A woman carrying a bunch of plastic shopping bags gets on the metro in St-Henri. The bags are filled with bread. Supergain, white, enriched bread is on sale, and she has 25 loaves. At the end of the metro line, she manoeuvres her bags onto the bus heading to Laval. No, she’s not on her way to a food bank; this journey is part of Karen Spencer’s Bread Bed performance at Galerie Verticale (2084 des Laurentides, #200, Laval).

Arriving at the gallery, Spencer unpacks and methodically stacks the bread into equal piles, then lies down on it and rests. Spencer’s work involves ordinary actions she deems not valued by society - ones almost looked upon with a degree of suspicion. One past performance included walking aimlessly through unknown parts of the city; another involved a group of people loitering. Through simple, non-commercial means, she draws attention to our culture; Bread Bed’s focus is on the basics of food and shelter. Artist talk: Jan. 29, 5–7 p.m., at the gallery, (450) 975-1188. : » Christine Redfern

On Jan. 8, Canadian performing artists mourned the passing of Charlene Tarver, a teacher who left an indelible mark on the country’s dance community. At age 72, Tarver died in her sleep at the Santa Fe, New Mexico, home where she’d resettled seven years previous.

The American-born Tarver studied under modern dance guru Hanya Holm in New York in the ’50s and ’60s, as well as working with choreographer Bob Fosse. In 1970, she and her family moved to Edmonton, where Tarver launched Grant MacEwan College’s modern dance program. It was there where Tarver would continue to teach Holm’s method to further generations of students, many of whom have since settled in Montreal’s dance community.

Among those mourning is choreographer and teacher Brian Webb, who studied under Tarver and calls her “my mentor. Charlene was an incredible teacher. She had a huge impact as a teacher and choreographer, both in Canada and internationally.” : » Matthew Hays

War - the one everyone keeps talking about - is the subject of scorn in Dominique Gaucher and Rafael Sottolichio’s exhibition of paintings, Destinée manifeste. Through symbolism and irony, they shake their collective fist at what could be “coming soon to a screen near you.” Sottolichio’s “Le grand homme sur le petit homme” depicts dominance with a big human pinning down a smaller human. In “Glory,” Gaucher reworks a cliché Gulf War victory parade photo into a more sombre scene. The paintings hang until Feb. 9 at Usine C (1345 Lalonde). : » Matthew Woodley

Paula Belina has just finished issue #18 of Streeteaters, the “Sleep Issue,” which involved cutting a complicated shape from a colour photo and glueing it to 200 zine covers. “When you’re in the zine business you have to accept repetitive activities,” Belina explains. The launch, similarly sleep-themed, will involve pajamas, cozy couches and kindergarten floor space, and little loot bags for everyone full of sleep-theme stuff. Says Belina, “The best part is, if you bring a blanket we’ll give it to charity and you can win a prize!”

There’ll be poetry with Alex Gagnon, Jeff Barnaby and Jason Selman. Matt Bain and Paul Berry will read a selection of one-sentence stories, the Fire Escapes bring poetry, dance and violin together, and Joe Grass plays blues slide guitar. Sunday, Jan. 26, at 8:30 p.m., Zeke’s Gallery, 3955 St-Laurent, $2 or a donation (includes zine). : » Vincent Tinguely

Taming brutes: Where upbringing falls short, image consultants come in. Like Ottawa-based Image International, whose newest good-manners guide, Executive Dining Etiquette, takes form in an interactive CD-ROM. It plays out like an airplane safety video and is geared primarily toward businesspeople, but anybody could profit from this crash course in civility. Some sample tips to avoid “dining-room meltdown”: don’t eat your neighbour’s bread or salad, don’t overindulge in alcohol, and fer fuck’s sake, don’t drink out of the finger bowl. $94.99, www.imageinternational.ca to order. : » Matthew Woodley

Young at art: With theatre, dance, workshops and more, the fifth annual Artapalooza arts festival for kids and teens runs from Jan. 26–Feb. 9 at the Saidye Bronfman Centre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine), 739-7944. • Celebrating Slovakia: The Month of Slovak Culture continues at the Gesù (1200 Bleury) until Feb. 12 with a slew of shows including puppet theatre, poetry, concerts, and cameos from hockey-great Peter Stastny. 861-4873 for info. • Match made on merry-go-round: Sylvie Cotton and Chuck Samuels, in working together for the first time, discovered “a mutual attraction for the motion of spinning and turning.” Thus the carousel as the central theme in their project, InSiteOut, which incorporates video, projection and a CD-ROM. It continues until Feb. 22 at Dazibao (4001 Berri, #202). • Oh my Goth: Bustum - a word at once synonymous with “the ruins of a dead city” and the alias for artist Yvan Arsenault - shows his most recent multifaceted, morbid works at Zeke’s Gallery (3955 St-Laurent) until Feb. 2. :

Artistat: Record-breaking number of visitors in 2002 to the musée Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal’s principal museum of history and archaeology (350 Place Royale): 280,000 :

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