Dr. Kenneth Montague is a Toronto-based art collector and the founding director of Wedge Curatorial Projects, a nonprofit arts organization.

Since 1997, Montague has been promoting both emerging and established artists via exhibitions, lectures and workshops. His focus is contemporary African and Diasporic art, which he also showcases in his privately owned Wedge Collection. Montague has served on the African Art Acquisition Committee at Tate Modern as well as the Photography Curatorial Committee at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

He is currently an AGO trustee and an advisor to their Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora. He is also a trustee of the Aperture Foundation, and a past juror for the Scotiabank Photography Award, Canada’s largest photography prize. Montague is a frequent panelist at international art symposiums, including the Bamako Encounters/Biennial of Contemporary African Photography and Black Visualities, Lisbon. He has also been invited to lecture on contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, among other institutions.

His curatorial projects include Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection and Position As Desired: Exploring African Canadian Identity. In 2021, the Aperture Foundation published the award-winning photobook As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, a celebration of works from his Wedge Collection. An associated exhibition is currently touring internationally and As We Rise: Sounds from the Black Atlantic, a related vinyl record compilation was recently released.

For his efforts in supporting the arts and his mentoring of emerging creatives, Montague received an honorary doctorate from OCAD University, Toronto (2016).

Photo credit: Justin Aranha