm, 8:15pm
Location
Accessibility
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Event Supporters
What is climate change? Documenting the climate crisis through landscape photography.



Creative Team
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Edward Burtynsky
Director, Photographer, Filmmaker