Sooke-based artist explores trauma in new exhibit

Sooke-based mixed-medium artist Maurina Joaquin is using her work to dive deep into transformations. In particular, in her new exhibit Natural Transformations she’s exploring the changes that people who are recovering from trauma, a brain injury, or chronic pain go through. “The silhouette heads [used in pieces in the exhibit] represent the individual struggle to […]

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New Music Revue: The Sylvia Platters deliver incredible summer soundtrack

The Sylvia Platters Youth Without Virtue (Independent) 4/5  As soon as I started listening to Youth Without Virtue, the new EP from Fraser Valley-based dream-pop band The Sylvia Platters, I knew I was listening to something amazing. The band’s songs are, seriously, such hidden gems. They have an incredible, very daydreamy, feel and sound to […]

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Into the Weeds refreshing and honest documentary about Roundup dangers

Victoria-raised filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal’s new documentary Into the Weeds: Dewayne Lee Johnson vs. Monsanto Company follows the story of Johnson and his litigation against agrochemical company Monsanto. Johnson developed a rare form of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being exposed to Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup. Roundup is the world’s most widely used weed killer and—spoiler—it contains glyphosate, […]

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Fred Penner celebrates four decades of the cat coming back

This weekend, Canadian children’s music icon Fred Penner will be visiting the McPherson Playhouse as part of his 40th anniversary tour for his hit debut album, The Cat Came Back. Penner says that the show will feature a mix of songs from The Cat Came Back—which actually came out in 1979—and other albums. “Many of […]

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New book The Sunbearer Trials takes flight

New York Times bestselling author Aiden Thomas is taking his first crack at a multi-book series with his Mexican-inspired fantasy novel The Sunbearer Trials. The book follows Teo, a 17-year-old semidiós who is chosen by the sun god Sol to compete in the deadly decennial Sunbearer Trials. To win the trials is a great honour, […]

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Art Gallery of Greater Victoria connects with Reverberations

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is aiming to better connect with Victoria’s artistic community with their exhibit Reverberations. For the exhibit, co-curators Nicole Stanbridge, Heng Wu, and Mel Granley selected emerging artists—including visual artists, poets, and composers—to collaborate with bodies of work from the gallery’s permanent collection. “We worked with each of the collaborators […]

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Dream Technology art exhibit celebrates Black history, future

The Dream Technology exhibit at Flux Media Gallery is the result of a collaborative community collage project that involved 13 people who celebrated and explored ideas relating to Black history and futures. The exhibit came out of a community project for Black History Month, says assistant curator Josh Ngenda. “We were just really trying to […]

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Hedda Gabler complex, unexpected, effective

Hedda Gabler is the story of a woman trapped by marriage, status, and the possibility of scandal. Bored with her husband and stuck in a house she doesn’t want, Gabler remains apathetic and cynical with her situation until an old acquaintance from school pays a visit with news that finally brings something other than the […]

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Belfry play Kindred gets real about adulting

Director Lauren Taylor is making her Belfry debut with her take on Rosa Dolores’ Kindred: A Fairy Tale for Adults. Taylor—who is from Australia and has lived in Canada for 15 years—says that the play focuses on the real struggles of being an adult. “The play deals with four characters, and they are all parents […]

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Queer Futurities art exhibit uses polyvocality to get messages across

Queer Futurities: holding area, gathering place is a new exhibit at Open Space that highlights sociological ideas such as queer futurity and forward-dawning as a way of combating fixtures in our hegemonic society. It achieves this through multidisciplinary art pieces created by 11 artists and curated by Dani Neira. The first spark for Queer Futurities […]

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