Asian re-orientation
NIGHT MOVES: By Khosro Berahmandi
A multidisciplinary event opens this year’s Accès Asie, the yearly fest that aims to “Re-Orient” Montrealers about what they think is Asian culture.
The piece Éclats Nocturnes began when Iranian-born painter Khosro Berahmandi loaned Taiwanese flute-player Shuni Tsou his studio for a practice space. Intrigued by the new environment, Tsou began to compose for the paintings around her.
They soon added more musicians, and ideas grew wilder and busier with each rehearsal.
A filmmaker was brought onboard, Berahmandi says, “to interpret the painting in the language of film.” A dancer was invited to complete the sense of movement, and to take it all full-circle, Berahmandi produced a series of paintings in response to the collaboration, to be exhibited at the event.
What emerges is a multi-sensory experience: intricate paintings are the setting for the Chinese dizi (bamboo flute) and Iranian tombak (percussion) from Ziya Tabassian, joined by avant-garde bass player Nicolas Caloia. Dancer Geneviève La interprets the paintings through her movements while images by Shahin Parhami are projected as the final layer to a hypnotic stage atmosphere. Together, the six artists merge tradition and innovation, individuals and communities.
May 1–3, at MAI (3680 Jeanne Mance), info: (514) 523-1047 or www.accesasie.com.
by NEIL BOYCE
Celluloid cut-up
IF LOOKS COULD KILL: From Collage CrimesWinnipegger Guy Maddin is known for his low-fi, melodramatic movies that look like they were shot in the silent film era. He has put together Collage Crimes for Dazibao (4001 Berri, #202) as part of their annual Carte grise series—where they invite a well known artist to curate an exhibition.
I was quite excited when I saw that Maddin was chosen this year, for it seems we hear about him all the time, but rarely get a chance to see his work. (NB: He put all his short films on YouTube last year.)
I first saw Maddin’s film Cowards Bend at the Knee at the Power Plant in 2003, when he showed it as an installation, viewed through 10 peepholes in the gallery’s walls.
At Dazibao, Maddin again shows Cowards, but this time interspersed with some of his other films and titled Cowardly Sandwich. He has also strung together a series of clips from old movies that have inspired him in the piece titled Lullaby.
This exhibition is highly recommended for film buffs, art lovers and those who like their nudity accompanied by a good laugh.
Until May 31, info: (514) 845-0063 or www.dazibao-photo.org.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Meet Montreal designers
Get a chance to see behind closed doors this weekend, May 3 and 4, at Design Montréal’s Open House. With over 70 design agencies and architectural sites participating in all quarters of the city, there’s more than enough to keep you busy.
Start on Saturday, in St-Henri at 3520 St-Jacques W. and check out up-and- coming designers at This Side Up, an exhibition of work by graduating students in design arts at Concordia. Then hop over to the Parisian Laundry (3550 St-Antoine W.) to learn about how the building was transformed from a former commercial space, built in the 1920s, into one of the city’s most interesting galleries.
Grab a lift on the free shuttle, which runs 12:30–5 p.m. daily, up to Abbot Ave. for a view of the Westmount Sound Barrier. The only one of its kind in Quebec, the seven-metre-high wall helps cut the noise of passing cars on highway 20, while allowing residences to keep an eye on traffic. (The majority of the wall is see-through).
Spend Sunday on the Plateau and learn about landscape architecture, land planning and keeping things green with La Vie en Vert (5333 Casgrain, #502-B) or check out the latest in personal mobility with bike designs at Morelli Designers (5420 St-Laurent, #303). And for the fashion fixated, designer Philip Dubuc lets you in on his secrets and processes at his store (4551 St-Denis).
For the full schedule and details, go to www.designmontreal.com.
by SACHA JACKSON
E-lit adventures
J.R. Carpenter has been extending the online parameters of text since she started playing with Usenet groups in 1993. When Netscape came along, she began exhibiting Web-based nonlinear text projects.
“In the traditional literary world, there’s a lot of ideas of what electronic literature is. They’re afraid that it’s the end of the book and so on,” says  Carpenter. “But it’s not about the technology, it is about placing the literature into a continuum of multidisciplinary practice.”
For the e-curious, Carpenter’s organized Saturday’s Blue Metropolis panel discussion Adventures in Electronic Literature, May 3 at 7 p.m., Delta Hotel (777 University) in room Régence A, $10.
Hosted by CBC audio blogger Nora Young, the panel features hypertext theorist and practitioner Jeff Parker, poet, digital media artist and software designer Jason E. Lewis, and Alice van der Klei, who holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature on hypertext.
Carpenter’s also reading from a forthcoming novel, Words the Dog Knows, this Sunday, May 4, at 9 p.m. at Blizzarts (3956A St-Laurent) as part of the Pilot reading series, with Gil Filar and Winnipeg author Chandra Mayor. Free.
by VINCENT TINGUELY
Is it art?
INSIDE OUT: Ubanites rejoice! Amsterdam-based architectural firm Hofman Dujardin has, quite possibly, just changed your life.
Their most recent invention is the BloomFrame, a window frame that transforms into a balcony with the push of a button. Made from steel glass and aluminium,  the frame can be customized to fit the design of a new building or can be easily installed in an existing one. Driven by an electrical motor, the balcony works the same way as a drawbridge, with two bars lowering it from the sides.
Though the product’s been in development since 2002, it wasn’t ready to be manufactured until late last year. Having recently won the Red Dot Award (an international design competition), the company is ready to change the balconies of the world and the product should be available for purchase soon. www.hofmandujardin.nl
Arts
hole
PORTRAITS OF THE ARTiSTs: Artist Valérie Sury captures the spirit of SXSW in her latest exhibition Art Kills Texas. Inspired by bands who performed at the festival, the show opens with a vernissage Saturday, May 3 at 6 p.m. at Headquarters Galerie Boutique (1649 Amherst).• ITALIANS ARE COMING: Piccolo Teatro de Milan brings Carlo Goldoni’s Arlecchino servitore di due padroni to Place des Arts. The boisterous story of a mischievous servant with two masters, directed by Giorgio Strehler, has 21 actors and musicians filling the stage. May 7–11 at Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts (260 de Maisonneuve W.) • START THE PRESSES: Monastiraki (5478 St-Laurent) celebrates its second show, featuring the works of veteran comix artists R. Suicide and the Mirror’s Rupert Bottenberg. Print sale and vernissage take place, Tuesday, May 6 at 5 p.m.
Artistat
The number of different species of birds thriving in various ecosystems at the Biôdome as part of Bird Fest, which runs until May 19 and features birdhouses made of recycled materials and artwork by Jocelyne Bouchard: 70+ |
