Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Department of Culture's Winnipeg Branch is on a roll, and now we need YOU...

... to poster
... to distribute handbills at events
... to canvass in malls and/or door to door
... to help us run events
... to contact everyone you know, and even some people you don’t...

We all agree the Conservatives have done more than enough damage to the social, economic, and political fabric of our society. We need to fight back! It's not enough that we vote against the Conservatives on Oct 14, we need to inform our fellow Canadians -- who see a decline in quality of life, but haven't yet correlated it as the impact of Conservative policies and actions -- are motivated to vote strategically to unseat Conservatives, wherever they may be.

We are part of a national network of concerned citizens who don’t buy the lie that supporters of the arts live in a bubble unaffected by the destruction of health care, public services, safe food and water, labour laws, the environment and everything else the Conservatives seem to hate.

For more information about the DoC, please visit: http://www.departmentofculture.ca

Contact us: departmentofculture.winnipeg@gmail.com

Join us!

Artists ‘should be landlords, not tenants'

TENILLE BONOGUORE AND MURRAY CAMPBELL
Globe and Mail Update, September 24, 2008 at 5:04 PM EDT

Canada's artists have launched a pointed and passionate attack at the nation's political leaders, decrying Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's statement yesterday that ‘ordinary' Canadians don't care about the arts.

In a united press conference on Wednesday morning, leading actors and artists insisted that arts is not about galas and subsidies.

Rather, they said, it's a resource that comes from the minds of Canadians and delivers fantastic returns in the form of quality of life, education and national identity.

“We should be the landlords of our own industry, not the tenants,” said veteran actor and CBC presenter Gordon Pinsent.

“We know about Mr. Harper's master plan. We know about Mr. Dion's big idea. But it would be hugely comfortable to know that we have a seat at that table – not just in the children's section, not just below the salt, but right there, smack dab in the middle of the big meal.”

The difficulties and pressures being felt within the arts community are nothing new, Mr. Pinsent said. The business has undergone numerous starts and stops, applying “tourniquets” as it went along.

“Yet we still have this feeling here that we are practically compelled to bend or dissolve within the larger picture of the American sensibility, and we don't like it,” he said. “We all want to work. We're artists to begin with.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Harper cast his lot with “ordinary, working people” and not with “ivory tower” justice experts or with a cultural elite he characterized as government-subsidized whiners.

“I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up, I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people,” he said during a campaign stop in Saskatoon.

Mr. Harper's barbed shot at whining elites attending glitzy affairs was curious, given that his wife Laureen is the honorary chair of the National Arts Centre's gala next month in Ottawa.

The performers — including Colm Feore and Wendy Crewson — noted that the arts provide 1.1 million jobs within cultural industries and contribute $86-billion to the GDP.

They say the $45-million that the Conservative government cut from culture funding last summer could seriously damage their industry.

The performers called on voters to reject the Tory cuts and demand that the government restore stable funding, with Mr. Feore saying the arts are crucial to Canada's identity.

Actress Leah Pinsent, who is Mr. Pinsent's daughter, said today it is culture, not economics, that truly makes a nation.

“If we as Canadians are left only with other people's stories .. then what can we be proud of?” she asked. “There will be nothing left to be proud of.

“... We don't visit Rome, Japan or Africa to learn about their economies. We go to experience their culture.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton also lashed out at Mr. Harper's arts comments. Speaking in Kenora, Ont., Mr. Layton challenged the Conservative Leader to repeat in French a comment he made in English on Tuesday. When the Conservative Leader commented on the government's $45-million in cuts to arts and cultural programs, saying the issue is of little concern to ordinary Canadians, he did not repeat the same comments in French.

The arts cuts issue has drawn the most outrage in Quebec, where all four major parties are fighting for close seats.

In Ontario, the arts issue was also receiving a lot of attention, with the province's culture minister Aileen Carroll saying she is “flabbergasted” by Mr. Harper's views on the role of culture in Canada.

Ms. Carroll took issue today with Mr. Harper's comments that arts programs were “a niche issue for some.” She said the Ontario government understands that arts and culture is about “how we tell our stories” but also that it contributes $20-billion annually to Ontario's economy.

She said the issue of arts funding isn't important just for artists but also for those in supporting in roles in areas like film and television production.

“The comments yesterday ... just completely leave me flabbergasted,” she said. “If we can understand that so well in this important province, I don't understand his failure to understand that.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty also weighed in on the issue although he refused to single out Mr. Harper for blame.

He said arts and culture “enrich us not only economically but in so many other ways.” He said a society does not reveal itself through its roads and golf courses but rather through its literature, architecture and music.

“It simply enriches the enjoyment of our lives,” Mr. McGuinty said. “I think that's pretty powerful stuff and I think we should continue to find ways to support arts and culture.”

- With a file from Omar El Akkad and Canadian Press

To be creative is, in fact, Canadian

To be creative is, in fact, Canadian
by MARGARET ATWOOD
Reposted from: theglobeandmail.com,September 24, 2008 at 11:00 PM EDT

Mr. Harper is wrong: There's more to the arts than a bunch of rich people at galas whining about their grants

What sort of country do we want to live in? What sort of country do we already live in? What do we like? Who are we?

At present, we are a very creative country. For decades, we've been punching above our weight on the world stage - in writing, in popular music and in many other fields. Canada was once a cultural void on the world map, now it's a force. In addition, the arts are a large segment of our economy: The Conference Board estimates Canada's cultural sector generated $46-billion, or 3.8 per cent of Canada's GDP, in 2007. And, according to the Canada Council, in 2003-2004, the sector accounted for an “estimated 600,000 jobs (roughly the same as agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, oil & gas and utilities combined).”

But we've just been sent a signal by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he gives not a toss for these facts. Tuesday, he told us that some group called “ordinary people” didn't care about something called “the arts.” His idea of “the arts” is a bunch of rich people gathering at galas whining about their grants. Well, I can count the number of moderately rich writers who live in Canada on the fingers of one hand: I'm one of them, and I'm no Warren Buffett. I don't whine about my grants because I don't get any grants. I whine about other grants - grants for young people, that may help them to turn into me, and thus pay to the federal and provincial governments the kinds of taxes I pay, and cover off the salaries of such as Mr. Harper. In fact, less than 10 per cent of writers actually make a living by their writing, however modest that living may be. They have other jobs. But people write, and want to write, and pack into creative writing classes, because they love this activity – not because they think they'll be millionaires.

Every single one of those people is an “ordinary person.” Mr. Harper's idea of an ordinary person is that of an envious hater without a scrap of artistic talent or creativity or curiosity, and no appreciation for anything that's attractive or beautiful. My idea of an ordinary person is quite different. Human beings are creative by nature. For millenniums we have been putting our creativity into our cultures - cultures with unique languages, architecture, religious ceremonies, dances, music, furnishings, textiles, clothing and special cuisines. “Ordinary people” pack into the cheap seats at concerts and fill theatres where operas are brought to them live. The total attendance for “the arts” in Canada in fact exceeds that for sports events. “The arts” are not a “niche interest.” They are part of being human.

Moreover, “ordinary people” are participants. They form book clubs and join classes of all kinds - painting, dancing, drawing, pottery, photography - for the sheer joy of it. They sing in choirs, church and other, and play in marching bands. Kids start garage bands and make their own videos and web art, and put their music on the Net, and draw their own graphic novels. “Ordinary people” have other outlets for their creativity, as well: Knitting and quilting have made comebacks; gardening is taken very seriously; the home woodworking shop is active. Add origami, costume design, egg decorating, flower arranging, and on and on ... Canadians, it seems, like making things, and they like appreciating things that are made.

They show their appreciation by contributing. Canadians of all ages volunteer in vast numbers for local and city museums, for their art galleries and for countless cultural festivals - I think immediately of the Chinese New Year and the Caribana festival in Toronto, but there are so many others. Literary festivals have sprung up all over the country - volunteers set them up and provide the food, and “ordinary people” will drag their lawn chairs into a field - as in Nova Scotia's Read by the Sea - in order to listen to writers both local and national read and discuss their work. Mr. Harper has signalled that as far as he is concerned, those millions of hours of volunteer activity are a waste of time. He holds them in contempt.

I suggest that considering the huge amount of energy we spend on creative activity, to be creative is “ordinary.” It is an age-long and normal human characteristic: All children are born creative. It's the lack of any appreciation of these activities that is not ordinary. Mr. Harper has demonstrated that he has no knowledge of, or respect for, the capacities and interests of “ordinary people.” He's the “niche interest.” Not us.

It's been suggested that Mr. Harper's disdain for the arts is not merely a result of ignorance or a tin ear - that it is “ideologically motivated.” Now, I wonder what could be meant by that? Mr. Harper has said quite rightly that people understand we ought to keep within a budget. But his own contribution to that budget has been to heave the Liberal-generated surplus overboard so we have nothing left for a rainy day, and now, in addition, he wants to jeopardize those 600,000 arts jobs and those billions of dollars they generate for Canadians. What's the idea here? That arts jobs should not exist because artists are naughty and might not vote for Mr. Harper? That Canadians ought not to make money from the wicked arts, but only from virtuous oil? That artists don't all live in one constituency, so who cares? Or is it that the majority of those arts jobs are located in Ontario and Quebec, and Mr. Harper is peeved at those provinces, and wants to increase his ongoing gutting of Ontario - $20-billion a year of Ontario taxpayers' money going out, a dribble grudgingly allowed back in - and spank Quebec for being so disobedient as not to appreciate his magnificence? He likes punishing, so maybe the arts-squashing is part of that: Whack the Heartland.

Or is it even worse? Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists, because they're a mouthy lot and they don't line up and salute very easily. Of course, you can always get some tame artists to design the uniforms and flags and the documentary about you, and so forth - the only kind of art you might need - but individual voices must be silenced, because there shall be only One Voice: Our Master's Voice. Maybe that's why Mr. Harper began by shutting down funding for our artists abroad. He didn't like the competition for media space.

The Conservative caucus has already learned that lesson. Rumour has it that Mr. Harper's idea of what sort of art you should hang on your wall was signalled by his removal of all pictures of previous Conservative prime ministers from their lobby room - including John A. and Dief the Chief - and their replacement by pictures of none other than Mr. Harper himself. History, it seems, is to begin with him. In communist countries, this used to be called the Cult of Personality. Mr. Harper is a guy who - rumour has it, again - tried to disband the student union in high school and then tried the same thing in college. Destiny is calling him, the way it called Qin Shi Huang, the Chinese emperor who burnt all records of the rulers before himself. It's an impulse that's been repeated many times since, the list is very long. Tear it down and level it flat, is the common motto. Then build a big statue of yourself. Now that would be Art! Adapted from the 2008 Hurtig Lecture, to be delivered in Edmonton on Oct. 1

EVENT: Winnipeg Roller Derby League Social

The Winnipeg Roller Derby League Social is joining the DoC by rolling out news on the criminally irresponsible actions of the Conservative government!

Come support your local derby girls in some scandalous fun and tell the Conservatives to shove off all at once!



Host:Winnipeg Roller Derby League
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Time: 8:00 p.m. - 2:30 a.m.
Location: Hooligan's Neighbourhood Pub
Street: 61 Sherbrook Street
City/Town: Winnipeg, MB
Email: info@winnipegrollerderbyleague.com

Your local derby league needs some help to get things rolling.

Come out to our first official party!

There will be bands (The Thrashers and Spread Em), prizes, a freak show, burlesque, pillow fights, ripped fishnets and much, much more!

Advanced tickets are $8 and the door will be $10.

If anybody would like to make donations for auction or buy advanced tickets please contact the league at info@winnipegrollerderbyleague.com

Visit our website at www.winnipegrollerderbyleague.com

EVENT: All Fired Up!

What better day to tell the Conservatives their days are numbered than on National Coming out Day?

The DoC is thrilled to partner with All Fired Up! A Fantasia Affair Evening of Queer Performance - Celebrating National Coming Out Day!

Whoo!

Host: The Fantasia Affair
Date October 11, 2008
Time: 8:30 p.m. til late! -- Showtime at 10:00 p.m.
Location: Club Desire
Street: 411 Main Street
City/Town: Winnipeg, MB
Contact InfoEmail: thefantasiaaffair@gmail.com

A night of thought provoking gender bending, sultry belly dancing, sexy burlesque and sordid queer performance art!



Admission: $5 (before 9:15 pm), $8 (after 9:15 pm)

Hosted by Grandpa Grumpy Pants

And featuring performances by:
Electra Storm
Carlos Las Vegas
Kenny Phister
Jiminy Lickit
Owen Head
Yitzack Craig
Vijay J. Bollywood
and Define Movement

With a special group performance by the Fantasia Affair (Lizzy La La, Carlos Las Vegas, Dark Kent, Dex Starr, Barry Waterloo, Phil McCrackin,Vijay J. Bollywood) .
Choreographed by Dammecia Hall, Define Movement

Dancing to follow with DJ Fleur!

18+ 'cuz we love to show skin!

Check this event often for updates!

An IDKE X fundraiser - www.idkex.com
Our last fundraiser before we head to IDKE X representing Winnipeg!

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