The Bar Stool
Jan 20
Jan 29 2023
window installation in-person

“In this project, I will be displaying a horizontal scroll of straw paper covering the window of Northern Belle bar on Dundas Street West.

On this scroll of paper, I will be illustrating a story about the bar stool, which I have designed to engage pedestrians as they walk along Dundas Street.

The story I will be illustrating is about the life of a bar stool.

Most bars don’t buy their bar stools brand new. They inherit them from other bars, closed businesses, or even abandoned restaurants.

Sometimes, people find them in alleyways, sometimes people lend them to one another and put them in their own homes.

‘The Bar Stool’ could be on a journey in our city for years, constantly changing and trying to find the best place to settle.

I, as an immigrant of 11 years in this city, an artist and a bartender, find a truth of my own life in the story.

As is the case with immigrants, ‘The Bar Stool’ is about the journey. It goes from a house to the cold sidewalks, to a warm cozy bar and maybe back in the streets… Hopeful to find another home again. ‘The Bar Stool’ is repurposed, refurbished, sometimes repainted, but always moving forward.”

– Salva Modarres


DesignTO in the Trinity Bellwoods BIA

‘The Bar Stool’ is one of 10 projects in the Trinity Bellwoods BIA, a vibrant neighbourhood running along Dundas Street West between Bathurst Street and Trinity Bellwoods Park. During the DesignTO Festival, you are are invited to walk Dundas Street West as a gallery, exploring the neighbourhood and seeing work from artists and designers in businesses’ storefronts and windows.

On Sunday, January 29, join DesignTO for ‘The Lifecycle of Objects‘ featuring Angela Cho, Hilary Arellano and Marcelline Siu at the Trinity Community Recreation Centre.

Participants

Salva Modarres

Accessibility

Who should visitors contact with questions regarding accessibility?
Salva Modarres
Can people get to the venue using accessible transit?
Yes