After
a decade away from its birthplace, the Junos are coming home — back to Toronto.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Juno Awards, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
(CARAS) is hosting different event initiatives in the city, to preview the celebrations expected in Toronto
for the 2011 show.
“I can’t think of a more fitting city to host our 40th-anniversary celebrations,” says Melanie Berry,
president and CEO of CARAS. “It’s vibrant and diverse, culturally as well as musically.”
The Juno Awards had their start in Toronto in 1970, hosting their first awards show at St. Lawrence Hall.
Toronto remained the show’s host city for 19 consecutive years (with the exception of 1988, when there was no
ceremony) before travelling across Canada, with stops including Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon and St.
John’s.
“I’m happy to say that travelling from coast to coast has made me realize and hope that we have created an
awareness that there’s an extraordinary level of musical talent across the country, in major cities such as
Toronto as well as rural communities,” says Berry. It’s the time to come home where it all began in order to
celebrate the 40th anniversary.”
The different initiatives scheduled this year include the release of Music Far and Wide: Celebrating 40 Years
of the JUNO Awards, a coffee-table book with photos and highlights from the previous Juno awards shows. In
Toronto, there are concerts scheduled at Horseshoe Tavern and Roy Thomson Hall along with celebrations of art
at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Canada Blooms garden festival. The Ontario Science Centre is hosting
children’s events, to allow Canadians of all ages to get in on the celebration.
“We want to involve and engage new audiences and so that’s why we’re crossing into all of these different
platforms. We’re hoping to engage new audiences, therefore new fans, and hopefully to give something back,”
she says. “We’re spanning music, fashion, horticulture, art and literature. We’re really casting the net wide
and we want everyone to come out to celebrate and be engaged and proud of the Juno Awards and the Canadian
musicians.”
One of the key events is at the Bata Shoe Museum. From now until next November, the museum is hosting JUNO
Sole: Celebrating 40 Years of the JUNO Awards. The exhibit is showcasing more than 40 pairs of shoes from
past Juno award winners and nominees.
“It’s a very unique, intimate and rare perspective on Canadian music and Juno Awards history. It’s a
different way to look at it because each shoe tells a different story. It’s from artists who have been part
of the Juno Awards along the way, some for specific moments of time and some for a lot more time,” says
Berry. “I hope that what visitors see are snapshots of our musical history. They get a little bit more on the
musicians’ individuality and personality because the shoes are so far-ranging and different… They leave with
kind of a renewed sense of pride of our Canadian musical heritage.”
The diverse mix of shoes being showcased at the museum range from Converse-style sneakers and men’s dress
shoes to high-heeled boots and strappy stilettos.
Sarah Beam-Borg, assistant curator and exhibition manager of the Bata Shoe Museum, says CARAS approached the
museum with the idea.
“They’ve made that great link between music and style. Shoes were a really neat launching point,” she says.
“When they approached us, they said, ‘Put together a wish list of all of the Canadian musicians you can think
of that you would like to be involved in this project.’ We created a wish list that was the length of my
arm.”
With a mix of artists ranging from Paul Anka and Anne Murray to Avril Lavigne and Lights, the exhibit is
showcasing the diversity of Canadian music by crossing different generations. Bringing together music and
fashion, the exhibit is incorporating a listening station with iPads to give visitors a unique look at how
the shoes are connected to each performer. The station features one of each artist’s hit songs.
“For the first time, we’re really incorporating sound with the shoes and the visuals because [for example]
for Kim Mitchell’s sneakers, we’re not looking at them because they’re Converse sneakers and what it says
about someone who would wear them. We’re looking at them with a photograph of Kim Mitchell and listening to a
Kim Mitchell song so the visitors are really going to be immersed into that person’s identity,” explains
Beam-Borg.
There is also a Juno video in the museum’s Star Turns theatre that will feature video highlights from the
past 40 Juno award shows.
Artists ranging from Drake and K’naan to Michael Bublé and Diana Krall have loaned their shoes to the museum
to be featured in the exhibition. Upon the gallery’s completion, artists can choose to have their shoes
returned to them, donate the shoes or auction the shoes off for MusiCounts, CARAS’s initiative to keep music
programs in public schools.
With all of the events leading up to the big show in March, Berry says there’s more to come and to stay
tuned.
“It’s going to be one spectacular show at the Air Canada Centre. Fans can look forward to celebrating the
past, present and the future in our 40th anniversary celebrations,” she says. “Come out and celebrate our
Canadian artists and show your Juno pride.”
With more events continuing to be revealed, the 40th anniversary of the Juno Awards is bound to get music
fans head over heels. •
Photos courtesy Bata Shoe Museum
