DALILAND INSTALLATION
For the love of film, the St. Regis Toronto gets ‘surreal’ for TIFF
TIFF’s official closing gala film, Daliland, directed by Canadian master auteur, Mary Harron (American Psycho) and starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dali, is centred around Dali’s intimate connection to the St. Regis brand.
Partnering with TIFF’s official closing gala film, the St Regis hotel plays host to an experiential Daliland set exhibit showcasing the St. Regis’ role at the heart of the film. The immersive activation will see the hotel lobby transformed with a replica of the St. Regis suite used in the film, famously home to iconic surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí who lived there each winter for over 40 years at The St. Regis New York.
It is this storyline that reportedly informs every aspect of TIFF activity at The St. Regis Toronto where a production team have built a replica of the St. Regis suite used by Dalí as his New York studio in the lobby level. The Production Designer of Daliland, Isona Rigau, shared elements and materials from the film for Toronto-based producer Sidney Leeder, art director Steven Bennett and artist/designer Matthew Tierney to transport guests into Daliland circa 1974.
The pop-up also harnesses the incredible technology DALL·E, the leading AI system from OpenAI that generates original art from a text description, to allow guests to create unique and personal works of art inspired by the film. The intention of the space is to establish a relationship among guests, Salvador Dali himself, and cutting-edge AI technology to build an exciting and thought-provoking experience that sparks creation, ideation, and conversation on the nature of Surrealism in 2022.