The Bata Shoe Museum is the culmination of Sonja Bata's lifelong passion for footwear. Starting in the 1940s, Mrs. Bata, wife of Thomas J. Bata of the Bata Shoe Company, began collecting shoes from around the world, fascinated by their cultural significance and design. What started as a personal interest grew into an extensive and diverse collection, far too large to remain in private hands. By the 1970s, the collection was being displayed in various temporary exhibitions. Recognizing the historical and anthropological value of the footwear, the Bata family established the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation in 1979. This led to the commissioning of a dedicated building designed by Raymond Moriyama, which officially opened its distinctive shoebox-shaped doors to the public in 1995, transforming a private obsession into a world-class public institution.
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Landmark space · Bata Shoe Museum
Bata Shoe Museum
A unique institution dedicated to the history of footwear, the Bata Shoe Museum houses an extraordinary collection spanning 4,500 years of history.
Toronto, ON 517
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