Tibet at Accès Asie
YOUNG MONKS: From In the Shadow of TibetThe 14th edition of Accès Asie festival, Crazy About Asia (May 1–June 6), begins its celebration of Asian Heritage Month at Maison de la culture Plateau-Mont-Royal (465 Mont-Royal E.) with
the launch of In the Shadow of Tibet: A Culture in Exile, an exhibit by photographer Kiran Ambwani, exploring the lives and traditions of Tibetan-Buddhist monastics in the Himalayan Diaspora.
In the Shadow, an intimate series of images captured during Ambwani’s recent visits to India and Nepal, reflects the experience and solemn joy of a community living outside of its spiritual homeland. “After 50 years in exile, despite difficult struggles, the Tibetan people have persevered and their sense of spirituality is still strong,” says Ambwani. “These photographs reveal how spirituality permeates the everyday lives of the Tibetan people.”
In the Shadow’s official opening takes place tomorrow, Friday, May 1, at 5 p.m. and will also feature traditional Tibetan singing and Dra-ngën playing by special musical guest Kalsang Dolma, followed by “Mandala, the Sacred Circle” (at 8 p.m.), a lecture with McGill University Indo-Tibetan Buddhism professor Lara Braitstein about religious symbols in art.
by STEVE ZYLBERGOLD
Ruthless at Battat
PONDEROUS PROFILE: Coin
Operating outside of the usual gallery hotspots, Battat Contemporary (7245 Alexandra, #100) has set itself apart by setting up shop among the industrial complexes of Jean Talon Street. Having opened just a little over a month ago, they’re one of the newest galleries in the city and they celebrate the opening of their second show, Ruthless in Chalk Farm by Allison Katz tonight, Thursday, April 30 at 6 p.m.
The exhibit, which is Katz’s first major solo show in the city, serves as a homecoming of sorts, as she was born and raised in Montreal but now lives and works in New York. The works featured in Ruthless are not easily pinned down to a single style or even a single medium, and the accompanying press release leaves much to the imagination.
Written in a Q&A format incorporating Yves Saint Laurent’s answers to the Proust questionnaire, it gives hints as to the personality of the work and the artist, but invites viewers to see the work as a mystery to be explored.
by SACHA JACKSON
No flash and cheese
If you could create a relationship soundtrack from first kiss to break-up, what would be on it? Director Sherren Lee thought about it, picked some songs and  wrote a story around the tunes. Lee describes Love Story Soundtrack as “a musical without the singing, cheesiness and flashiness.”
Using theatre, contemporary dance (choreographed by Jonny Bateman) and film snippets, we follow Dany’s (Liam Dougherty) relationship ups and downs with Mary (Geneviève Pertugia) and Samantha (Saxon Fraser). The 50-minute piece is set to a soundtrack of 13 tracks from the past decade—like Dido’s “Mary’s in India,” Jack Johnson’s “Cocoon” and “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes—and features a live performance by local musician Amos Joannides (May 2 and 3).
It all takes place at the cozy new performance space, Theatre 314 (10 des Pins W.) The show runs nightly to May 3, 7 p.m., $10-$12, with a pay-what-you-can matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday. (514) 813-7273.
by MARITES CARINO
Twin plays from Gleams
Gleams Theatre goes from last summer’s tiny bookstore stage in NDG to the MainLine (3997 St-Laurent) with a twin play series until May 10 that they’re calling Secluded Spots.
Riverside Drive is a typically brilliant one-act from Woody Allen that dramatizes the bespectacled neurotic’s continuing preoccupation with people who  rationalize their actions, hide what they’re doing, and fall, inevitably, into sexual deception.
In Mike Bartlett’s My Child (a North American premiere), a father finds himself being phased out of his son’s life. Denied access, he goes to extraordinary lengths to hold on to him. Bartlett throws us into a world where good intentions count for little, offering an incisive look at what it means to be a “good parent.”
“A family is somewhere you do find the most unconditional love,” says Bartlett. “It’s also the place where you find the most violence and the most danger ... the problem with someone knowing you so well is that they can crush you so completely.”
by NEIL BOYCE
IS IT ART?
EAU DE TREKKIE: In anticipation of the much-hyped Star Trek film, which opens next week, comes a line of fragrances inspired by the original TV show. Produced  by Genki Wear, a company known for its science fiction-inspired jewellery, the trio of fragrancesTiberius, Red Shirt and Pon Farrare designed, supposedly, to appeal to those beyond the Star Trek universe.
Based on Captain Kirk, famously played by William Shatner, Tiberius is likely to be the most popular of the bunch with notes of cedar, black pepper and citron. Red Shirt, meanwhile, challenges you to put yourself in the line of fire with notes of bergamot, green mandarin and lavender. The most provacative of the three is Pon Farr, a perfume designed to drive him wild that is named after the Vulcan mating ritual.
weargenkiwear.com
Arts hole
MIRROR AS ART: Most already consider the Mirror to be a veritable work of art, but artist Nicholas Voeikoff-Erens takes things a step further and creates paintings using the Mirror to create the structure of his work. You can see how one inspires the other at the vernissage this Tuesday, May 5 from 6–8 p.m. at Montauk Sofa (4404 St-Laurent). • BIENNALE IS BACK: The sixth edition of the Montreal Biennale, which focuses on contemporary art and culture, kicks off tomorrow night Friday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. at École Bourget (1230 de la Montange). • BOOK IT: Montreal author John Goldbach launches Selected Blackouts at Blizzarts (3956A St-Laurent), Sunday, May 3, 8:30 p.m
Artistat
The number of artists participating in May-Day, a multidisciplinary carnival with traditional carnival food and games, performances and some impractical installations, presented by Paper and Pine at Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark) this Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m.: 20+
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