In theatres this month, the movie Anonymous explores the idea that the Shakespeare we know and love is, in fact, a fraud. Diehard Shakespeare fans beware: this movie turns the traditional notion of William Shakespeare on its head, but it’s not quite the slander of the author than you might be inclined to think The [...]
Early this fall the Exchange District BIZ (Business Improvement Zone) launched a new program, Pop-up Art, turning unoccupied store fronts into temporary art galleries. The project got off the ground during Culture Days — a cross-country culture festival that took place the last weekend of September. The Winnipeg Pop-up initiative was inspired by the Pop-up [...]
Having owned a black cat for years, walked under my fair share of ladders and knocked on wood more times that I can count I am very much aware of how ingrained certain superstitions are in our culture. The funny thing is that most of the time the why of these superstitions has been forgotten. [...]
Tis the season for tales of terror! But I have to admit that scary movies just don’t do it for me. Long before corn syrup was used as an on-screen substitute for fake blood, books have scared the pants (or petticoats) off their readers. What to read if you’re not a Stephen King fan? Here are [...]
Dead Air, the most recent exhibit by Steve Bates, is a mind-bending contemplation on the various aspects of time. Considering not only the officially calculated time signal from various countries but also how our internal body clocks keep track of time, Bates has engineered a thought-provoking exhibit. The exhibit provides a single headset for a [...]
This summer a friend of mine came out of the broom closet. That is to say, she announced to the world that she was Wiccan. Wicca, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is an Earth-based religion, considered pagan because of the variety of gods and goddesses that can be worshipped within it. Many [...]
In Guatemala’s north lies the greatest treasure of one of the most magnificent cultures of all time. Tikal National Park is a collection of awe-inspiring pyramids built by the Mayans and preserved with modern technologies. It was an early April morning when I arrived by bus at the entrance of the park. Nestled in the [...]
I have been to the Winnipeg Art Gallery only three times in my life before Saturday night. I can say with absolute confidence that Nuit Blanche at the WAG was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Portraits-landscape-faces-photos-carvings-acrylic-oil all swirled around me and have now blurred together in a breathless mass of memories. Lionel LeMoine [...]
On Sept. 17, I had the pleasure of attending the opening cabaret for FemFest. FemFest is an annual, weeklong Winnipeg festival that showcases women in art, organized by the theatre company Saravati Productions and held in the Canwest Centre for Theatre and Film. The cabaret aims to give a teasing glimpse of the assortment of [...]
every winter, i hear a lot of grumbling about how Christmas has been commercialized. “Gifts should be from the heart,” people say. “Not big box stores with giant price tags.” I completely agree. Strangely, once Christmas is over the grumbling stops, even though by modern convention we’re obliged to give gifts at birthdays, anniversaries, other [...]