Art at Resistence; Resistence as Art -- the 2006 Toronto Arcfest: Social Justice in Art

As a blogger who tries to keep abreast of socially just issues, I would be remiss if I didn't start off the week with a little plug for Arcfest -- Toronto's Social Justice Arts Festival.

The show runs from Oct. 22 to Oct. 29 and features over 100 artists in 25 events exploring local social justice issues. The venues are in Queen West, Parkdale, and other spots across Toronto; in true social justice fashion, the festival includes a diverse program of seasoned and emerging artists, panel discussions, speakers, workshops, and artist-community collaborations.

The full schedule for the event can be found at: http://www.arcfest.org/2006/schedule/date

While the schedule does not list events for Monday Oct. 23 (considered Black Monday by theatre folk) there are events all week. For example, tomorrow (Tues. Oct. 24) check out:

1) Resistance as Art; 6pm; Lennox Contemporary Gallery; Free; Through painting, sculpture, book arts, and other media, this exhibition examines legacies of colonization, issues of land rights, prison and incarceration, and classism.

2) Art as Resistance; 7:30pm; SPIN Gallery; By donation; Artists look at issues related to race, gender, and sexuality in this multi media exhibition.

3) Festival Opening; 7pm | SPIN Gallery | Suggested donation: $10; The festival kicks off with a key note address by Drew Hayden Taylor followed by a spoken word performance by The Fusilli project and dancehall rock by d'bi.young and the dubbin.revolushun.gangstars.

By the end of the week check out the workshops on offer. The FREE workshops include:
1) Forum Theatre Workshop; Saturday October 28th 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm; Parkdale Library Downstairs, 1303 Queen St West. Forum theatre is a form of community based education that is used for community building, conflict resolution and a way for a community to identify and examine social problems of importance.
2) Roots, Culture and Beats: Breakdancing For All; Sunday, Oct. 29th 2:00 pm - 4:00pm; Parkdale Library Downstairs, 1303 Queen St West. Callin’ all hip-hop loving, street-dance groupies, closeted b-girls and b-boys and true funk-adoring fans – old school and young – for a two hour workshop that explores the moves, beats, art and culture of breakdancing.
3) The Right Spin: The Art, Politics and Business of Deejaying in the City;
Sunday, October 29th 1:00 pm - 3:00pm; Queen West Arts Centre, 100a Ossington Ave (2 blocks north of Queen). Music transcends language and a good dj does more than just spin to the crowd. ARCfest presents a two-hour deejaying workshop for the politically savvy.
4)Responding: A Performance Art Workshop Exploring Issues Faced by Refugees; Saturday, October 28, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm; Parkdale Library Downstairs, 1303 Queen St West. Responding is a workshop exploring refugee issues through performance art.

Sign up go to:
http://www.arcfest.org/2006/workshops