Project T-Dot

Entrepreneur, Producer, Recording Artist, Songwriter: Aubrey Drake Graham Professionally Known As Drake, Location: The Sound Academy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2009, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Project T-Dot is a documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture and community, which Ajani Charles began capturing in December of 2006, primarily through black and white photography, and is still in production.

This definitive visual story will shed new light on the city’s hip-hop scene and present a Toronto subculture in a way that exemplifies the cultural richness of the city.

Project T-Dot will intimately document the city’s most renowned hip-hop figures and many lesser-known ones, including members of 2SLGBTQIA+ and Indigenous communities, women and youth from equity-deserving neighbourhoods, and newcomers.

The tightly-knit nature of Toronto’s hip-hop community will be shown through the relationship between the subject of one image and the next, be it one of influence, mentorship, or collaboration. Essentially, Project T-Dot will capture the ecosystem and history of Toronto hip-hop, in which each member depends on others, visually and otherwise.

This documentary will record significant moments in the lives of the people who have created Toronto hip-hop, including musicians, dancers, writers, visual artists, educators, and entrepreneurs who successfully balance their art with day-to-day routines, which often include full-time jobs, education, and community activities. It will also tell the story of Toronto hip-hop between the late 1970s and 2024.

While other works have documented this city’s urban arts, they have not intimately and comprehensively profiled the individuals responsible for the creation and dynamism of Toronto hip-hop.

Project T-Dot will fill this gap, visually and otherwise; the stories of these fascinating and inspiring people need to be told with a verve and flourish equal to their talent, determination, and resilience as a record of their enriching contributions to the cultures of Toronto and Canada, and in a way that is compelling and beautiful, regardless of whether or not the viewer loves hip-hop.

The core of Project T-Dot is black and white photography, and the artist chose black and white for Project T-Dot because he finds colours can sometimes steal focus from human subjects.

He also believes that black and white imagery has a nostalgic quality that conveys a poignant rawness that reflects the community’s hunger for international recognition.

Featured through The Toronto Star, Toronto Life, SiriusXM Canada, Breakfast Television, ETalk, Complex, Flavorwire, Arts Help and elsewhere, the project will culminate in the publication of a coffee table book, the production of a Project T-Dot video documentary, the production of a Project T-Dot digital platform, various Project-T Dot art exhibits, Project T-Dot panels, and a non-profit organization that teaches youth from Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods how to turn their hip-hop art forms into sustainable non-profits and businesses.

Most aspects of the project are scheduled for a late 2024 release date.

Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall And Nathan Phillips Square

Through funding via ArtworxTO, the City of Toronto’s public artwork division, Ajani Charles’ solo Project T-Dot photography exhibit was installed outdoors at Toronto’s City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

The exhibit was available to the general public for free, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. It included 39 large-scale perforated vinyl prints directly on Toronto’s City Hall’s windows and two large-scale banners, one installed on City Hall and the other on the southwest entrance to Nathan Phillips Square.

Manifesto Community Projects and Canon Canada also sponsored the project.

It was part of ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021–2022, a year-long celebration of Toronto’s exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.

Originally scheduled to be uninstalled on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, the exhibit was extended until Tuesday, September 6, 2022, after a majority vote by Toronto City councillors and due to the project’s unprecedented success.

According to Joe Sellors, Project Lead, ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022, Ajani’s exhibit at City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, the number of physical impressions associated with the show was in the millions, and countless Toronto residents and tourists visited and saw the exhibit.

The exhibit introduced Torontonians and many others to Project T-Dot and Toronto’s hip-hop community, culture, and history.

In addition to being featured through Canada’s most notable news platforms on behalf of the exhibit, Ajani was featured through a keynote presentation at Artscape Daniels Launchpad on Project T-Dot and the exhibit at Toronto’s City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square as part of the sixteenth annual Manifesto Festival.

It was and still is the largest art exhibit on hip-hop culture in Canadian history and the first art exhibit to occupy two floors of the exterior of Toronto’s City Hall.

A Promotional Video For Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall, Art Exhibit: Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall And Nathan Phillips Square, Production Company: The Ark Media Group, Executive Producer: Ajani Charles, Producer: Ajani Charles, Cinematographer: Justin Bailey, Camera Operator: Janae-Kelly Clarke, Unit Still Photographer: Jade Brown, Editor: Janae Kelly-Clarke, Sound Design: The Post Office, Production Assistant: Cat Mansouri, Executive Assistant: Carla Lopez, Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2022, Talent: Ajani Charles

A Guided Tour of Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall And Nathan Phillips Square Featuring Toronto’s Mayor John Tory, Art Exhibit: Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall And Nathan Phillips Square, Production Company: The Ark Media Group, Executive Producer: Ajani Charles, Producer: Ajani Charles, Cinematographer: Justin Bailey, Editor: Justin Bailey, Executive Assistant: Danica Villanueva, Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2022, Talent: Ajani Charles

Project T-Dot At Toronto’s City Hall And Nathan Phillips Square

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