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Institut

Name: Institut
Address: 620 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5S2H4, CA
Telephone: +16475265675

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Institut

MUS | CIN | LIT | ART
Underground speakeasy at .toronto
620 Spadina Ave

08/11/2026

Our live score summer series concludes this Thursday with a retelling of Snow White like you’ve never seen or heard before.

A silent Snow White, paired with a live voice. Tamar Ilana will perform an original live score with sephardic song, flamenco, Indigenous motifs, and vocal looping accompanying Pablo Berger’s dark Andalusian fairytale, “Blancanieves.”

Witness this visual masterpiece come to life with a fully improvised, original live score (AKA a once in a lifetime experience).

August 13 @ 7PM — late
PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot
🔗 you know where

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door.

08/10/2026

◼️BLACKOUT ANNIVERSARY PARTY is back◼️
▪️This Friday.
▪️August 14.
▪️Trinity Bellwoods - South end.
▪️6pm - picnic
▪️8pm- bike rave
▪️9pm - parade
▪️Bring supplies for the after-party.

With:
Lemon Bucket Orkestra
Little Rambunctious
Samba Elégua
Maracatu Mar Aberto
Rudy Ray Kwaku
Figuration
Just Prince
“ZAHRAVA” UKRAINIAN DRAMA THEATRE TORONTO
Serhii Titov ©
Tamar Ilana
Bike Rave
Michael Louis Johnson
And more…

Come on a magical journey and celebrate Toronto the GOOD ⭐️

Poster by Drom Artist Collective

08/09/2026

INSTITUT 015 was a night for curious minds moving between music production, composition, cinema, and history.

Down in our cozy underground speakeasy, we spent the night learning how music gets made, how films can get reimagined, and how art can open up conversations.

LeWolf kicked things off with Afro-Beat in Ableton, where he opened up his production process and broke down three tracks from his recent Los Angeles sessions.

Then, we witnessed Korean cinema + a 21-string guzheng. David Sait & David Story performed a live score to “A Day Off” (Lee Man-hee, 1968).

Finally, Brigadier ShazBad took us into “The Battle of Algiers” with an all-vinyl mix of roots, dub, ska, and global underground sounds.

A little cinema, a little music history, a lot of new things to discover.

See you next Thursday for more music, film, and new connections.

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate

📸 Taija Grey

08/07/2026

On August 13, Nastasia Y (Настя Єрофеєва) brings Slavic soul inspired by the sounds of Toronto and Kyiv to the basement.

Nastasia Y braids ancient folk songs with modern grooves to create a sound uniquely her own. But if you need a genre, try Ukrainian soul. Her artistry is shaped just as much by growing up in Kyiv, raised on her late father’s freedom songs, as by jazz school days in Toronto.

Her music is fresh yet nostalgic - entangled in the complex emotions of war and love, heartbreak and hope.

Don’t miss this inspiring show at INSTITUT 016 on August 13.

August 13 @ 9 PM — late (or come early for a full evening of programming!)
PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot
🔗 you know where

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate

08/06/2026

We’ve felt honoured to present a special series of Ukrainian cinema all summer long, featuring the banned arthouse films of influential Ukrainian filmmaker Yuri Illienko. Curated by his son, Pylyp Ilienko.

So far, we’ve screened Illienko’s monumental works “Well for the Thirsty” (1965), “Eve on Ivan Kupala” (1968), and “White Bird with a Black Mark” (1971). Attentive audiences have taken deep dives into these important films through candid Q&A’s, open discussions, and personal anecdotes from Pylyp Illienko.

This four part series concludes on August 20 at INSTITUT Vol. 017 with a screening of “Legend of Princess Olha” (1983). We hope to see you there one more time.

August 20 @ 7 PM (PS come early for dramatic readings of contemporary Ukrainian plays, starting at 5 PM!)
PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot
🔗 you know where

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door.

08/03/2026

Classic cinema reimagined through live music in a Toronto underground speakeasy. You still have a few more chances to see our live score series this summer, including a live score double header this Thursday!

August 6: DAVID SAIT x A Day Off (Lee Man-hee, 1968)
August 6: DJ BRIGADIER SHAZBAD x Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1967)
August 13: TAMAR ILANA x Blancanieves (Pablo Berger, 2012)

PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot.
Learn more – 🔗 you know where

620 Spadina – around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door.

08/02/2026

You never know what new experiences and stories you’ll have to tell after a night at INSTITUT.

Last Thursday took us from village dances to desert landscapes, from the streets of Lilongwe to the Carpathian Mountains, all without leaving the room.

Kryva Kosa Band welcomed us into another open acoustic rehearsal where curious musicians learned new tunes, and dancers warmed up the floor before Madalitso Band took the stage for a surprise set.

From the streets of Lilongwe to a special one night stop in Toronto, Madalitso Band filled the space with infectious Malawian rhythms played on handmade instruments.

We continued our journey with a screening of “White Bird with a Black Mark” (Yuri Illienko, 1971), the third film in our Banned Ukrainian Poetic Cinema series, before Tarek Funk transformed “Lawrence of Arabia” (David Lean, 1962) with a hypnotic live score layered with looping woodwinds.

To close the night, Eugene Paul kept the energy flowing with deep minimal house grooves that carried us well into the night.

Thank you to everyone who danced, listened, watched, and made another Thursday at INSTITUT feel like nowhere else in the city.

See you next week at 620 Spadina (around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door).

📸 Taija Grey & Cassandra Popescu Photography

07/29/2026

Make beats. Watch revolutionary cinema. Hear a Korean classic reimagined on guzheng. Groove to vintage vinyl from around the world.

INSTITUT 015 brings together artists reshaping sound across continents and generations.

The evening begins with “AFRO-BEAT in Ableton,” where Congolese-Canadian producer LeWolf breaks down three tracks from his recent Los Angeles sessions, offering a behind-the-scenes look at his production process.

Next we have a live score double fetaure. David Sait & David Story perform an original live score to “A Day Off” (Lee Man-hee, 1968), bringing the 21-string guzheng into conversation with a landmark of Korean cinema once banned by government censors.

Then, Brigadier ShazBad soundtracks “The Battle of Algiers” (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1967) with an all-vinyl dub set, pairing roots, dub, ska, and global underground sounds with political cinema.

LeWolf will close out the night with Afro-house selections on vintage vinyl, drawing on grooves from across the world.

August 6 @ 5 PM - late
PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot
🔗 you know where

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door.

07/27/2026

‼️ JUST ANNOUNCED ‼️

Madalitso Band lands in the INSTITUT basement this THURSDAY July 23. From the streets of Lilongwe: hypnotic Malawian grooves on handmade instruments, in Toronto for one night only.

Believe us when we say this will be a night to remember! Don’t miss a rare chance to catch the Malawian duo between international festival stages.

July 23 @ 6 PM
PWYC // RSVP to secure your spot.
🔗 you know where

620 Spadina — around the back, through the lot, past the steel doors, down the stairs, through the wood laminate door.

07/26/2026

Things got LOUD at INSTITUT 013 last Thursday.

Presented by our friends at Wavelength Music, we tore through the past, present, and future of punk with stories spanning Reykjavík to Toronto, a preview of Last Farm in Reykjavik, and a screening of the 1984 Toronto punk documentary “Not Dead Yet.”

Then the amps took over.

cute plunged the basement into darkness for a cathartic hardcore set lit only by industrial headlights. Faiyaz and the Wasted Chances kept the momentum going with a blistering punk set that shook the room.

All night long, artist-in-residence LunAzul X Lab ~by Ivanna channelled the noise into live paintings.

Basha Vee closed things out with an all-vinyl trip through decades of underground dance floors.

Thanks to everyone who came out, screamed a little, and proved punk is very much “not dead yet.”

Join us every Thursday all summer long with new artists, new films, new music, and new reasons to leave your house.

See you again soon!

📸 Cassandra Popescu Photography

Address

620 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON
M5S2H4

Opening Hours

5pm - 2am

Telephone

+16475265675

Website

facebook.com

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