About the project
About SUGAR
SUGAR is a curatorial project presenting exhibitions, events, publications, and digital works. It was created in partnership by co-directors and curators Ala Roushan and Xenia Benivolski, with generous support from Daniels Waterfront Corporation.
Mission
A curatorial project and its leadership
SUGAR presents exhibitions, events, publications, and digital works as a single curatorial programme. The project research unfolded between 2018 and 2022.
Ala Roushan & Xenia Benivolski
SUGAR is a partnership between co-directors and curators Ala Roushan and Xenia Benivolski.
Daniels Waterfront Corporation
The project received generous support from Daniels Waterfront Corporation.
Physical context
The waterfront site near Toronto’s historic Sugar Refinery
The conceptual framework for the project was provided by the waterfront site near Toronto’s historic Sugar Refinery, at 5 Lower Jarvis St. — ground floor North-West corner at Jarvis at Queens Quay.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | 5 Lower Jarvis St., Toronto — ground floor North-West corner at Jarvis at Queens Quay |
| Context | Waterfront site near Toronto’s historic Sugar Refinery |
| Opening hours | Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00am–6:00pm |
| Research period | 2018–2022 |
The project was co-directed by Ala Roushan and Xenia Benivolski with support from Daniels Waterfront Corporation.
SUGAR Contemporary is a curatorial project based in Toronto that brings together exhibitions, events, publications, and digital works within a single ongoing programme. Rather than operating as a conventional gallery with a fixed roster of artists, the project is structured as a framework for research, collaboration, and public-facing exchange. Its gallery space occupies the ground floor at the north-west corner of Queens Quay, inside a historic former refinery building, giving physical form to an idea that is otherwise largely conceptual and site-responsive.
The project was created in partnership by co-directors and curators Ala Roushan and Xenia Benivolski, with generous support from Daniels Waterfront Corporation. This institutional and civic backing shapes the conditions in which the programme operates: a working waterfront location, an industrial architectural setting, and a remit that connects curatorial ambition to the surrounding neighbourhood and its industrial history. The partnership model reflects a shared understanding of curation as a collaborative, multi-year endeavour.
The research underlying SUGAR unfolded between 2018 and 2022, a span of sustained inquiry that informs the exhibitions, events, publications, and digital works presented since. The emphasis falls on process rather than production, on the shaping of ideas over time and the way exhibitions can hold a body of thought together. Visitors encounter the results as a sequence of distinct but related interventions, each anchored to the building and to the questions raised during the research period.
The programme extends beyond the gallery interior into publishing and online formats, treating writing and digital works as parallel curatorial instruments rather than secondary documentation. Exhibitions are accompanied by events that open up the working process, and publications preserve research in a durable, distributable form. This layered approach allows the project to address audiences who may never visit the physical space at the north-west corner of Queens Quay.
Located in a historic refinery structure on the Toronto waterfront, the gallery's identity is inseparable from its architecture and its city. The dark, industrial character of the setting provides a deliberate backdrop for contemporary practice, and the curatorial framing draws attention to how ideas unfold across time, place, and medium. Upcoming and past projects can be explored through the site's project listings, while information about visiting hours is available for those planning to attend exhibitions or events in person.