The London protests against the museums’ acceptance and use of BP money brings to the forefront a matter the museums would like to keep quiet about. According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, BP’s donation amounted to less than 1 percent of the British Museum’s budget in 2010-11, meaning BP is far from an essential donor to the museum. Out of the £10 million pledged to the four London museums in 2011, the British Museum would only see £2.5 million if split equally. While it would be bad enough if BP was monopolizing budget donations to museums, it’s just as bad, if not worse, that BP is essentially buying PR through museum donations to legitimize its abhorrent social and environmental impact with its insignificant donations.

Sponsorship of the arts has become a key method used by the fossil fuel industry to accentuate its power, as actors in the industry are easily placed on high pedestals of social approval through such cultural institutions as museums. Donations have allowed BP to hide its corporate crimes by purchasing a thin veil of social legitimacy. These oil giants supply less than 1 per cent of the annual income of organizations like the Tate and the British Museum, and yet they receive a large amount of high profile branding in return, allowing them to present themselves as respectable patrons of the necessary pillars of society.

Donations have allowed BP to hide its corporate crimes by purchasing a thin veil of social legitimacy.

The events in London remind us that museums and galleries of all kinds have both the potential to galvanize social change and also the responsibility to do so. Even if BP’s funding contributed significantly to museum budgets, the general social benefit accrued from well-funded public museums would not outweigh the museums’ hypocrisy of accepting that money. For example, just this month, the Tate Modern installed solar panels on its roof. Judith Nesbitt, the museum’s director of national and international programs, commented, “Together with our plans for heat recovery and natural ventilation in the new building, we are exploring a whole range of approaches to reduce energy use.” The Tate Modern cannot conceivably think it can truly reduce energy use and also benefit from the profits of fossil fuels, even marginally.

Social institutions should be deploying social agency and cultural authority in a way that is aligned and consistent with the values of contemporary society. As a medium for mass communication through powerful, perceived cultural authority, museums’ potential as agents of change should not be underestimated. Eilean Hooper Greenhill, a director at the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries at the University of Leicester, brings attention to the socially constructed nature of learning in museums and the dialogue that goes on between the individual and their physical environment. She explains how education is influenced by presentation and the physical setting. Learning in museums operates in rich and complex sites, and in focusing on concrete materials such as objects and exhibitions, is qualitatively superior to learning from other mediums. Museums offer an experience from which visitors then actively construct meaning.

In turn, having oil companies fund museum exhibits sends a message to the public that is too consequential to be ignored: not only does it completely undermine any pro-environmental message from the museum, but the museum itself loses its legitimacy as a social institution when its hypocrisy has broken the public’s trust.

In order to maintain freedom to expose and criticize any aspect of society, including supporting beneficial pro-environmental causes, social institutions themselves have to be free of compromising ties. The British Museum, and any other museum in similar economic contracts, will be further undermining its influence and legitimacy if it renews its deal with BP, because the core of its authority relies on public trust. If the institution itself is corrupt, then the values and principles it advocates inside its walls will lose all significance.

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Fantasia International Film Festival:
Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival is one of the largest events dedicated to genre film in Canada and the U.S… Founded in 1996 as an event dedicated to Asian films, today the festival screens genre films from all across the world. Placing pop and alternative culture side by side, the festival defines genre films as “a challenging and elegant stream of cinema.” Its audience is known to be very passionate and enthusiastic, and they seem to appreciate the so-called challenging elegance, as the festival is gaining in success every year. According to Variety magazine, “the event received a record 129,000 attendees [in 2014], up 30 per cent from the 2013 festival.” Tickets are already starting to sell out for some of the screenings, so hurry up and save your seat.

The Fantasia International Film Festival will screen shows from July 16 to August 4 at various locations. Tickets can be purchased at fantasiafestival.com

Montreal Sketchfest:
Sick of scripted theatre? Switch things up a bit this May with Sketchfest, Montreal’s annual festival dedicated to sketch comedy and improv. Featuring over forty sketch troupes from around the continent, the ten-day event includes workshops as well as performances, a perfect learning opportunity for any Montrealer seeking to tap into their funny bone. For its 2015 edition, the festival is branching out, hosting a solo character sketch evening, and partnering with Women in Comedy Montreal to celebrate “the ladies of comedy.” This year also marks the festival’s tenth anniversary – hopefully that means ten times the laughs.

Montreal Sketchfest runs May 21 to 30 at Théâtre Ste. Catherine and the Montreal Improv Theatre. Festival passes can be purchased at theatrestecatherine.com.

St. Ambroise Fringe Festival:
The sole principles of Montreal’s annual fringe festival are no artistic direction, no censorship, and no one gets left out. Because participants are selected by lottery, they have the freedom to do whatever they want. The festival strongly believes in accessibility for both performers and audiences – ticket prices are kept low, and whatever cost there is goes directly back to the artists. The result is a wild and crazy festival that brings out some of the most innovative theatre you are ever likely to see on stage, from a diverse and eclectic group of performers. Last year, the bilingual festival brought us such shows as Roller Derby Saved My Soul and Talking Cock. There is no telling what’s in store for 2015, but it won’t be a year to miss.

The St. Ambroise Fringe Festival runs June 1 to 21. Head to montrealfringe.ca for details.

Montreal Jazz Fest:
Montreal Jazz Fest is an internationally acclaimed event, jam-packed with the best of the best in the genre, and perfect for a long, hot late June evening. If you feel like some day drinks to go with the tunes, try House of Jazz, as their patio has no cover charge and a great drink menu. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also a historic jazz venue with famously beautiful decor, hosting stars on its stage since 1968. Recommended artists to check out include Jamie Cullum, a jazz vocalist/pianist with a young flair who covers Rihanna and Jimi Hendrix when he isn’t charming the crowd with his original material, as well as Valerie June, an up-and-coming bluegrass-folk artist with a dreamy voice reminiscent of a gospel choir.

The 36th Montreal Jazz Festival runs from June 26 to July 5. Presale tickets can be purchased at montrealjazzfest.com.

SUMMER SPOTS:

Kem CoBa & La Diperie:
Summer isn’t complete without the perfect ice cream cone, and Montreal provides one-of-a-kind options. If you go for a walk in the Mile End this summer, you won’t miss the line up outside Kem CoBa. A neighbourhood favorite, Kem CoBa is beloved for its homemade, soft-serve ice cream and sorbet combo, featuring an original recipe every few weeks. Combos like almond milk and sour cherry, or Quebec blueberry and honey, are inspired by the two chefs’ own rebellious natures, as they both left the traditional pastry industry in search of more creative freedom.

Less well-known, but no less delicious, is La Diperie, a pop-up ice cream shop that graces the Lower Plateau throughout the summer and early fall. La Diperie serves up soft-serve ice cream with more options for chocolate dippings than you knew existed – everything from Baileys to fleur de sel. Dip into the shop this summer and taste the goodness for yourself.

Laurier Park & Parc Belmont:
After the winter we’ve had, don’t miss any opportunity to spend time outside this summer and soak up some sun. In the Plateau, Laurier Park is a perfect picnic spot. There’s an outdoor pool, endless green grass for lounging and reading, and even ping pong tables, if that’s your thing. It’s also just a good place to sit back and take in the vibrancy of summer in the city.

If you’re looking for a quieter day in the sun, check out Parc Belmont. A buzzing amusement park from 1923 to 1983, today it’s one of the lesser-known green spots in the city. Though it’s no longer home to candy apples, a ferris wheel, or a roller skating rink, it’s still a worthwhile spot for a quiet day of reminiscing, located right on the edge of Rivière-des-prairies.

First Fridays & Farmers’ Markets:
First Fridays are the largest gatherings of food trucks in Montreal. Held on the first Friday of every month from May to October, they draws together mouth-watering street food in a festive atmosphere at the Parc Olympique with live music and DJs, so you can sway to some beats while munching down on your choice of treats.

If street food has you feeling guilty, then you can also indulge in fresh fruits, veggies, and more at the local farmers’ markets popping up around the city. In the Lower Plateau, Santropol Roulant sells baskets of urban garden-grown veggies. If you’re up for a short trip outside of the city, you can head to Arundel to pick up summer fruits from Runaway Creek Farm. Bask in 200 acres of lake, picnic areas, and hiking trails – a natural paradise if there ever was one.

Verdun Greenhouses:
Feel like busting some moves with friends and family? Venture out to Verdun for some outdoor community dancing. The Verdun Greenhouses are only open in the summer and function as the neighbourhood’s outdoor social dancing hotspot, free of charge, and equipped with 511 square meters of a rubber-coated cement dance floor. The dance schedule for 2015 has not been announced yet, but judging by last year’s schedule, the afternoons and evenings will feature many styles – ranging from the likes of tango, salsa, and Zumba to line dancing. The dancing usually goes on for three to four hours, so wear comfy shoes, and come ready to sweat.

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What many people will tell you is that they watch the Oscars just for the entertainment of seeing the stars, but that they don’t actually ‘take it seriously.’ Like the very films they celebrate, these award shows are insights into another world: a romanticized world that lures us in with its seeming accessibility (“celebrities – they’re just like us!”) side by side with the out-of-reach dimension of luxury, wealth, and fame. Viewers are not so much interested in the movies themselves as in the lives of the VIPs and most recent looks.

Others will tell you that they don’t watch the red carpet or pay attention to any of the framing frivolity – they watch because they love movies, and the Oscars are the experts’ opinions on the best of the best. The label of excellence that an Oscar gives to a movie or an actor has been so deeply accepted by society that it can singlehandedly make a movie stand the test of time across generations. Once an actor wins an Oscar, their talent will forever be affirmed with the glorious epitaph, “Academy Award winner.”

While these two types of viewers may appear to have different motives on the surface, ultimately, they look to the Oscars for the same reason: cultural capital. Whether it’s dictating what dress to buy or what film to respect, the Oscars have a uniquely powerful ubiquity within North American culture and society. As Susan Nathan, Director of Media Research for Universal McCann, puts it, “the bottom line is that Academy Award watchers are active consumers.” According to Nathan, these consumers “want to be on the leading edge of all things cultural.”

As university students, we are highly active cultural consumers, the target demographic for moviemakers and style setters. As such, it is essential for us to understand the Academy’s impact on our choices – from the movies we watch to the way we perceive cultural value. We often take the label of the Oscars for granted, forgetting the voting process that works behind it.

The Oscars influence society on so many levels, and on multiple time frames. Both the red carpet frivolity and the actual awards tell us what is the ‘best,’ and what we should strive to be as a society.

According to the LA Times, out of the 5,765 people who vote for the Oscars, 94 per cent are Caucasian, 77 per cent are male, and the median age is 62. These statistics have recently come to the foreground of Oscar talk, in the wake of outrage over the lack of diversity in this year’s nominations. Some responses see this lack of diversity as a failure of the Oscars, while others, such as the recent article in the McGill Tribune, don’t think diversity has anything to do with it – the Oscars nominations are subjectively picked by 6,000 people who just didn’t like Selma that much. Though this year’s whitewashed Oscars are disheartening, the situation is nothing new. Instead, it’s a reminder of the essence of the institution that is the Academy Awards.

The Oscars influence society on so many levels, and on multiple time frames. Both the red carpet frivolity and the actual awards tell us what is the ‘best,’ and what we should strive to be as a society. In the short run and at the most artificial level, we are influenced by the fashion and hairstyles of the elites. Even though most of the fun comes from critiquing certain looks and dresses, what the actors and actresses wear on the red carpet each year partially represents the style of a generation.

If you look back at pictures of the stars at the Oscars ten years ago, you can see how the trends and tastes have evolved. That’s the power of the institution: shaping our cultural memory, our conceptions of ourselves as a society. The Oscars set a certain film or actor in stone for the future generations to refer back to as the representative of past epoques. They function as a vehicle of inter-generational communication. More immediately, the Oscars decide which movie and which movements and actors commemorate the year. So in a year marked by Ferguson and Eric Garner, a year marked by the feminism of Beyoncé and Emma Watson, it’s almost an act of erasure, as well as a harsh reminder of the status quo, to see a slate of white male nominees.

The Academy is a powerful institution and an authority that constantly shapes and reshapes society, but it’s important to remember that that’s not what it was created for. For those who love film, let it be a celebration of movies. For those who love dresses, let it be a night for fashion. But if the Academy Awards are supposed to be the best of the best, then they’ve still got a long way to go. So while we listen to the speeches, let’s also pay attention to the narratives they put forward, the narratives that Hollywood puts forward as a privileged institution. We can’t change the Academy overnight, but what we can do is remain critical of it, and acknowledge the limits of its vote as one powerful voice separate from our own.

The post And the Oscar goes to… appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Indeed, if you choose to study English Literature here, you might realize that the majority of your credits will have to be earned from studying British or North American authors, and that you will be given little time to explore the others. You might notice it when you sit staring at your screen and try to decide between a major Canadian writer, a major modernist writer (usually American or European), or three dead British men – Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer – to fulfill your credit requirements in the “Major Author” category. All non-Western authors then remain ‘minor.’ All courses that subvert the traditional canon remain optional and peripheral.

One could argue that McGill is simply fulfilling its job of teaching students a tradition that we have inherited, a tradition that Canadian society adopted and modified after its inception. As a tradition that comes to us from England, the English literary canon is a function of society’s interpretations and understandings of the past; a systematic approach to studying literature that organizes texts based on how well they represent a time period, style, or genre. But the canon is also an oversimplification of what mattered and impacted literary history before us, and thus a reductive understanding of what we should always remember. As suggested by Charles Altieri, Chair in the Department of English at University of California, Berkley, canons are almost always based on “normative claim” – a motivation to recognize, preserve, and pass on to the next generation the literature that is considered ‘the best.’

All non-Western authors then remain ‘minor.’ All courses that subvert the traditional canon remain optional and peripheral.

However, where there is little consensus on what constitutes ‘the best,’ as with something as subjective as literature, the judgement of quality is often made and enforced by those in power. Works that constitute the traditional English literary canon were first chosen as ‘the best’ by Cambridge and Oxford elites and have continued to be hand-picked by elect academic institutions since then. The canon is a representation of an exclusive ideal rather than a reality, and as such is never representative of a whole population’s literary tastes.

The traditional canon is the ideal of powerful social groups who can pass off works that promote their particular tastes and values as the objective best, turning their subjective judgements into indisputable fact. But for better or for worse, this reduction of the literary past and present to only certain figures has been so widely accepted and internalized by Western society that if McGill wants its students to obtain a ‘valuable’ degree in English Literature – that is, a degree that will give them a competitive edge in the academic market – the university must continue to pass on this tradition.

Learning about the English canon – or teaching it, for that matter – does not necessarily mean students such as myself wish to perpetuate it, nor that we agree with its ahistorical, ethnocentric values.

English Literature students in general seem to agree that McGill does a good job of teaching them what they ‘ought’ to know with a BA in English, according to popular Western standards. Manuel Cardenas, a PhD student at McGill in Comparative Literature, acknowledges that “the [McGill] English program does quite a good job of providing a thorough engagement with the accepted canon […] and allowing for opportunities beyond the canon. […] So any objections would seem to be objections with the canon in general.”

Nazanin Panah, a second-year student majoring in English Literature, agrees, saying that “modifying the program would be a little complicated, because as an ‘English’ literature program it would make sense that the core courses would be Western authors, as they’re the ones who primarily contributed to and defined the English canon, especially in the past.” Though it is impossible to deny the canon’s shortcomings, it is also very hard to disregard its literary and social significance completely. The canon has become so common that we take its validity for granted.

However, learning about the English canon – or teaching it, for that matter – does not necessarily mean students such as myself wish to perpetuate it, nor that we agree with its ahistorical, ethnocentric values. On the contrary, thorough knowledge of the traditional canon allows us to criticize it, and can even be a useful tool for deduction. Studying the canon allows us to understand the mechanisms of power that shaped it, making some works more important than others, placing some authors at the top while forgetting the rest. Even in some introductory classes such as Departmental Survey of English Literature 2 (ENGL 203), we are taught the importance of the canon as an overview of famous authors, but also of its limitations in terms of it being a very selective representation of a society in any particular period.

“Within courses sometimes, because [the literature is] outside of the ‘norm,’ the author and the narrator are conflated, and we use the authors as representatives of an entire culture.”

Still, McGill and other academic institutions can prescribe reading lists in English courses that include and represent a wider variety of social groups. What makes this difficult is the time constraint that the traditional canon already imposes on undergraduate studies. After studying the canon in detail, there is only so much time left to study other authors. This issue leads to what Panah calls “the bigger problem”; that of essentializing an author as a culture. “Within courses sometimes, because [the literature is] outside of the ‘norm,’” she explains, “the author and the narrator are conflated, and we use the authors as representatives of an entire culture.” A whole population is then palatably packaged into a singular representation for our consumption. Who doesn’t know a student who read Junot Díaz and now suddenly understands not only the Dominican-American experience, but also what it means to be Latino in America?

Sandeep Banerjee, a professor in McGill’s department of English Literature, expanded on another challenge that faces those hoping to create a non-normative syllabus. He explained that all English Literature programs follow the same syllabus in part as a function of the availability of the works themselves. “I want to teach a course on a certain author from the Caribbean, and [the] Paragraphe [bookstore] tells me they don’t have copies of his work,” he says. The strong focus on Western authors is part of a norm that has been so widely accepted that professors often lack access to necessary resources in order to offer an in-depth or expansive study of non-Western authors. Banerjee stresses that this “has to do with the literary marketplace, the publishing industry, how they feed into universities.” Banerjee argues that “we need to pursue a policy of social equity – aggressively – toward a more inclusive education,” stating that “there needs to be a certain expansion of education as a phenomenon. Not to think of education as a profit-making machine.” However, he maintains that McGill “does a good job of maintaining a balance between the normative canon and doing things that are not canonical.” Indeed, that McGill has two professors teaching postcolonial works is still an anomaly in the academic world.

The challenge that remains is derived from contested ideas about the nature of literature and canonization itself, questions that ask whether it is possible or even useful to define a discrete and stable English canon. The canon is a type of social agreement, though elite and ahistorical, that works to regulate university curriculums. No matter what we think of the canon and the values it enforces, today it remains an inevitable reality in our academic careers. That said, it may not serve the same purpose now that it once did. While the canon was created to ensure that the ‘best’ of each period in time were remembered, today it has become an indispensable tool for uncovering the hidden reality of literature’s socio-political context – revealing the power behind the pages.

The post Critiquing the canon appeared first on The McGill Daily.

An online-based publication, Ricochet currently has a teaser site up and running while its full website is still being built. The teaser introduces the startup’s goals, claiming Ricochet will act as a “counterweight to corporate media.” In a world where most mainstream media is controlled by an oligarchy of corporations, it will be difficult for a new distributor to act in opposition while still maintaining a wide readership. Editor Ethan Cox explained to The Daily via phone that Ricochet will accomplish this by practicing “public interest journalism,” which is “all too often consumed by this false idea of impartiality: that journalism is to give equal time to both sides, no matter how ludicrous one side of the facts of a particular case are.”

“In a lot of ways this is a new model of journalism and in a lot of other ways this is about [re]turning journalism to its roots,” Cox added, elaborating that for Ricochet, journalism’s roots are “the people.” Ricochet will achieve this goal by giving its journalists the freedom to go wherever their stories might take them, to investigate, and, unlike most mainstream media, to challenge the status quo. “We’re not going to be partisan, we’re going to criticize the [New Democratic Party] and the Conservatives equally when we think they deserve it […] No punches will be pulled,” said Cox.

Ricochet is hardly the first publication to make such optimistic and oppositional claims. Due to the wide readership the outlet seeks, it will be more difficult for it to stick to its mission statement than for the average grassroots paper. What sets Ricochet apart from most larger publications, however, is its independent funding. Over the past month, the publication’s teaser website has been used to fundraise toward the target of $75,000, which will mostly be used to cover the high cost of investigative journalism (the startup has already commissioned two journalists, Michael Lee-Murphy in New England and Emma Pullman in British Columbia, to investigate the distribution of oil by rail and pipeline). Despite the fact that the fruits of this investigative journalism are just beginning to reach the public (sample content is gradually being released online), Ricochet’s pre-launch marketing is proving to be a success – the team has received endorsements from big names such as social critic Noam Chomsky and author/activist Linda McQuaig, and recently announced that they have raised almost $83,000, well past their target.

Half of this funding has come from people living in Quebec, a province that Ricochet’s teaser site singles out as one the publication’s primary focuses. The outlet wants to “provide a bridge between Quebec and the rest of the country,” according to Cox, “because the communication across that provincial border has been historically terrible.” One only has to look as far back as the 2012 Quebec student protests, which saw a huge disconnect between English and French coverage, to see the truth in this statement. With a team of anglophones and francophones, as well as several former activists for Quebec student group Coalition large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE), Ricochet will attempt to build this bridge by publishing both a French and English edition. “People have this perception that Quebecers are all sovereignty and hate Canada, but the fact of the matter is, no one is more desperate for this model of interaction and exchange than people here in Quebec,” said Cox.

Cox’s belief that Quebec is “desperate” for a new media outlet will likely prove crucial to Ricochet’s success as a startup. The challenge of gaining and maintaining a wide readership, one that many long-standing companies already struggle with, is even more pressing for an independent outlet. Ricochet seems to rely on the hope that people will see the good in paying journalists, and will in turn contribute to the startup every month. Cox explains that this method of crowd-sourced journalism will work because “we get the best quality of journalism when we pay journalists to do it, and the Canadians will respond and will reach into their own pockets to fund that bilingualism and that quality of journalism.”

Whether or not the system of micro-payment crowd-funding will last through time is a different question. Ricochet faces a constantly updating world, where relevance often trumps loyalty. It is one thing to generate excitement with a progressive mission statement and superstar supporters, but it is quite another to garner a loyal and engaged readership. It remains to be seen whether new readers will pay for news they won’t even be able to access on their phones. So far, however, the Ricochet team is determined and confident that people will choose to support them in building this new media platform.

While Ricochet portrays itself as a new, original, and essential publication, the concept is far from unique. However the project has been gaining enough attention that it may also gain some mainstream sway – provided that the people it serves like what it is serving. Ricochet has everything it needs to get up and running: the talent, the buzz, and the principles. But to succeed in filling the void currently left by the corporate mainstream media, it will also need the people’s trust.

The post Exploring the ‘Ricochet Effect’ appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The BDS campaign was initiated in 2005, and demands “full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, an end to the occupation and colonization of all Arab lands – including the Golan Heights, the Occupied West Bank with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – and dismantling the Wall, and the protection of Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in U.N. resolution 194,” according to the website for Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) USA.

On March 11, Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and writer, came to McGill to talk about the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli apartheid regime that she referred to as “an Indigenous struggle against settler colonialism.”

Through the examination of Israeli law, Erakat works to denounce the institutionalized discrimination established against the Palestinian Christian and Arab population. She highlighted the fact that without an established constitution, the Basic Laws of Israel, which form an important part of the Israeli constitution, hold no guaranteed right to equality.

“What separates these two populations has not necessarily been a physical separation but even more so, it is the privilege that is afforded to the Jewish-Israeli population,” Erakat explained.

“We describe this situation as ‘the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts,’” she continued, “which distorts what is actually going on [because] it equates the Palestinian people and the Israeli people in the form of a conflict, when in fact what would be more accurate would be to say, ‘The Palestinian and Israeli conflict is a conflict because Israel has been a state since 1948, and Palestinians have been a stateless people since 1948.’”

Rana Salah, an organizer of IAW Montreal, told The Daily, “I hope that IAW will bring about understanding and empowerment to the McGill community. The unfortunate reality is that IAW continues to be a taboo topic for many. This taboo nature only continues to entrench racist attitudes towards Palestinians. A clearer understanding of the Palestine-Israel topic will foster a greater sense of understanding and respect amongst the McGill community.

 “It also empowers McGill students by encouraging them to voice their concerns on the ongoing apartheid treatment of Palestinians, and to resist via the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The BDS movement aims to pressure Israel to respect human rights and to cease with its apartheid policies,” Salah continued.

Salah mentioned that she is very happy with the results of IAW so far. She explained, “Israeli Apartheid Week once started as a very fringe, ‘radical’ movement. It has now moved to the centre of the Israeli-Palestinian debate. It has not yet penetrated mainstream societal views, but support continues to grow.”

The post Tenth annual Israeli Apartheid Week comes to Montreal appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Montreal has over 50 indoor and outdoor theatre and performance venues, according to the National Theatre School of Canada. The majority of these showcase francophone performances, while the Centaur Theatre Company and the Segal Centre for Performing Arts reign over the anglophone theatrical scene. But a number of independent anglophone theatre organizations have sprung up in the past few decades and continue to develop, often dabbling in bilingualism.

Amy Blackmore, director of the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival told Silo Magazine, “The [Montreal] anglophone community really needs the Fringe. The theatre community doesn’t have tons of opportunities for emerging artists in Montreal. Whereas, on the French side, there’s lots of opportunities all year. So they don’t need it as much as anglophone artists.” The Fringe Festival has recently implemented a quota to ensure it features both French and English productions. Blackmore reports that the festival headquarters themselves have become bilingual. “I’ve been joking about the idea of next year having a Frenglish category for quotas at the festival,” said Blackmore. “Now I’m wondering, is there a need for [a Frenglish category]?”

“As an audience member going to see performances I don’t feel that language should be a barrier,” explained Daniel Carter, the Drama & Theatre Representative for the Department of English Student Association (DESA), and the Publicity Director and Secretary for the McGill Savoy Society, “it is only one tool of many that is used in theatre, and understanding and meaning can come from several outlets, not just language. I’m hopeful to see a more diverse collection of theatre at McGill and in Montreal in later years; witnessing a performance in a different language is pleasantly surprising and enjoyable.”

But the number and diversity of people who come to see McGill theatre productions is still very limited, partly due to this language barrier. “Honestly, most of the people who attend [McGill theatre productions] are people who know someone in the show, or who are heavily involved in McGill theatre,” said McNeil.

This does not, however, limit the knowledge and experience gained from working with the McGill theatre community. For many, McGill theatre has been the stepping stone for later entering the greater Montreal theatre community.

“I have found that the strength of the McGill theatre community lies within the foundation it has provided for many people to move on into various theatrical performances in the larger Montreal community,” explained Jess Banner, Publicity Director for the Players’ Theatre. “Theatre companies have been formed and [have] succeeded in the world of Montreal theatre in part from the experience and support of the McGill community. As the community is fairly small, the sense of support is tangible.”

“A lot of theatre buffs from McGill have gone [on] to work within the established Montreal theatre community, and some have even created their own production companies,” said McNeil. “Quite a lot of these people are still in touch with their McGill roots, especially through social media.”

Juggling a class load and involvement in campus theatre often limits the time and energy students can put into looking for gigs off-campus. “My off-campus theatre experience is a bit limited [and] my main role is being a theatregoer and watching the plays and productions that are in the community,” explained Carter. “However, just this year, I have decided to branch out into the Montreal theatre scene and will be performing in the Montreal Fringe Festival in June.”

Despite the language barrier, theatre at McGill provides something unique and invaluable for students trying to turn their passion into a career. “I find that the student theatre at McGill is very politically, socially, and culturally aware, much like many productions that are being mounted in Montreal,” said Carter. “I like to think that both McGill and Montreal theatre [aim] to make a critique and be critical of things, rather than existing solely for entertainment. There’s quite a bit of experimental theatre that happens in Montreal and I think there is a simultaneous mirroring of this between student theatre and professional theatre. At the same [time], I think student theatre is more aware of itself as being something greater than just theatre and performance. It seems that many directors and performers want to do something with their work – to have an effect on those watching, not just being concerned with entertainment.”

Yet most acknowledge that members of the McGill theatre community still need to actively make an effort to get out of the bubble. “It’s difficult to get involved if you don’t have a network and the right resources,” said Carter. “In my experience, so far, it really depends on who you know. And while you are trying to build these connections, it takes a lot of time and patience to find the right opportunities and meet the right people who will be helpful in your theatre career. Also, not knowing the right vocabulary as you start off in Montreal theatre, and any greater theatre community, gets to be a bit inhibiting. It’s important to just keep trying and searching and not being afraid to take those chances [and to know that] something will come along.”

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A photograph can seem like the most accurate representation of an event, as it displays an exact, static 2D representation of a 3D event, but here Tomas emphasizes how photos actually represent the viewpoint of the person behind the camera. Each image in the exhibit is projected on a small individual screen: some are photographs, some are looping bits of film, like animated GIFs. The images zoom in and out, focusing on different details, some of which he’s manipulated himself, like miniscule printed words (“time,” “eternity,” “freedom”) that appear one after the other on the sleeve of a man working in a garage. By manipulating the photos in such a way, but offering little in the way of verbal explanation, Tomas ensures the only concrete meaning found in his works exists in the mind of the viewer, and that he’s the one steering their interpretation.

As a consequence, the personal knowledge, experience, and worldview of the viewer become central to the exhibit. It is a bit hard to judge how important some of the images are to a larger statement about history. One of the projections shows trees passing on both sides of an empty road, as if you were looking through the back window of the car as you left the countryside. No sound, no action, just the continuous backward movement of the camera, reflecting the passing of time. It evoked the feeling of something slowly coming to an end, a moment of transition. It can be seen as recalling the importance of history as a proof of the passing of time, the proof that no matter what has happened, time will keep elapsing and therefore history will keep on being made.

The layout of the projections is spaced-out and geometric, reflecting a feeling of emptiness and serenity as soon as you enter the dark room. Each of the four projectors stands out on its own, partly due to the impact of the white light they emit in the obscure environment, and to the movement of the photos in different directions. Tomas uses a lot of grandiose language: in the reflective essay provided at the gallery’s entrance, he speaks of “the tensions between the possible and the impossible, the tangible and the intangible,” and the “possibility of meaning.” But without much explanation offered for the individual images, it’s hard to connect the actual work with those claims. Broad talk of the subjectivity of history and photographs rings a bit hollow when it seems that Tomas is largely focused on a very personal type of history. There’s plenty to say on the subject of history excluded from the mainstream record: the power and privilege of those who create that record, the marginalized voices they ignore, the oppression a subjective view of the past can create in the present. But Tomas’ tightly focused scope doesn’t allow for much exploration.

“David Tomas, Projections 2006-2011” will be running until December 14 at OBORO, (4001 Berri, suite 301).

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If Kashka’s new album Bound was taken off of iTunes, it’s likely only her close relatives would notice. Most people would argue that being in the top ten albums on iTunes or having over 100,000 views on YouTube does not mean that your music is better in any way, but a certain amount of recognition often correlates with an artist’s significance. After all, a little fame does mean that you’ve managed to grab the public’s attention. And this is where Kashka falls short. Her music is not bad, it just doesn’t stand out enough to merit repeat listens or referrals among fans.

In Bound’s first track, “Never Had It,” her voice is soft and sweet, sounding a bit like a more acoustic Lorde. But once the track moves on from a string of “maybe I was a fool to…” murmurs, it’s only to get stuck in a never-ending repetition of “baby we never had it anyway” which makes you want to throw out Bound for good. There are original elements in some of her songs, as she blends guitar and piano sounds, using a tambourine to give it tempo. But then the beat will pick up in a familiar, pop-y way and begins to bring to mind upbeat trying-too-hard-to-be-indie elevator music mixed with a teenager’s Disney debut. There are two reviews online and one of them points out the “something modern” that can be found in the new album. It’s true that if you pay close attention to the background sounds you can glimpse that it was thought-through, but you have to be really looking for it. All in all, Kashka’s new album Bound is missing a voice of its own. Sadly, it’s the type of music that no one will remember.

-Rochelle Guillou

Various artists – Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight to Ghana, 1974-1983
Analog Africa

2010’s Afrobeat Airways: West African Shock Waves, Ghana & Togo 1972-1978, a compilation of rare tracks by Analog Africa’s Samy Ben Redjeb from afrobeat’s golden age, was an unexpected hit with the music press that year, and no wonder, considering the quality of the songs and extensive and interesting liner notes. If anything, the scope on Afrobeat Airways 2 is broader. It extends to 1983, and as such has a more varied sound, taking in cheesier 1980s tracks, like Tony Sarfo & The Funky Afrosibi’s “I Beg,” and Waza-Afriko 76’s “Gbei Kpakpa Hife Sika,” which even has some harmonica in it. This definitely isn’t a genre that gets much exposure in the West (aside from the influence Afro-pop has had on uber-white indie rockers Vampire Weekend).

Perhaps the only criticism that could be levelled at Afrobeat Airways 2 is that many of the artists from the first record appear on this one, like Ebo Taylor Jr., Uppers International, K. Frimpong, and The African Brothers – not to mention several incarnations of De Frank. With close to a decade’s worth of music to choose from, surely there are more than 15 artists out there worth showcasing. That said, the above were all titans of the scene, and the sheer quality of the tracks makes any attack on the selection a spurious one. Brass is present throughout (as is Doors-esque organ), but on opener Uppers International’s “Aja Wondo” it is particularly irresistible. The rhythm section of the songs is also wonderfully varied. The bass on Waza-Afriko 76’s “Gbei Kpakpa Hife Sika” is pushed to the fore, whilst the drums on Ios Issufu and His Moslems’ “Kana Soro” could have come from the heavier rock songs of the period. But the highlight has got to be Rob’s flawless “Loose Up Yourself,” which combines delicate guitar and outrageous levels of funk. The tracks on Afrobeat Airways 2 may be billed as rarities, but they nonetheless serve as a great introduction to the genre.

-Joseph Renshaw

Get Scared – Everyone’s Out to Get Me
Fearless Records

The emo of the previous decade was a strange beast. A generation of suburban bands took the sound of pop-punk, the aesthetics of goth rock, and the histrionic poetry from their high school diaries, and created a musical movement that was catharsis for a certain type of angsty teenager, and a useful punchline for everyone else. But that was in 2008. Decades ago in musical microtrend years.

Utah five-piece band Get Scared (Nicholas Matthews, Johnny Braddock, Adam Virostko, and Bradley “Lloyd” Iverson, and Dan Juarez), have apparently missed the bandwagon with their new release Everyone is Out to Get Me. They hail from the slightly goth strain of emo that borrows as much from 1980s metal as it does from hardcore. It’s a combination that’s worked before. The Used and From First to Last traded in similar tropes to great effect. But Get Scared is missing their undertone of real desperation. The vampiric undertones here are more Edward Cullen than Nosferatu.

Out to Get Me isn’t without its pleasures: “For You” is bouncy and pop-y. Like early My Chemical Romance, but maybe with a little added whine. Also erring on the side of accessibility is “Us In Motion,” which aims for big and romantic, with its swelling chorus and ringing wall-of-sound power chords. It’s when they aim to capture strains of depression and vindictive paranoia promised in the album’s title that Get Scared seem to get a bit stale, as if they don’t have much new to say on the subject.

If Out to Get Me had been released between seven and ten years ago, it could have been a bona fide hit, riding the coattails of flashier, more talented acts. But emo has had to evolve. Scene success stories like Fall Out Boy and AFI have made their comebacks recently, but they’ve done so by embracing new influences – hip hop beats and electronic dynamics. Unfortunately, there are no sign of that here.

-Hillary Pasternak

Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
Domino Records

Sultry, smooth, synthy, and hypnotic are all adjectives that describe British musician and songwriter Devonté Hynes’ most recent musical creation, the album Cupid Deluxe. With vocals from Samantha Urbani and elements borrowed from various genres – rap, jazz, and disco – the album is cool personified. Released November 18, Cupid Deluxe is part of a profusion of creative endeavours for Hynes; in the past he has written and produced music for artists such as Florence and the Machine and Solange Knowles.

Cupid Deluxe begins with a hypnotic beat and shuffling, reverb-laden percussion, including repeated riffs. Suddenly, suavely, Hynes’ voice pours in the lyrics of “Chamakay.” Next up is “You’re Not Good Enough,” a catchy 1980s funk tune with smooth vocals. Then “Uncle Ace” fills the room with sounds redolent of disco, updated for 2013. Vocals and jazzy saxophone solos combine with disco-inspired riffs to create a musical hodgepodge that can only be described as delicious.

Songs like “No Right Thing” and “On The Line” are more laid back, with the latter offering up a R&B vibe. Smooth saxophone and a woman talking in a French accent update “Chosen,” which might otherwise resemble a 1980s pop ballad. The album takes a digression through rap ballads “Clipped on” and “High Street.” The latter, about gaining inspiration from the streets and persevering on the path of musicianship, is a cleverly worded and intelligent song. The lyrics are most important here, instrumentals serving as a backbone.

Some films make you laugh and cry; this album does the musical equivalent, as it takes you on a genre-instigated tour of an array of feelings. Despite this variety, Blood Orange’s sound is consistently able to captivate.

– Reba Wilson

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The panel featured Elisabeth Gidengil, a Political Science professor at McGill; Janine Krieber, a member of the Projet Montréal Board of Directors; Martine Desjardins, former Chair of the Quebec Federation of University Students (FEUQ); and Patrik Öhberg, a post-doctoral student working with the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies at Université de Montréal’s Department of Political Science.

Carly Walter, one of the organizers of the panel and PSSA Vice-President External Affairs, told The Daily that the panel was an important recognition of the inequality of political representation in Canada. “I have a lot of male friends, and they think it’s ridiculous when I talk about inequality. They don’t think it really exists anymore, or that it’s a problem, but it is. [24.7 per cent] of our federal parliament is female, which is drastic – it’s way too low.”

The panelists addressed what they believe are the reasons behind this low share of seats, and proposed possible solutions to promote women’s interest in politics.

Krieber located the problem within Canadian society. “The problem is that […] this Canadian society is not organized to accept women in politics,” she suggested, drawing on her own experience in political arenas.

Gidengil agreed, pointing to the expectation on women to take care of children and other family members. “The way Parliament operates is just not family-friendly, sitting late into the night and so on.”

On the other hand, Öhberg alleged that women’s reluctance to enter politics is due to their “natural hesitation and over-thinking” when being asked to participate in political matters – a point that Desjardins agreed with.

Finola Hackett, one of the panel organizers and a coordinator of the Women in House program, claimed instead that the reason behind this alleged reluctance lay in the unwelcoming environment in politics.

“Is it harder to convince a woman to run if she lacks the economic security, family support, or social networks to make it easier to adjust to the demanding lifestyle of politics, and if she knows she’ll face discrimination from colleagues or the media? Of course it is,” Hackett said.

NDP Member of Parliament Laurin Liu echoed this point in an interview with The Daily on the topic. “Women’s hesitation stems from other difficulties that they have in accessing roles of power that are traditionally held by men,” Liu said. “There is still a lot of work to do on that front.”

Öhberg believed that the key to promoting women’s interests would be to have more women in Parliament, a view that Shaina Agbayani, one of the panel organizers, a coordinator of the Women in House program, disagreed with.

“I don’t think that having more women in politics will change the game in itself,” Agbayani told The Daily, adding, “I think [the Women in House Program and I] recognize that there are many ‘fronts’ in this battle against the barriers for women’s equitable participation in society, and that the government is only one of them.”

The discussion also turned to women who presently hold political positions, and more particularly, to their representation in the media, which the panelists believed to be gender-biased.

“Just read a news article about a woman [in politics] and it will talk about what she is wearing. It doesn’t talk about what the guy is wearing,” Gidengil said.

Gidengil also addressed the double standard of behaviour. If women behave in an assertive manner, she said they will be portrayed as too aggressive. However, if women try to focus on consensus within politics, “[they] will get marginalized.”

Both Hackett and Agbayani acknowledged that the focus on the gender binary also left many people out of the discussion, whether they identified with a fluid concept of gender or felt that there were intersectional barriers preventing their entrance into politics.

“Though the Women in House program is specifically focused on the concern of female representation, it’s important to acknowledge that gender issues don’t exist in a vacuum, and are tied to broader injustices surrounding who gets to have a say in political discussions,” Hackett said, adding that the focus of the particular panel did not lend itself to a broader perspective, but that it would be noted for the future.

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The lectures aim to promote environmental and climate justice, and also aim to give students an opportunity to participate in discussions on oft-ignored environmental issues.

“I would love to see action being taken after this. I’ve been collaborating with Climate Justice Montreal and we’ve talked about organizing discussion workshops after these lectures to discuss what we can do here in Montreal,” said Irene Dambriunas, program coordinator and Environmental Studies student.

For the first lecture of the series, filmmaker and social justice activist Amy Miller discussed the root causes of climate change and denounced the hypocrisy of the carbon market today. She focused on the failure of the carbon market, along with some of the paradoxes and problems behind the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol created a system where companies paid for their emission of CO2 with ‘carbon credits’ in the hopes of reducing pollution. According to Miller, the Kyoto Mechanisms – which include Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism, and Joint Implementation – prove to be more of a “magic trick” than a real solution to the issue of climate change.

In short, the idea was to reduce pollution without altering any level of production; however, Miller pointed out that this system creates the illusion that the level of CO2 released is decreasing when in reality it is just being concealed.

Additionally, Miller discussed the inevitable consequences of having a system where profit is at stake. Miller exposed what she saw as the disconnect between language and reality using her recent documentary The Carbon Rush as an illustration. The idea of funding green projects all around the world sounds like it could only help, but according to Miller, in reality it is ruining the lives of many inhabitants whose land and property are stolen by the ones who hold power in this capitalist system.

Each of the lectures in the series is also aired on CKUT. “My hopes are that the recordings will help broaden the audience, because these lectures are meant to be accessible to everybody since climate change is something that is going to affect all of us,” said Dambriunas.

The next event in the series will take place on October 10 and will be aired on CKUT 90.3FM.

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