Gilberto Fernandes

  • City Builders received Lieutenant Governor of Ontario’s Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation

    The City Builders project was one of this year’s recipients of the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation. The awards ceremony was held at the Provincial Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, on Friday, February 22, presided by the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Thank you Ontario Heritage Trust for this wonderful…

  • Canadian Immigration History Syllabus – ActiveHistory.ca

    Thanks to Daniel Ross and Laura Madokoro for taking the initiative, and for inviting me to co-author a Canadian Immigration syllabus with some of the leading migration historians in Canada. The purpose of this open syllabus is to assist educators and students interested in disseminating information and knowledge “that can shed light on lies, falsehoods…

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  • City Builders featured in RTPi’s “Hora dos Portugueses”

    My City Builders project was featured in an episode of the show “Hora dos Portugueses” on Portugal’s international public TV broadcaster RTPi. You can watch it here (starting at 9’15”). O meu projeto City Builders foi foco de uma reportagem no programa “Hora dos Portugueses” na RTPi. Pode ver o episódio aqui (início ao minuto 9’15”).  

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  • City Builders now live

    On September 28, 2018, at York University, I launched the various outputs of my City Builders’ project, including a travelling multimedia exhibition with 80 QR code-activated digital labels; a website packed with digital content, including interactive maps, timelines, videos, audio recordings, photos, and biographies; an oral history series with 19 short videos about retired construction workers…

  • Roundtable at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre, July 21

    On July 21, starting at 2 p.m., at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre, I will be participating in a roundtable discussion about the history and contemporary lives of Portuguese working people in Canada, and how they intersect with contemporary art practices. Our conversation will be prompted by Teresa Ascenção‘s exhibition “Daily Bread,” currently on display…

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  • TV interview about the Carnations Revolution’s impact on Portuguese-Canadians

    The Toronto-based, Portuguese-language TV channel Correio da Manhã TV – Canadá interviewed me recently about the impact of the Carnations Revolution on the Portuguese in Canada. You can watch it below:

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  • My new research/ public history project: City Builders: An Oral History of Immigrant Construction Workers in Postwar Toronto

    Last September, I started a new research and public history project called City Builders: An Oral History of Immigrant Construction Workers in Postwar Toronto, associated with York University’s Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and the Laborers International Union of North America Local 183. This project will record, examine, and divulge the history of Toronto’s immigrant construction workers…

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  • Toronto the Bad: A Riots Map and Timeline

    There has been over eighty riots throughout the history of Toronto, some of them quite large. This seemingly high number contradicts the idea of a peaceful and even dull “Toronto the Good,” and of Canada as a land of peace, order, and good governance, where differences have been negotiated through compromise, unlike our southern neighbours.…

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