This week Ryerson is playing host to its very own hip-hop music festival. Ryerson’s Urban Hip Hop Union presents L.I.V.E (Live to Inspire Via Education), a free event that highlights a number of facets of hip hop culture, and their relevancy to people today.
Kicking off the week-long celebration was a live art mural on Gould Street. With the idea being that the mural would be crafted before our eyes, I kept checking back at different times during the day to see the art evolve and eventually take shape.
It kind of puts a perspective on things; because Toronto’s a large urban center, it’s not uncommon to see graffiti on any surface that can bear it. However, expect for a few places in the city where murals are commissioned, there’s very few places where amateur artists can perform legally. The City of Toronto does do something called the Graffiti Transformation Program, but this is geared towards unemployed youth; they remove tags, and replace it with murals. While it’s definitely a great program, something doesn’t sit with me there – shouldn’t art be about expression?
Anyways, L.I.V.E continues this week with events every day. They’re free to get into, but you must register beforehand. You can find a complete events listing on their Facebook page.
