Occupation meets art

Peace activist, artist and Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation member Freda Guttman sums up the driving force behind Artists Against the Occupation quite simply: “To speak out about the terrible injustice.”

Seeking to raise awareness of the ongoing illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, 33 artists have contributed work to the exhibition through the mediums of photography, installation, video, painting and performance. Hailing from Canada to Israel and Palestine, all of the artists have dealt with issues surrounding displacement, exile and identity in varying ways.

Although Artists Against the Occupation opens tonight, Sept 25, a stir has already been created by those with different leanings on the issue. But, as Guttman and co-curator Rawi Hage put it, the exhibition’s intent is “to encourage a deeper understanding of the conflict and of the urgent need for a peaceful solution.” And let’s hope everyone involved will acknowledge the importance of freedom of expression in our society.

People who attend tonight’s opening at 5:30 p.m. will be involved in a special performance that recreates a daily part of life for those in the occupied territories. The exhibition continues at the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance) until Nov. 1. » Christine Redfern

Big top bash

The circus is coming, and it has nothing to do with soleil, shriners or tormented crackpot elephants! Back home after touring the far reaches of the globe (most recently opening Stockholm’s prestigious Subörb contemporary circus fest), Les 7 doigts de la main kick off a Montreal run today, Sept. 25.

In a 90-minute spectacle, the troupe, all friends and Cirque du Soleil veterans, simultaneously act, dance, contort, juggle, fly about etc., in a production that they’ve played equal parts in creating. Joining them as musical director is local scratch wizard DJ Pocket, who provides a wide mash of musical styles and obscure sounds. And, promise les doigts, a few special guest artists will also be on hand during the Friday shows.

But it’s not just a 90-minute affair. Spectators are invited to hang around after each show for a special “loft party” at Station C (1450 Ste-Catherine E.), the post office-turned performance hall where show goes down. It runs until Oct. 12. » Matthew Woodley

Play house

It’s finally time to build that dream home—Roy Street style. As part of the Journées de la Culture, the Roy Street Collective is teaming up with Fresh Fruit Architecture—the “renegade” firm with which they share their splashy space—to bring you Tabarnacle! The artists are inviting anyone from secondary IV and beyond to show up at their space (111 Roy E., but register first by calling 284-5211) on Friday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m., to build concept model houses out of odds and ends that they’ll provide you with for free.

Homeowners will get to show off their digs at the official vernissage on the following day at 8 p.m., which’ll also host creativity from the likes of David Elliott, Rachel Granofsky, The Mudd Sisters and many more. » Matthew Woodley

The haunted

In desecrated city spaces, ghostly dancers play with light. “These are my own productions,” says Dani Hausmann of his haunting still photos, currently showing at ARTmajuscule (950 Ottawa).

Creations of a film-industry vet with an architecture background, Hausmann’s inclination toward the theatrical and the structured are easy to see in his photos. “Those things are inborn,” he says. Shadows fall in opposing directions and light comes from odd corners in the shots, most often an amalgam of exposures taken at different times of the day. The artist pits figures—people he’s approached on the street, squeegee punks, the stripper pictured here—in ghost-like motion against backdrops of abandoned Montreal places. “I find these places quite beautiful,” he says. “Time passing by becomes immediately evident.” Broken Places opens today, Sept. 25, 4 p.m., and runs until until Oct. 26. » Matthew Woodley

Is it Art?

BIG BROTHER BUSTER: Surveillance cameras are ubiquitous, the FBI’s reading your Hotmail, WiFi has brought spy tech to the guy next door and now some perv’s watching you pee. Well maybe. But if that is the case, here’s a useful little gadget to add to your key chain. Using the same marketing vehicle (unwelcome pop-up windows and e-mail spam) as the teeny peep cams they’re designed to reveal, the Anti-Spy Privacy Aid scans frequencies between 30MHz and 2.4 Ghz. If there’s a clandestine camera emitting a signal in that range, an amber light will come on. Once it locks onto the exact source of the signal, the detector starts beeping. The invention, also handy for detecting pesky wiretaps, retails at $59.99 (U.S.) www.leadsfoundation.com to order.

ArtsHole

LOVES REVISITED: Cathleen Skidmore, spoken wordster and way-back-when Mirror writer, delves into her painful past relationships—an Argentinian man she left, a woman she left and a younger man who gave her the boot—on W Network’s The Ex Factor, Sept. 29 at 10:30 p.m. • TALKING PENNANTS: Though their placement had been slightly delayed by fear of hurricane Isabel’s mighty wrath, New York artist Soledad Arias’s Who What Where, an assortment of colourful hanging pennants bearing words based on Samuel Beckett’s Texts for Nothing, are up around town. The intervention, presented by Articule, will remain until Oct. 24.

ARTISTAT: Number of tours and demonstrations given during the Journées de la culture, a province-wide event geared to give the masses a close-up, often hands-on, experience of artists’ spaces, practices and products from Sept. 26–28, www.journeesdelaculture.qc.ca for info: 1,050

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