Ongoing cultural & community events in Toronto: Jan 15 – 28

Exhibits, theatre & stage, and community events


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CULTURAL &
COMMUNITY EVENTS

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Reliquary
Influenced by classical narrative sculpture and Japanese Ukyo-e prints, Windsor, Ontario artist Victor Romão creates hybrid self-portraits and reliquary objects that tell the story of the artist’s own history as a male observer of and participant in violent events. Noon-5pm. Tue-Sat. Till Sun, Jan 31. Open Studio. 401 Richmond St W, #104. 504-8238.

Julie Beugin & Gretchen Sankey
The two artists both have solo shows at Paul Petro Contemporary Art. 11-5pm. Wed-Sat. Till Sat, Feb 7. Paul Petro Contemporary Art. 980 Queen St W. 979-7874. Paulpetro.com.

If We Can’t Get It Together
The Power Plant’s winter season includes this group show premised on community, with work by Luis Jacob, Emily Roysdon and Kajsa Dahlberg. Stockholm-based artists Goldin and Senneby present Headless, their North American debut solo exhibition. Local video hero couple Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby’s new installation Beauty Plus Pity involves stories, cartoons, scavenged video footage, taxidermied animals and other sculptural elements. $3-$5; free Wednesdays. Noon-6pm. Tue-Sun. Till Sun, Feb 22. Power Plant Gallery. 231 Queens Quay W. 973-4949. Thepowerplant.org.

Wish You Were Here
Gallerist Katharine Mulherin offered artists blank postcards and requested they make an original postcard for her. She amassed more than 50, plus other postcards the artists had already created. Participants include Germain Koh, Patrick DeCoste, Sholem Krishtalka, Kris Knight, Sophia Lin, Luis Jacob, Michael D’Amico, Darren O’Donnell, Matt James and many more. The cards now hang on the third and fourth floors of the Gladstone Hotel. Till Sun, Mar 29. 1214 Queen St W. 531-4635.

The First Abstraction
Using black velvet painted with extract that removes the ground colour and transforms it to gold, Kate Brown refutes the void. Brown’s multimedia installation compares abstraction to the disembodied state experienced during the trauma of incest. Opening. 2pm-5pm. Sat, Jan 17. 11am-5pm. Tue-Fri. Noon-5pm. Sat. Till Feb 21. WARC Gallery. 401 Richmond St W, #122. Warc.net.

FILM & VIDEO

Nelson Henricks

The Toronto premiere of Map of the City by the Montreal-based gay artist. Inspired by Roman chapels and cathedrals that are three-dimensional representations of biblical texts, Henricks builds a vision of the urban environment constructed from exuberantly colourful still images interspersed with text. Opening. 5pm-8pm. Fri, Jan 16. Artist talk. 2pm. Jan 17. Till Feb 14. Trinity Square Video. 401 Richmond St W, # 376. 593-1332. Trinitysquarevideo.com.

 


Better than Chocolate

The Older LGBTTQ Resource Centre screens Anne Wheeler’s 1999 lezzie romantic comedy. Free. 3pm. Mon, Jan 19. The 519 Community Centre. 519 Church St. 392·6874.

ISSUES & HEALTH

Older LGBTTQ resources
The 519 hosts weekly Monday Older LGBTTQ Resource Centre workshops throughout January for older queers, on subjects such as isolation, longterm health care, homeopathy. Light refreshments available at meetings. Free. 3pm. Mon, Jan 5-19. 1pm. Mon, Jan 26. The 519 Community Centre. 519 Church St. 355-6787. The519.org.

Luminous Bodies at Nightfall
In conjunction with the Oakville Galleries’ Colin Campbell retrospective (see Out of Town, below) this symposium on the performance of gender in art features presenters, performances and Q&A with the audience. With Thomas Waugh, Marc Siegel, Martha Gever and curator Jon Davies. Cocktail party to follow with speical guests. 1pm-6pm. Sun, Jan 18. Gladstone Hotel Ballroom. 1214 Queen St W. Oakvillegalleries.com.

SIDA
Le Projet Action Positive invites French-speaking men with HIV to dinner to hear about and give feedback on FrancoQueer’s study around providing AIDS services and support in French. Thu, Jan 22. To RSVP and more info contact Carlos Idibouo at carlos@francoqueer.ca or 340-8484 ext 260.

We Ourselves & Us
The Power Plant presents a symposium of artists, philosophers and curators examining current and new ideas around community and collectivity. Fri, Jan 23 & 24. Weourselvesand-us.org. The keynote speaker is Simon Critchley, the chair of philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York. 7pm-9pm. Jan 23. Queer Toronto artist Luis Jacob is part of the symposium. $35 ($25 members) for full program. $10/$8 for keynote only. 973-4000. Harbourfrontcentre.com.

Seniors & homeopathy
The Older LGBTTQ Resource Centre hosts Rebecca Gower discussing homeopathic medicine. Free. 1pm. Mon, Jan 26. The 519 Community Centre. 519 Church St. 392·6874.

LEISURE & PLEASURE

Salsa classes
Queer-friendly salsa classes started Jan 7. Level 1. 4pm. Level 2. 2pm. Level 3. 3pm. Hip hop. 5pm. Sundays. $40 for students; $70 for nonstudents. International Student Centre. 33 St George St. lgbtdance.club@utoronto.ca.


Shabbat dinner

UofT’s queer Jewish social group Kulanu Toronto hosts a kosher, veggie-friendly dinner. $10 students; $20 nonstudents ($5 extra at the door for latecomers). 7pm-10pm. Fri, Jan 16. Wolfond Centre. 36 Harbord St, 2nd floor. Kulanutoronto.ca.

So You Want to be Kinky

Goodhandy’s next sex workups include Morpheous on basic rope bondage and Slavecub Dan on pervertables. $10. 2pm-4pm. Sun, Jan 18. Goodhandy’s. 120 Church St. 760-6556.

Swing Dance Lessons
Swingin’ Out presents queer swing dancing for absolute beginners. No partner necessary. $5. 8:45pm. Thu, Jan 22. Saint Luke’s United Church. Sherbourne at Carleton St. 925-XTRA ext 2068. Swinginout.ca.

MUSIC

Casey vs Jon
Celebrating one year of battling it out, queer alt-rockers Casey vs Jon crank up the voltage at the Reverb. $10. 7pm doors. Thu, Jan 22. 651 Queen St W. 504-0744.

OUT OF TOWN

Landscapes
New video projections by Toronto-based video artist Richard Fung continue at the McMaster Museum of Art. PWYC. 11am-5pm. Tue, Wed & Fri. 11am-7pm. Thu. Noon-5pm. Sat. Till Sat, Jan 17. McMaster Museum of Art. 1280 Main St W. Hamilton. (905) 525-9140 ext 23081. Mcmaster.ca/museum.

Colin Campbell/Gareth Long
Oakville Galleries opens two shows. People Like Us: The Gossip of Colin Campbell is the first posthumous retrospective of the grande doyenne of Toronto video art, curated by Xtra writer Jon Davies, mounted in the Centennial Square gallery. Second, Third, Fourth, a collection of Gareth Long’s videos opens in the Gairloch Gardens gallery. Opening: Free. 7:30pm-8:30pm. Fri, Dec 5. Centennial Square. 120 Navy St. Followed by reception. 8:30pm-10pm. Gairloch Gardens. 1306 Lakeshore Rd E. Oakville. Till Sun, Feb 22. $1-$2. Tue-Sun. (905) 844-4402. Oakvillegalleries.com.

PRINT & READINGS

Lisa Foad
This is Not a Reading Series presents the launch of regular Xtra contributor Lisa Foad’s new story collection The Night is a Mouth from Exile Editions. In conversation with Mariko Tamaki, plus a live set by Lullabye Arkestra. Free. 7:30pm. Mon, Jan 19. Gladstone Hotel Ballroom. 1214 Queen St W. 531-4635.

STAGE

Plan B: The Baby After Show
Following the Fri, Jan 16 production of Diane Flacks’ Bear with Me (see review on page 24) Dawn Whitwell curates and hosts a comedy cabaret featuring Elvira Kurt, Teresa Pavlinek, Shoshana Sperling, Kathleen Phillips and Katie Crown. Free with Bear with Me admission. 9:30pm. Berkley Street Theatre, upstairs. 26 Berkeley St. 368-3110.

Sharron’s Surprise Party
Cabaret queen Sharron Matthew hosts a night with Thom Allison and Andrew Broderick. $20. 8pm. Mon, Jan 19. Tallulah’s Cabaret. 12 Alexander St. 975-8555.

End of an Error

Standup comedy with Elvira Kurt, Alan Park, Andrew Evans, John Ki, Martin O’Brian, Michelle Shaughnessy and Derek Fogie. $8. 8pm. Tue, Jan 20. Comedy Bar. 945 Bloor St W. (647) 898-5324

Jerry Springer: The Musical
Reality TV turned blockbuster musical. Theatre critic Richard Ouzounian directs the Hart House Theatre production of Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s London, UK hit. With a mix of theatre professionals and students, the production stars Byron Rouse. $25; $15 students. 8pm. Wed-Sat. Fri, Jan 16-31. Midnight. Sat, Jan 24. Hart House Theatre. 7 Hart House Circle. 978-8849.

Groundswell Festival
Nightwood Theatre presents the 25th-annual fest of staged readings of new works by women. Featuring playwrights Lisa Codrington, Florence Gibson, Natalie Meisner, Maia Kareda, Beatriz Pizano, Sally Stubbs and Madeleine Blais Dahlem. 8pm. Mon, Jan 26-31. 2pm. Sat, Jan 31. $10 suggested. Berkeley Street Theatre, upstairs. 26 Berkeley St. 368-3110. For full schedule go to Nightwoodtheatre.net.

Medea
Garnering rave reviews in Winnipeg where it premiered, this production of Euripides’ immortal revenge-drama of a woman scorned comes to Toronto care of Mirvish Productions and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Starring Seana McKenna, Scott Wentworth, Nigel Bennett, Walter Borden, Lindsay Buchanan-Clarke, Patricia Conolly, Audrey Dwyer, Bruce Gooch, Kyra Harper, Deborah Hay, Chapelle Jaffe, Claire Jullien, Vickie Papavs, Jamie Robinson and Michael Spencer-Davis. Freely Adapted by Robinson Jeffers. And just in case you need a quick refresher on your Greek history and mythology, there will be a fun and informal talk in the theatre lobby preceding each show. $30-$85. 8pm. Tue-Sat. 2pm. Wed, Sat, Sun. Till Sun, Feb 8. Canon Theatre. 244 Victoria St. 872-1212. Mirvish.com.

East of Berlin
Tarragon Theatre begins the new year with a restaging of the Dora-winning play East of Berlin. Alisa Palmer directs Hannah Moscovitch’s story of a young man’s coming to terms with his father’s Nazi past. Starring Diana Donnely, Paul Dunn and Brendan Gall. $15-$45. 8pm. Tue-Sat. 2:30pm. Sat & Sun. Extended to Sun, Feb 8. Tarragon Theatre, Extra Space. 30 Bridgman Ave. 531-1827. Tarragontheatre.com.

TV & RADIO

Project Runway Canada
A new batch of fashionistas and design queens face off against resident judges Rita Silvan from Elle Canada and Shawn Hewson from Bustle Clothing, mentor Brian Bailey and hosts Iman. Designers include Toronto’s Jeff MacKinnon, Sunny Fong, Jessica Biffi and Hamilton’s Jason Meyers. 10pm. Tuesdays. Beginning Jan 27. Global TV.

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