THE DEPARTMENT is a place where culture happens!

The four level Toronto storefront is a creative hive dedicated to art, music, and design. It houses an art gallery, five creative studios, and a music rehearsal and recording facility.

It is also the headquarters of THE DEPARTMENT INC., a cultural marketing company; a bridge between corporate and artistic culture.

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August 5-28, Nico Oved:

habit:brasil

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday August 7, 12-4pm

Featuring a Brazilian style BBQ, live samba de roda with Maninho Costa - a samba master from Rio - and caipirinhas mixed to order by Kat and Joe.

There will be wine by Henry of Pelham, and there will be beer by the Amsterdam Brewery.

Nico Oved, a Toronto photographer, spent three years living, working and experiencing the far corners of Brazil. In his upcoming photography exhibition, he mirrors the contradictions of Brazilian society in architectural images. The mundane, domestic and utilitarian constructions of everyday people contrast with images of Brazil's master-planned capital city: Brasília.

This contrast both raises questions about and echoes the economic stratification of Brazil as well as the ongoing struggle to manage the global image of the country. In the international press, alongside their widely successful programs against hunger, AIDS and illiteracy, emerge the familiar stories of gang-controlled favela shantytowns and assault weapon gunfights in the middle of the streets.

In addition to Brasília, Nico exhibits photos from Rio's famous hillside favela shantytowns, São Paulo's Cortiço squats, a nearly inaccessible island fishing town in Bahia and a subsistence farming village in the Amazon.