Edgy, experimental
and entertaining

“If you tell someone there’s a feminist or a women’s art festival, so many clichés come to mind, and I’m definitely out to bust those clichés,” says Miriam Ginestier, artistic director of Studio 303’s International Edgy Women Festival taking place this week and next.

Edgy Women has grown exponentially since its modest start 12 years ago as an interdisciplinary dance and performance art program. It now includes satellite events, a zine fair, workshops and a packed performance line-up. The accent is on work that’s both experimental and entertaining.

“For people who have a short attention span or who want a bit of everything,” Ginestier recommends the “wildly multidisciplinary” cabaret shows tonight, Thursday, March 16, and the night of Saturday, March 18, the latter curated by Moynan King of Toronto’s Hysteria festival. Full-length works show on Friday and Sunday nights. All start at 8 p.m. at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), and you can get tickets ($5–$12), festival passports ($45) and further information at www.edgywomen.ca. —Andrea Zanin

Have your purse
and eat it too

There’s something hard to swallow about Shelley Miller’s Scopophilia and Laura St. Pierre’s installation This End Up currently on view at Articule (4001 Berri). Miller, whose trademark medium is cake and icing, serves up some Louis Vuitton handbags and shoes for viewers to both admire and consume. St. Pierre shows a painterly installation made out of old wallpaper, unwanted tints of paint and Styrofoam packaging material.

The paradox is that these artists seem to be simultaneously pointing an accusing finger at our over-consumptive culture, while at the same time trying hard to be a part of it. There’s no transformation of their chosen materials onto another level. Miller’s works are beautiful and desirable, much like the purses she copies; the result would be very different if they were made out of dogshit. St. Pierre’s installation never really rises above an ugly collection of Styrofoam and decorating materials. The over-saturated consumer needs to be hit harder than this to make them contemplate excess. Until April 9, info: 842-9686. —Christine Redfern

Cut-and-paste kudos

The folks behind Expozine have inaugurated the Expozine Alternative Press Awards to shine a brighter light on the multitudes of hard-working zinesters who otherwise beaver away in obscurity all over our fair city. “In a sense, it is legitimizing these under-the-radar publications,” says co-organizer Andy Brown.

“It’s a cash-and-glory incentive to keep it up, to keep it going, to not give up, not throw in the towel,” co-organizer Billy Mavreas adds. The evening features six prizes (three French, three English) for Best Book, Best Comic and Best Zine. MCed by the legendary Jean Giscagne, with an appearance by notorious local lip-synch band Never Surrender! At the Mainline Theatre space (3997 St-Laurent), Wednesday, March 22, 9 p.m., free. —Vincent Tinguely

Fear and family

Everyone’s got a family history. For Canadian-born Florence Figols, her parents lived through the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco’s dictatorship before they chose to immigrate to Quebec because of what she calls her father’s “very strong democratic convictions” and his desire to move to a democratic country.

However, after her dad’s sudden death in 2004, Figols says she had unanswered questions: “I realized I didn’t really know about that part of his life. He never really talked about it.” This silence became the impetus behind Figols’s digging into her family past through her choreography mute /sense veu / en silence, which opens at Tangente (840 Cherrier) tonight.

Although the creation of the piece, which looks at fear and silence in the individual and collective sense, was an intense process, Figols calls it a fulfilling creative voyage with dancers/collaborators Maria Kefirova and Maya Ostrofsky and on-stage musician/actor Harry Standjofski. The show runs nightly until March 18 at 8:30 p.m. and March 19 at 4 p.m., $15, 525-1500. —Marites Carino

Is it Art?

THE NEED TO READ: Looking for something to read but overwhelmed by the billions of tomes on the shelves of your local book merchant? Montreal book-lover and “literary consultant” Andrea Borod may have the answer for you with her program The Book Deal. For a $14.95 annual fee, she’ll send you monthly book reviews and recommendations, as well as invitations to lectures, discussions and other events. Borod also offers personal consultation and something called “library customization,” which sounds exciting. Get literate at www.thebookdeal.com or call 943-BOOK for details.

ArtsHole

REMEMBERING RACHEL: It’s now been three years since activist and International Solidarity Movement member Rachel Corrie was killed by a bulldozer she was obstructing in the Gaza Strip. Thursday, March 16 is the anniversary of her death and Optative Theatrical Laboratories will be commemorating the date with a performance by Cassandra Witteman, with text taken from the recent controversy over the New York cancellation of the play My Name is Rachel Corrie. That’s at Toc Toc, 6091 du Parc, 8 p.m., pwyc. • MAD FOR MAGYARS: The cultural contributions of Canada’s Hungarian community are recognized in Reflections: Canada—Hungary, an exhibit featuring 14 Hungarian-Canadian artists showing at Stewart Hall (176 chemin du Bord-du-Lac, Pte-Claire) through April 30.

ARTISTAT: Number of paintings by Claude Tousignant you can enjoy from home as part of the Musée d’art contemporain’s “virtual exhibition” (www.macm.org, from March 22 on) of his work: 36

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