Lights, camera, action!

What is there to do during a long winter in Toronto? We’ve found three different answers to that question this week, first with a trip to the Toronto Light Festival in the Distillery District. One of Canada’s National Historic Sites, the Distillery District (formerly the Gooderham and Worts Distillery) is North America’s largest collection of Victorian-era industrial buildings, and now houses a variety of boutique bistros and shops. In this charming location, local and international artists have designed striking works of light art – from an illuminated sign of peace decorated with religious and cultural symbols, to a structure that glows in response to piano music. The Festival’s organisers are aiming to “lift the collective spirit of the City”, drawing residents “out of their traditional indoor habitats to experience Toronto in a way they never have before”. And it seems to be working, judging by the small crowd that gathered after heavy snowfall on a bitterly cold Wednesday evening – though there is a limit to the warming power of art, and it wasn’t long before we retreated into Balzac’s café for a hot chocolate!

Later in the week, we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum – Canada’s largest – for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The competition was born in London’s Natural History Museum in 1964, and this year particularly highlights animals at risk of extinction: the winning image is a harrowing portrayal of a black rhino bull from South Africa’s Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, a victim of the illegal trade in rhino horn. 100 extraordinary photographs of creatures and their environments are shown on lightboxes with wonderfully helpful descriptions detailing the subject, its location, the camera, and even the type of tripod. As an exhibition, it’s perfectly suited to the ROM, which houses dinosaur skeletons, whales and an artificial ‘bat cave’ alongside totem poles, classical artefacts and African art; the Museum’s passion for biodiversity is infectious and inspiring. With its long-standing reputation for entomology, the ROM curators have highlighted a stunning picture of Monarch butterflies – amid thousands, one opens its wings – as a poignant inspiration for each of us to help protect our planet.

Finally, we’ve been cheering on our adopted country as athletes compete in PyeongChang – where it is apparently even colder than in Toronto. Canadians have more opportunities for skiing and skating than those of us accustomed to hospitable climates, so they’re unsurprisingly enthusiastic about the Winter Olympics and hoping for significant medal success. CBC’s coverage lacks the gentle banter and helpful explanations provided by the BBC (since Canadians leave the womb already familiar with the rules of curling), but we’ve enjoyed seeing sports in which the UK doesn’t compete (who knew team dance skating was a thing?) and learning about Canadian Olympic superstars. The most memorable story belongs to snowboarder Mark McMorris, who suffered a near-fatal accident less than a year ago and has just won a bronze medal. Although the games aren’t inspiring the whole country – the bars near us are still showing local hockey rather than Olympic skiing – it’s been interesting to watch national companies such as Air Canada and the Royal Bank associate their Olympic advertising with a Canadian sense of identity. From what we’ve seen so far, this identity is based on inclusion, aspiration, and a cheerful resilience as the snow continues to fall.