All creatures
safe and small

The little animals of our post-industrial world (except for the rats and cockroaches that shall outlive us all) don't have it so good. To help them get by, Bill Burns, director of Safety Gear for Small Animals, has made them little rubber gloves, gas masks, lifejackets, knee pads and the like. Thank Gaia for his sense of humour.

SGFSA is a delightfully witty and irony-heavy exhibition at the Saidye Bronfman Centre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine), one that plays with the lines between science and nature, the organic and the man-made, humans and animals, as well as what blurs them. With a strong, ecology-fuelled undertone, Burns manages to poke fun at natural history, bleeding-heart activists who project human qualities onto cute little animals, industrialists and even the high-brow galley world that hosts his travelling installation. The show is laid out like a natural history museum with plastic-topped display cases, photo diagrams, even a globe you can spin(!) - set up to appeal to kids and to strike a similar curiosity in anyone else who goes. With the rather depressing state of environmental affairs, this is a refreshing show that gives plenty for our big human brains to ponder over and still lets you feel light. It runs until June 6. » Matthew Woodley

Lowbrow leanings

Rock 'n' roll art deserves a rock 'n' roll opening, and it will get one at the Electric Art Derby Lowbrow Art Show, this Saturday, May 1, at the Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent). "This isn't a vernissage," says MarieLyne Tarabulsy matter-of-factly. "You come, you look at the art, you stay, and you party all night."

This is the fourth year that Tarabulsy - the self-described "least nice of all the bartenders at the Casa" (who all seem very nice) - has put on the Derby, which bands 22 artists from Montreal and a bit beyond. Moonlighting musicians like Tricky Woo's Andrew Dickson and Voivod drummer Away share the walls with Alexis O'Hara, Kristi Ropeleski, Leyla Majeri and many more. "I try to make it different every year," Tarabulsy says. "The line-up is always changing and this year there's a bit less tattoo art, less bigdaddy rock stuff, but still the same raunchy feel." (Tarabulsy is already looking for submissions for next year too, she wants you to know, and can be contacted through www.yukon9rocks.com.) With rock DJs Johnson and Fleck, 8 p.m., free. » Matthew Woodley

Hello, Cherry

This Sunday, May 2, Winnipeg-born Jon Paul Fiorentino is launching his latest opus, Hello Serotonin, in which poetry intersects with pharmacological terminology. "People talk about their meds a lot," says Fiorentino. "So I thought I'd try and come up with a fresh way to deal with that subject matter, creating new catchphrases out of these strange terms." He leavens the chemical character of the book with a section on Andy Kaufman and another on his continuing prairie fetishism.

Fiorentino is joined by long-time friend and collaborator Chandra Mayor, who's in town to launch her first novel, Cherry. Already garnering rave reviews, Cherry details the life of a young woman in Winnipeg's punk subculture as she gets entangled with an abusive boyfriend. Launch at Blizzarts (3956A St-Laurent), 8 p.m., free. » Vincent Tinguely

Mane attractions

It's been a while since we've seen former La La La Human Steps platinum-dreadlocked whirlwind Louise Lecavalier on stage. Well, she's back this week with Ottawa choreographer Tedd Robinson in a duet called "Lula and the Sailor," one third of his most recent choreography, Reclusive Conclusions and Other Duets. Robinson, artistic director of 10 Gates Dancing, pairs up with a trio of big dance names in these full-length works, which include on-stage musicians and vocalists.

Along with Lecavalier, long-maned Montreal choreographer Margie Gillis makes for quite the contrast against Robinson's sharp features and shaven head. And unlike the other duets, which were choreographed solely by Robinson, theirs is a collaboration, adding a different tone to the performance. To round off the evening, Robinson partners with Japanese modern dancer Mako Kawano. Catch the duets at l'Agora de la Danse (840 Cherrier), April 29–May 1, 525-1500. » Marites Carino

Is it Art?

ANAESTHETICS AND AESTHETICS: It's hard to find a dentist's office with more intriguing things to look at than dog-eared copies of old Maclean's issues and the innards of hygienists' nostrils. Not so at Galerie Dentaire (1239 Amherst), a new village venture opened by dentist Mark Raper and gallery director Jean Fortin - business partners who previously had a similar type of establishment in Vancouver. Presently showing in the chic space is work by local Kat Coric, by some coincidence a "club-drug/health-care advocate" known for her "tubes" style of painting. Coric's focus in this show is the U.S. crackdown on party drugs and recent closing of several New York City nightclubs. It continues until May 21, no appointment needed.

ArtsHole

KARAOKE COUSIN: Much like karaoke, CinéOké participants voluntarily make fools of themselves in front of their friends, only rather than singing, they act out a film scene with the help of subtitles while the real scene is projected behind them. The phenomenon is set to hit Montreal's Magnifico event in mid-June, and organizers are currently rounding up a list of scenes to have available for budding actors. Send your nominations to cineoke@ex-centris.com. • FRESH FEATURE: With their main focus on promoting emerging artists, Galerie Sandra Goldie (1360 Greene) opens its doors this Saturday, May 1, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. with works by Allison Katz, Jason Berg, Collin McNair and Parvis Djamtorki.

ARTISTAT: Number of books written by Iranian poet and social critic Reza Baraheni - forced out of his country in 1996 for his advocacy of Iranian women's rights - who joins Rana Bose and Fiona Tinwei Lam for a night of poetry as part of the Asian Heritage Festival at the Gesù (1200 Bleury), May 6, 8 p.m.: 50

>> Arts Listings