Some speculate that music is the reason humans are what humans are. That the sounds of voice and eventually instrument over the millennia helped form the communities that became the societies, that allowed us to grow into the dominant species on the planet. As famed cultural critic George Steiner put it, there is no community on this planet … Continue reading Calgary’s music scene and how it shapes us
Arts
Capitalism and catastrophe: an interview with Naomi Klein
Let’s start with a question. What seems like a bigger challenge: fixing a flawed economic system, or dealing with the catastrophic consequences of uncontrolled climate change? How about another one: would you rather hand over billions to bail out a bank, or to help ensure the our planet remains liveable? Extreme, right? No. We’re in … Continue reading Capitalism and catastrophe: an interview with Naomi Klein
Rewriting the narrative: Ghalib Islam’s Fire in the Unnameable Country
It’s difficult to know where to start on a review of Ghalib Islam’s Fire in the Unnameable Country. The book is a thing apart. It’s a unique entity without direct comparison, although maybe a collaboration between Jose Saramago, Haruki Murakami and Franz Kafka would come close. Islam’s tale breaks every rule you can think of, in … Continue reading Rewriting the narrative: Ghalib Islam’s Fire in the Unnameable Country
An outsider’s view of outsiders: an interview with Joseph Boyden
Joseph Boyden’s novels are all about place. They are anchored not only in the wilds of Canada (for the most part), but they are tied to the First Nations consciousness of a homeland. So it’s funny that Boyden, who lives in New Orleans, stays away from these places in order to better understand and write … Continue reading An outsider’s view of outsiders: an interview with Joseph Boyden
Incarceration and freedom with Kent Monkman
For those of us who live here, the Calgary Stampede can be many things — beer-soaked debauchery, greasy food, the midway, the rodeo, or simply a time to get the hell out of the city. For artist Kent Monkman, however, the Stampede represents something else entirely. Commissioned by the Glenbow to create an installation based … Continue reading Incarceration and freedom with Kent Monkman
Wreck City artists run amok in Sunnyside
Wherever there is cheap space, you’ll find artists. Detroit is a great example. As the city empties and houses are abandoned, property is bottom-barrel cheap and artists move in. There are blocks of decorated houses because, well, what else is anybody going to do with them. Calgary? Not so cheap. Yet, if you wander along … Continue reading Wreck City artists run amok in Sunnyside
Neil Turok on the quantum (r)evolution
To say that Neil Turok’s book, The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos , is a little disconcerting is an understatement. Fear of change is a constant in humans, but what Turok is proposing is a mind-blowing transformation of what it means to be human and what lies beyond our conceptual grasp of the universe. … Continue reading Neil Turok on the quantum (r)evolution
Questioning Calgary’s arts party
The federal government kicked in $1.6 million, the city one-upped them with $2 million and the province gave $250,000, with another $500,000 set aside to match corporate donations. It’s a tidy sum of money, all earmarked for arts and culture after Calgary was named the cultural capital of Canada (okay, one of the cultural capitals; … Continue reading Questioning Calgary’s arts party
Broken brand or new beginning at the AGC?
Some members of Calgary’s arts community say the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC) is a dysfunctional space, where art is physically compromised, working relationships are difficult and corporate events and fundraisers are considered more important than the work on the walls. The gallery counters that fundraising is a necessary exercise, accounting for 79 per cent … Continue reading Broken brand or new beginning at the AGC?
Drew Anderson 