#rhodesmustfall Illustration By Brandon Hicks Can the toppling of statues help erect a more comprehensive collective memory? WORDS BY BEN MCHUTCHION | CANADA | ARTS & LETTERS FEB 28, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Since the start of the #rhodesmustfall movement in 2015, statues commemorating historical figures complicit in slavery and colonialism have been taken down in various countries. Recent statue removals in Canada follow this trend, suggesting an underlying shift in how Canadians think about their country’s history. Narratives that celebrated colonialism have lost their once dominant position in the national consciousness, leading to historical debates in which statues play a central role. The sociological theory of collective memory is one tool for exploring the significance of statue removals. Collective memory posits that memory is not only held by individuals, but is also developed and held within social groups. Using this framework, the tradition of public memorial statues can be understood as a highly visible manifestation of collective memory. People with social or political power have often used statues in an attempt to permanently fix a preferred collective memory in the public square.

INK: Art or Artifice? Illustration by Audrey App Six tattoo artists across six cities reflect on their work as an artistic practice Words by Dani Williams ISSUE 8 | MATERIALS Like many traditional artists, tattoo artists begin their process with a pen and paper, or some modern version of that. Despite the artistic abilities and talent of these artists, they still struggle to be recognized in the same stature as more conventional visual artists. In this series, I present a selection of female tattoo artists to learn and listen to their truth about where the industry exists in the art world, and their experiences being women in the industry. Speaking from my experience, being a female-identifying person with many tattoos, I have been the target of discrimination because of my body art. I have been turned down for jobs, frowned at, cat-called, told I would be much prettier without them, and that I would never be successful because of them. Some people prefer their art on walls, and some prefer it on their bodies; either way, it is still art, and it does not make you any less. But first, let’s ask: what makes something art? Modern artists would argue it’s all about intention. If you create something with the intent for it to be art, then it’s art. Whether it’s a tattoo or an oil painting, if the objective was art, then that’s what it is. Another point to consider is that paintings are collected, and so are tattoos. Tattoo collectors have even gone as far as acquiring human skin, preserved, framed, and then mounted for all to celebrate. In 2016, the Royal Ontario Museum did an entire exhibit focused on tattoos and tattoo culture, called Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art , which showcased the history and traditions of the art form. The discussion circling the idea of whether or not tattoos should be considered a fine art should, hopefully, be discarded within this decade. These women (and many others) possess an aptitude that is unmistakably that of a professional visual artist. They are experts in their craft and deserve to be celebrated as such. CAN | In what ways do female artists still struggle for recognition of self-expression in the industry? KD ─ I, like many female tattooers, was brought up in a man's world. I wasn’t taken seriously early on in my career. I was laughed at, dominated, rejected and exposed to way too much sexual assault. It was not the same for my male counterparts—it became paramount that I needed to create a space for female tattooers to flourish in this industry. A space where we can focus on our craft and feel safe and respected—where our clients can feel safe and respected. I think that as more incredible female tattooers are emerging and staking their claim, they will continue to demand change and respect. There’s no denying the immense talent that women have brought to the industry, but with that being said, it really depends on our environment. Fortunately, mine has changed significantly in the last six years because I have forced that change by creating a space that we can feel confident and thrive in. A space to focus solely on our craft. Tattooing will thicken your skin and because of that it has shaped me into the strong, self-assured person that I am today, which allows me and others to stand out in a once male-dominated industry. My experience as a female tattooer hasn't always been easy, but I'm grateful to have been brought up the way I have so that I can make a positive difference in the lives of other emerging female artists. CAN | How do you conceive of tattoo art as a visual art like all others? MA ─ One of the most special parts of tattooing is that the art can outlive the maker but very rarely is preserved beyond the life of the canvas. Which makes it basically impossible to reproduce, commodify, outsource, auction-off, or display in galleries. All of the commercialized aspects of the fine art industry aren’t applicable in this space. Art that lives on a body is subject to the same repressions that the body is subjected to. Tattooing is an ancient ritual practice of Black and Indigenous peoples from around the world. In a culture that values purity and whiteness so highly, classist and racist structures bar us from looking at tattooing as something dignified. Western cultures signify the body as a form of power, using ability, age, gender presentation, colour, and size as metrics of value. Marginalized and rebellious communities such as sailors and sex workers have used tattooing as an expression of both bodily acceptance and revolt. Madeline Audsley The body is a political site, which makes any form of art that embraces it, like tattooing or piercing, a highly contested and repressed form. The duality of the nature of tattooing as Black and Indigenous expression, and its inability to be commodified, makes it dangerous to a Western capitalist system that relies upon the commodification of nonwhite cultures and labour. CAN | What has been your experience of the negative stigma associated with tattoo art and how has this changed since you started as a tattoo artist? AA ─ I'm a 21-year-old self-taught tattoo artist who began roughly two years ago. I used to be a bit of a skeptic of the tattoo industry since all I saw was dark and grunge styles, which isn't my personal taste. I was also anxious about how the industry viewed female tattoo artists and how I would possibly be put under certain pressures. However, after I dived headfirst into this world, I quickly discovered a wide range of styles and people who genuinely cared about the art they created and the people they gave it to! Even though I still see this negative stigma—unfortunately, even in my own life—I believe the stigma linked with tattoo art has begun to relax in recent years. Tattooing is still sometimes considered as a “dark” and “evil” thing because it is a form of body alteration. I've lost friends and have had to deal with the fact that not everyone will agree with what I do. Audrey App Even though it's been a little less than two years, I've watched tattooing evolve in a beautiful way. As I create what I love, I’m finding a breathable freedom that allows me to really connect with my clients and myself. I truly believe us humans are pieces of art, and because of that, we create beautiful art. CAN | How do you conceive of the current state of tattoo art as a visual art? EA ─ I think tattooing is in the late phases of a rebirth, which started with the democratization of education via social media. Although the future of tattooing is uncertain, I see it blossoming into something it never was. We’re in a golden era of tattooing where tropes and traditions are bent and sometimes broken. I’m inspired by the tattooists that push the boundaries of what tattooing can be while still making tattoos that last for the life of the wearer. Emma Anderson CAN | What has been your experience of the negative stigma associated with tattoo art and how has this changed since you started as a tattoo artist? HA ─ I’ve been tattooing all over the United States for 16 years, and I think that tattoo stigmas have settled down since tattoo shows became popular, which was a good thing for some, and bad for others. I find it amusing to let others think I’m a ''bad boy” just because I have some scribbles on my body. On the other side of that, it can easily affect people's perception of you in relation to substance abuse. When I was 19 years old, I broke my spine. I was lying in the hospital in immense pain, and the medical professionals said to me, “I think we are going to only give you small amounts of painkillers because you look like a drug addict, you know, because you have a lot of tattoos.” Things are different everywhere, but I think it’s narrow-minded to complain about the “discrimination” you get from having tattoos because we knew the deal when we got them. Haley Adams CAN | How do you conceive of tattoo art as a visual art like all others? HA ─ Tattooing is different from a lot of visual art since it’s on a living, breathing body that has the freewill to go where it pleases. We have to make sure our art looks good on all these weird 3D shapes. Is tattooing struggling to be appreciated? I think tattooers and serious collectors live in a counter-culture where we absolutely appreciate art and will fly all over to collect pieces. It doesn’t have to be mainstream to feel appreciated. I feel appreciated; I feel like my work is appreciated. Certain people definitely do fine art on the skin; there’s all kinds of styles and all kinds of appreciation. Art doesn’t have to be in a gallery to be loved and respected.” CAN | How do you conceive of tattoo art as a visual art like all others? RU ─ I have already started to see the shift in the medium of tattooing and the industry moving towards having a whole new sub-category of fine art and being recognized as that. Just like the Sailor Jerry tattoo collectors in the world exist, so do the clients that desire to wear a painting style for their statement piece, and the more artists that enter the industry of tattooing, the less “tattooers” that replicate existing art will remain, and more originality and creativity will elevate the entire community as a whole. This has already given the industry a more reputable track record, and it’s seen almost as a high fashion to wear collections by such and such artists. That can be positive while also toeing the line of creating for everyone and that everyone deserves a chance to have their story worn. Artwork by Ryane Urie

CLOISTRAL: Marija Tiurina Marija Tiurina's Studio Illustrating the fascinating tension between the familiar and the fantastic Words By Rebecca Davison-Mora ISSUE 12 | HAARLEM | STUDIO SESSIONS Marija Tiurina knows better than most what it means to exist in the in-between. Born in Lithuania as the USSR was disintegrating, an innate understanding of liminality permeates her expansive watercolours. Illustrating worlds that straddle both the familiar and the fantastic, her work offers gentle contradictions wherein isolation and togetherness perpetually converge. In her watercolour print Working Remotely , a forest acts as a cabin. Full of mythical creatures, sprouting vegetables, druids, and frogs, a computer plug connects to a tree, and multiple scenes of domesticity present themselves in varying degrees of the fantastical. There is a hum to the work as various creatures go about their day, echoing the neighbours of an apartment complex. A computer screen aptly reads “AWAY” as its protagonist enters this world that is ‘outside’ though radiating interiority. It’s a reminder of how the hum of urban life has us plugged in and yet slightly apart from the happenings right beside us. In other works, like Mind the Gap , the influence of video game design is present in the contrasting scenes of parallel worlds. Underworlds mesh with those above, loosely held together by disembodied hands and naked tree trunks. Commuters hold onto a centipede-like creature, while paper boats delicately float down a canal. The 73 bus to Stoke Newington looks like it may fall down below, and one can feel the force of a city full of interior lives ─ and the loneliness that can ensue. For Tiurina, this exemplifies her desire to explore the ways we co-exist within both natural and urban settings. In her own studio, she requires natural light and collects natural ephemera to bring the outside in. Surrounded by things that do not belong, her own built environment merges the mystical with the mundane. Spurred by the pandemic, she observes how we are not always in the spaces we wish to be in, and describes the longing that comes with wanting to be everywhere all at once. Her fascination with this tension speaks to our desire for multiple realities and the complexities of life, inviting us to reflect on the connections and disconnections that make up the hours in a day. A welcome mediation in an anxious world, Tiurina’s work manages to balance a tightrope of clarity and confusion. CANNOPY x Marija Tiurina Games Logic sM | How has your background in video game design influenced your creative process as a painter? MT ── Working in video games has really opened my mind towards the possibilities of combining still artworks — in traditional or digital media — with interactive and technical products. The ways of fitting illustrations to work with programming code were technically limiting, but it also opened up a world of possibilities as the code helped the artwork come to life, move around, and respond to human actions. Entropic Urbanity sM | Your style can be characterised as a fantastical, entropic urbanity that communicates both isolation and togetherness. What do you find most interesting about this hyper-cloistered composition in your art? MT ─ I’ve always been curious about the ways we co-exist within both natural and urban settings, and the pandemic especially made me think a lot about which environments we choose, and which ones choose us. People realised they were not where they wanted to be. So my artworks often explore spaces and the comfort they offer, whether it’s a common realistic setting or a surreal and whimsical place. Toil & Clutter sM | One of your watercolour prints, Working Remotely , depicts someone toiling in a lush, cluttered cabin. How does your studio space draw inspiration from the busy settings of your paintings? MT ─ I often fill my studio with objects and items that otherwise wouldn’t be there: wood sticks, shells, pine cones, vintage botanical prints, and surreal illustrations. That longing for nature in an urban setting is often depicted in my artwork too and, vice versa, my paintings often get inspired by the places I happen to be in, like a forest cottage or the busy streets of a megapolis. Studio Space sM | What’s an essential item to your studio space? MT ─ Having natural light in my studio is what matters to me most. I believe that no artificial light can accurately reflect the colours created when applying paint to paper; only the daylight can help us see the real deal. Other important things would be space, and nods to nature, whether that’s a set of vintage botanical prints or a plant pot desperately trying to remind me to water it more often!

BUMP Festival 2022 Mural by Wenting Li - Photo by Asim Overstands How a Mural Festival is Transforming Calgary's Concrete Jungle WORDS BY AUGUSTA MONET | NEW YORK CITY | VISUAL ARTS APR 10, 2023 | ISSUE 5 The Beltline Urban Murals Project – better known as the BUMP Festival – is steadily rising as one of Calgary’s premier street art festivals. The month-long festival of urban art murals started in 2017 as a way to show that public artworks “enrich communities, create beautiful and captivating places, challenge our ideas, provoke discussion and add beauty to the everyday.” The festival is funded by heavy hitters such as TD Canada, the City of Calgary, Parks Canada, and more, and is set in the Beltline area of Treaty 7 territory in Moh’kins’tsis, the indigenous name for Calgary.

by Madeleine Kane Artists in Residence: Cindy Shih & Tsungwei Moo on IVG SAN FRANCISCO 6.11 SAN FRANCISCO Cindy Shih by Jeremy Lewis “Working in-studio and doing live art in front of an audience is like having an art opening reception every thirty-five mins, eight hours a day, and five days a week.” -Tsungwei Moo “Artists can make art anywhere, but having a dynamic, diverse community of artists that is constantly learning, challenging the status quo, and trying new things always inspires me to push forward, improve, and take risks in my own art practice.” Tsungwei Moo by Jeremy Lewis Amidst the summer heat of San Francisco, we encounter an artistic oasis in the canvases of two artists who took up residency at Immersive Van Gogh. For the month of June, Cindy Shih and Tsungwei Moo shared their unique collections and performed live painting sessions for visitors to the Bay Area exhibit. Shih, using a delicate hand, embraces monochrome on white canvas to illustrate plant life. Her intricate gallery possesses the symbiotic calm and chaos of nature. Moo’s brushstrokes and use of colour range from delicate, sweeping details, to heavy palette knife acrylic petals. Moo’s still lifes of natural and structural scenes vividly parallel Van Gogh’s style. We sat down with Shih and Moo as they wrapped up their tenure at the exhibit to reflect on their residency and what lies on the horizon for these captivating artists. Five Questions with Cindy Shih & Tsungwei Moo 1 C.S. I’m expecting my first child in September 2021, so I guess I’d like to try being a Mom, because that’s something I haven’t tried yet! T.M. Paint a mural and make a mosaic mural. Something new you want to try in what’s left of 2021? 2 C.S. “Flight,” by Sandra Yagi, which features a flying skeleton with rainbow butterfly wings. It will be the first piece in the baby’s collection. T.M. “Moments and Decisions,” I exhibited this piece at the de Young Museum in 2020. It's a portrait of my ex-boyfriend who was a victim of gun violence and lost his life. Favourite piece of art that you’ve acquired? 3 C.S. You are an artist, no matter what you choose to do for a living. Just keep doing art. T.M. I am so proud of you and I love you. Keep doing art. If you could say one thing to your childhood self, what would you say? 4 C.S. This isn’t a fair question, since there are so many I admire. I appreciate artists who don’t compromise their values. T.M. Ben James, an African American printmaker and a ceramic artist based in San Francisco. A contemporary San Fran artist that inspires you? 5 C.S. a Mano in Hayes Valley, a no-fuss neighbourhood spot with homemade pasta and Italian wine. T.M. Villa San Francisco. I enjoyed cooking, eating, and watching the sunset during my residency at the Villa San Francisco. Your favourite dining spot in the city? What is your takeaway from the experience of working in-studio at IVG San Francisco? C.S. People crave a good experience. There is still a strong desire to engage with art, as evidenced by the hundreds of people who came through the exhibit everyday. IVG did a fantastic job ensuring everyone had a safe, approachable, and memorable experience. As an artist working on-site, I had the unique opportunity to engage with a broad cross-section of art appreciators, and was able to speak with people from various walks of life who may otherwise not have visited a more typical art establishment. I also enjoyed creating artwork live, talking to folks about the show, explaining why I use the materials I use, and generally discussing my Art with people who were interested. I also loved being able to give away some of my art materials to young artists who were inspired by my work, and even taught a little girl how to use a sumi brush. It was great to have a direct interaction with people who obviously cared about art. I have live-painted at various types of events, and IVG really provided a great experience around the art and for the artists. T.M. Life is art. Being an artist is who I am and it makes my life meaningful. I’ve always believed in myself; fifteen years ago, I quit my Art Director job at an advertising agency in Taiwan and came to San Francisco to pursue my art career. Because I know that if I never followed my dream, it would be the biggest regret in my life. Participating in the Artist-in-Residence program, co-created by Villa San Francisco and Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit, is proof to me that I made the right decision. Working in-studio and doing live art in front of an audience is like having an art opening reception every thirty-five mins, eight hours a day, and five days a week. As an art instructor who taught Plein air pastel drawing at the Yosemite National Park for nine years, I was confident and excited to create live art in front of visitors. In my real life, I can’t afford to have a studio in San Francisco. This opportunity gave me the space to create bigger artworks and exhibit them immediately. I got a chance to show the public how I developed the images and my creation process, and completed seven pieces during my residency. I got so much positive feedback from the visitors and I saw an increase in followers on my social media. People want to learn how to paint from me and want to join my future artwork shop at the Golden Gate Park. Young artists asked me art career developing questions, and parents told me they want their children to be like me one day. I feel honored and grateful that I have been given this opportunity to meet so many people and show them my passion and my creations. What inspiration do you get from artists around you? What advice would you give to future artists in residence? C.S. I get so much inspiration from my community of artists here in San Francisco. In short, they are the reason I still live here. Artists can make art anywhere, but having a dynamic, diverse community of artists that is constantly learning, challenging the status quo, and trying new things always inspires me to push forward, improve, and take risks in my own art practice. My advice to future artists-in-residence is to maintain an open mind. The post-pandemic world is rapidly changing, and the art world is no exception. As artists, we can stay true to our practice while adapting to changes in the way art is consumed or experienced. There is no one way to be an artist, and not just one way to experience art. Giving people a good, lasting impression of you and your practice is just as important as maintaining the quality of your work. T.M. Art is how I connect with the world. Life itself is my biggest inspiration.My favorite subjects are someone or something that I love and care about the most. Usually, my human boyfriend, cat boyfriend and mother nature are my most important inspirations. I also care about social issues such as anti-gun violence, human rights toward marginalized communities, and animal rescues. Sometimes I get inspiration from other artists around me or visiting museums and galleries. I always open my heart to learn new techniques and the stories behind the artwork. My advice to future artists in residence is: don’t put any unboxed food on the site overnight. Some creatures might come to steal your food. Enjoy your residency. next

MIKHAIL LAXTON ON MIKHAIL LAXTON Mikhail Laxton The singer-songwriter returns to his roots after finding a new home in Canadian music smART MAGAZINE | OTTAWA | HOMEGROWN JUN 27, 2023 | ISSUE 12 REINVENTION sM | How do the songs on your self-titled album reflect the influences of your sound? ML ─ The album is very influenced by country music, but it's equally soul, with a bit of R & B and blues in there. I'm a country boy through and through, from the bush in far north Queensland in Australia. As a bit of background, my grandfather is a German man that came to Australia back in the early fifties and learned how to farm from reading books, and he raised his kids and his grandkids that way. I was fortunate that I got to grow up on the farm and learn all about it. He married an Indigenous woman, so I'm an Indigenous Australian as well. I remember somebody once asked me why someone like me was doing country music, I looked at him and said: I'm probably the most country person you’ll ever meet. I grew up with mud, trucks, hunting and fishing. So yeah this album is about me getting back to my roots.

by Natasha Abramova On Portrayal “He unknowingly exposes himself as a liar. It was equally awkward and uncomfortable for me as an investigative journalist having to take this approach knowing it was ironically necessary in order to ultimately tell the real truth.” 5.11 Billie Mintz Photo courtesy of CAA Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing and celebrating the art of documentary and to creating production opportunities for documentary filmmakers. Hot Docs presented a virtual version of its 28th annual festival from April 29-May 9, 2021, during which a full roster of industry conference sessions, market programs and networking events were held for Canadian and international delegates. This included the renowned Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Deal Maker, Distribution Rendezvous and The Doc Shop. This year’s festival consisted of 219 long, mid-length, and short films from 66 countries across 12 programs. It was available, for the first time, to audiences across Canada. One picture from the Artscapes program, Portrayal , caught my attention. This is a docudrama about an artist and an artisan, who they were and what they thought they were. Three brave men – a producer, a filmmaker and the film’s protagonist – fearlessly dive into a real-life plot on fraud and hundreds of paintings in the possession of the story’s ‘bad guy’. As a part of the Immersive Van Gogh project, and as a person who connects emotionally with the story of neglected artists, I was compelled to talk to the Director of “Portrayal” – Billie Mintz. A few years of work, across three continents still Billie still can’t stop thinking about what has happened to him and to his crew. This is what he had to say on the matter: Portrayal investigates claims against internationally recognized Israeli painter Oz Almog (“Oz”), who allegedly created a false narrative surrounding his career by claiming authorship of paintings that were not his own. Oz built his reputation on this body of work and has to date evaded any inquiry regarding its authenticity except for one unsuspected intervening event: this documentary. What was initially positioned as a straightforward biography documenting Oz’s success has inevitably turned into an exposé of the deception he committed in the process of “creating” this biography. Leading the charge to uncover the truth is Roman Lapshin, the grandson of Vladimir Dvorkin, whom Roman has learned is the real painter of Oz’s works. Roman is spearheading his own investigation with the full hope and intention of confronting and exposing Oz. At the same time, he is hiding the full truth about these plans from his own family in order to secure their cooperation, leading them to believe that he is only participating in this film for the more altruistic goal of exhibiting his grandfather’s work to the world. Roman initially approached me with the story of his late grandfather, Vladimir Dvorkin, a prolific painter who emigrated from Russia to Israel to escape anti-Semitism and start a new life with more opportunity for his family. Broken and penniless, he had to start his life all over again after serving five years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He went to the streets of Israel to sell portraits, which was very humbling for a painter of such experience living in a country where no one knew his name or of his decorated past. Roman then told me about a man named Oz Almog who discovered Vladimir on the street and hired him to be his "assistant", beginning a relationship that enabled Vladimir to earn a living to support his family but ultimately took advantage of the immigrant painter, leaving him in the shadows while Oz gained fame claiming the paintings to be from his own hand. It was a wild tale that sounded a little unbelievable and worthy of investigation. Roman, now an adult and believing he has to fulfill his dead grandfather’s wishes to tell the world the truth and exhibit his body of work in his own name, is preparing to confront Oz and take possession of the body of work rumoured to be in the thousands. In order to get the full story, I had to approach Oz and find a way for him to participate in the film, which required me to engage in some creative manipulation of the truth myself since Oz would not cooperate if he knew what motivated my investigation. I could not reveal my knowledge of Roman and Dvorkin and their relationship to him. I could only reveal the portion of the truth which Oz wanted to hear – that the purpose of my documentary was to explore his background and what it was that enabled him to become such a prolific and successful artist and also to explore generally what it takes and what it means to have success as an artist, as well as the costs of achieving that success. All of which was still an accurate representation of what we were doing. Although reluctant, Oz agreed to participate and maintained the story that he was the real painter throughout our initial interviews in the development stage of the film. Oz is a fascinating antagonist for this documentary. He starts as the protagonist but once the audience realizes that he is living a lie and that Roman is determined to expose it, they too get immersed in the web of lies through dramatic irony. While the audience becomes fully cognizant of the deception that took place, Oz continues to perform a lie for me and the crew. Contributing to what he believes is solely a film on his extensive catalogue and creative process, he unknowingly exposes himself as a liar. It was equally awkward and uncomfortable for me as an investigative journalist having to take this approach knowing it was ironically necessary in order to ultimately tell the real truth. I had to be extremely diligent and careful in gathering the facts given the sensitivity of the information I was collecting, which could ultimately offend or humiliate the artist. Oz is open and because he is unaware of my knowledge of his past, he is constantly giving me information that would normally be protected. After some coaxing, he hesitantly agreed to meet me at a café before deciding to be a part of the film. I flew to Vienna and staked out the meeting place the day before and found a vantage point for the camera so we could film the initial meeting, while Roman sat upstairs watching the whole thing unfold. From this vantage point, Roman had his very first glimpse of the mysterious man of his family’s fairy tales. Because I also had a camera on Roman, I caught something that I did not foresee: Roman realizing that he might not be entirely right about Oz’s character. I soon realized that although the events of history in Roman’s story are true and need further investigation, the immorality may not be so black and white. What I thought was a story about Oz became a journey of Roman coming to terms with the reality of a world where Oz exists and is needed. There became a new facet of this complicated story: the realization that Oz isn’t as bad as we thought he was. Even though Roman ends up confirming that his allegations about Oz are in fact true, he also comes to understand more about the decisions his grandfather needed to make as an immigrant needing to provide for his family and their future – the future that Roman inhabits. Roman is a young man caught in the story that his very identity had been shaped around, unable to face the truth that everyone around him is trying to get him to accept. Portrayal is a quixotic tale of a sheltered young man who confronts his family’s controversial mythology and ends up learning about himself. This is an outrageous tale of a young boy who was so affected by his grandfather’s mythology that he carried another man’s burden with him until he himself was consumed by it. Now, in his mid twenties, he finally decides to track the man down and confront him while demanding justice for his late grandfather through the restoration of his paintings to their rightful owners – his family. What we have is a self-reflective film that explores truth and exploitation. Oz is withholding the full truth from the people; I am withholding the full truth from Oz; and Roman is withholding the full truth from his family about what he is doing. As the story develops, similarities between the men emerge. Both are so committed to a narrative so personal to them that they refuse to see the facts. Through the intimate documentation of exploitation, the film suggests that history is not always truthful or factual and that relationships made in the name of art are always expendable. Every story that involves history has different versions depending on who is telling it. My interest in filming this documentary was to follow the journey of a young man who came of age while trying to find the truth to the story that was told to him in his childhood by his grandfather. This is a story about family, immigration, art, and exploitation. The film itself wrestles with an unreliable narrator and takes the audience on a wild ride through several countries as we confront the ghosts of the past. Portrayal will be available soon in Canada on the CBC Documentary Channel and CBC Gem. Release date TBC. This article is sponsored by Palette Art Supplies ~ Available for curbside pick-up in Vaughan, Ontario

Dark Music Days Music Festival Opportunities for Embodied, Cross-Disciplinary Performance WORDS BY JEANETTE JOY HARRIS | HARPA, Reykjavík, Iceland JAN 24-29, 2023 | COMMUNITY Dark Days Music Festival (DDMF) is an annual Reykjavik event that shines a light on innovative and progressive music. With an over 40-year history, DDMF transforms the unrelenting January weather - where gray skies, sleet, and snow meets a 6 hour window of sunlight - into a diverse musical respite that both pleases and challenges audiences. Curating a music festival, or any festival that highlights “new” performance is tricky, but DDMF’s program included a diverse set of established, large musical groups like Iceland Symphony Orchestra and lesser known solo performers like Rosie Middleton. In doing so, the festival is not only supporting existing musical ensembles but educating and cultivating audiences by nurturing new talent.

Top 10 Classical Albums of 2024 Listen along with a free 30-day subscription to the world's largest catalogue of classical recordings Illustrations by Dane Thibeault & Jaden Tsan (Mozart) | Notes from the recordings adapted from IDAGIO.COM ENSEMBLE As 2024 comes to a close, Cannopy presents a curated list of the classical releases we were listening to this year. And thanks to our recent partnership with the streaming platform IDAGIO, you can listen along to the list below with a free 30-day subscription! Visit www.idagio.com/cannopy to get this exclusive offer. 1) Brahms: Symphonies Chamber Orchestra of Europe | Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin| Deutsche Grammophon “It was breathtaking – a sentiment also echoed by the conductor, as he bowed to the concertmaster. Euphoric applause greeted the end of a performance in Baden-Baden’s Festspielhaus, and no one knew who should bow to whom: the conductor to the orchestra, the audience to the conductor, or everyone to the composer Johannes Brahms? The cause for this excitement was Brahms’s Second Symphony, which is nicknamed “Lichtentaler” because Brahms had completed it in Baden-Baden’s Lichtental district. And now, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the symphony received a performance that became one of the greatest moments witnessed in this concert hall: uncompromisingly transparent textures illuminated the orchestration, but were only seemingly embedded in an easily conquerable soundscape. ─ Lotte Thaler, notes from the recording. 2) J.S. Bach: Complete Cello Suites Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello | harmonia mundi Bach’s Cello Suites do indeed accompany us, cellists, throughout our lives. We encounter them while still very young, by tackling the less technically challenging movements. For me, it started with the Bourrée from the Third Suite. I was 10 years old. [...] My connection to the Bach Suites began there, and this music has never left me since. When you are quite young, you play it spontaneously, you celebrate life. Then in adolescence, you start to question yourself, to go through moments of genuine doubt. At the age of 17 or 18, you turn to the great masters of the past, to their countless recordings that have set the standard, and you ask yourself: ‘How should I do it? What could I add to all this?’ When I was in my twenties, I had a tendency to sink into deep thought and serious questioning... And in Bach, I found a source of support. In those moments of uncertainty, I felt particular kinship with the Fifth Suite, with the turmoil and disarray that are at the core of its structure. ─ Jean-Guihen Queyras, excerpts from an interview by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for accompanying texts to the recording 3) Mozart: The Sonata Project - Salzburg Yundi Li, piano | Warner Classics “PLAY MOZART IN MEMORY OF ME.” Frédéric Chopin Those heartbreaking words, which the Polish composer whispered on his deathbed, perhaps best describe the essence of what we discover when embarking on the divine, angelic musical journeys of Mozart. Chopin was, of course, deeply inspired by the music of the Salzburgian master. He shared an understanding of the very same story that lies behind Mozart’s music – a profound belief in the importance of the exquisite order of virtues that surpass all the elements that create art. The pursuit of this divine alignment has the potential to teach the human soul about moral virtues, and music has the strongest potential to create an impact in that education. After all, we don’t listen to good music just for fun; we tend to realise the importance of its message – the captivating story of a greater order and a glimpse into a potential reality of the divine. The power to open the door to this reality is what we call “genius”. ─ WLP London Ltd, notes from the recording 4) Tchaikovsky: The Seasons Bruce Liu, piano | Deutsche Grammophon One can empathise with, if not understand, the whirlwind of sudden stardom that has grabbed Bruce Liu’s life. “I’ve gone from being a student to not having much time at home for a whole year, being constantly on tour,” he admits. Perhaps no pianist in the world has had the career acceleration and ascension Bruce Liu has had in the last three years. The Montreal-raised artist sprang to fame in 2021 with his win at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and has since garnered over 70 million streams with his debut record Waves (an exploration of French masters from Rameau to Ravel to Alkan) and Young Talent of the Year honours from Opus Klassik. One could also likely empathise with the need to take a break. As it turns out, Liu’s break involved a trip to the Siemens-Villa on the southwestern outskirts of Berlin, far from the halls that an artist of his stature would normally perform in. Here, he settled into a retreat of sorts, a veritable cabin in the woods to explore Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons . — Nolan Kehler for Cannopy CANNOPY x BRUCE LIU Interview conducted by Michael Zarathus-Cook 5) The Vienna Recital Yuja Wang, piano | Deutsche Grammophon Piano recitals customarily begin with a work from the Classical period followed by Romantic repertoire and, perhaps, a contemporary composition, concluding with a virtuoso showpiece. Yuja Wang frequently defies that tradition. In this album taken from her highly acclaimed 2022 Vienna recital, selections from different eras are mixed and matched in a seemingly freewheeling yet ultimately cohesive manner, with one work’s thematic makeup and expressive possibilities evoking or suggesting what is to come. It’s not unlike an exhibition encompassing multiple artists in which the curator has given careful consideration to the gallery’s dimensions and the size of each painting. Here, analogously, a palpably organic flow and sense of cumulative momentum define the peaks and valleys of Yuja Wang’s provocative programme. For example, the mercurial shifts of mood and texture throughout “Málaga” from Albéniz’s Iberia dovetail into the yearning, declamatory sound world that dominates Scriabin’s Third Sonata, where Yuja Wang generates galvanic yet supple momentum in the finale’s ricocheting patterns. ─ Jed Distler, notes from the recording 6) Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35 "Funeral March" - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" Beatrice Rana, piano | Warner Classics I have played a lot of Beethoven with orchestra but very little solo. I haven’t played a Beethoven sonata in public for more than ten years. Not because I don’t like them – I absolutely adore Beethoven – but I’ve always felt this kind of frustration with it in recital. So with lockdown having removed the pressure of the stage, I decided I really wanted to get to know more about Beethoven, to spend more time with him. And what’s the most challenging sonata requiring a lot of time to study? The “Hammerklavier”, of course! Normally, with a busy diary and so many pieces to learn, I don’t have that kind of time to experiment. ─ Beatrice Rana, in conversation with Jeremy Nicholas; notes from the recording 7) Bach Alexandre Tharaud, piano | Warner Classics Transcribing Bach for piano means being part of a long and imposing tradition. Following in the footsteps of Schumann, Liszt, Busoni, Kempff and a multitude of other giants of the piano wielding their pens, a callow pianist attempting the genre might easily blanch with apprehension. And yet the transcriptions that Alexandre Tharaud offers us on this album have no cause to blush by comparison, holding, as they do, such a powerfully instinctive as well as affective connection with this music, its heritage and its future. ─ Abel Saint Bris, notes from the recording 8) Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä | Janine Jansen, violin | Decca Music Group Ltd 9) Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 KV 456 & 21 KV 467 Bösendorfer Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, conducted by Howard Griffiths | Jonathan Fournel, piano | Alpha Classics This CD is Jonathan Fournel’s first experience of making a recording with an orchestra. “It was an unforgettable and unbelievable collaboration,” says the young pianist, “and I’m grateful that I was able to share the studio with Howard Griffiths and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. The choice of which concertos to record was quickly made and we settled on the concertos in B flat major K. 456 and C major K. 467. As we prepared the recording, it was as if a treasure map were unfolding before my eyes. Some paths of course were more obvious than others. Although both concertos have a dramatic aspect that allows for free interpretation — as if all the instruments were different characters in a story — their individuality and atmospheres are very different. I feel very honoured to present this recording to my listeners, as it documents an important step in my life as a musician.” ─ Amélie Boccon-Gibod, notes from the recording 10) Haydn: London Symphonies Vol.2 Symphonies No. 94 "Surprise", No. 95, No. 98 & No. 99 Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by Paavo Jarvi | Sony Music Labels Inc.

MINNEAPOLIS — AiR TOUR — Issue 8 Noor Adwan MINNEAPOLIS — AiR TOUR — Issue 8 Art by Noor Adwan Noor Adwan sM | What is your takeaway from the experience of working in-studio at Immersive Van Gogh Minneapolis? NA ── A major takeaway is that I really enjoy working on bigger pieces! I tend to create small pieces, out of both convenience and time constraints, and most of the canvases I keep around are only a few inches across. This residency gave me the opportunity to work, non-stop, for hours on larger pieces and it felt incredibly rewarding! Finishing small pieces is great, but I’m glad I took the opportunity to really immerse myself in the process of creating a couple large pieces. Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. sM | What have you accomplished in your residency? NA ── I spent my time creating a combination of original works and interpretations of van Gogh’s works. I spent time on a few portraits in an expressive style inspired by van Gogh’s, and had quite a bit of fun with those. One of my favorite pieces that I created in my time at IVG is a big winter scene inspired by a sunrise I photographed in Alexandria, Minnesota a couple years ago. Another is an interpretation of Starry Night : the scene is similar but I used a lighter color palette to reimagine it at dawn. sM | What advice would you give to future artists in residence? NA ── It may sound cliché, but in my opinion the most important thing to know before going into this experience is that you’ll get the most out of it by just relaxing and having fun with your art. Don’t stress yourself out by trying to rush through pieces, work robotically, or hold yourself to unrealistic standards. This is a great opportunity—be sure to take full advantage of it. Also: bring more easels than you think you’re going to need to display your work! I ran out of them rather quickly. IG: @artsypeach PREVIOUS NEXT

Barbara Hannigan Barbara Hannigan by Marco Borggreve A Canadian Music Icon Wearing Multiple Hats on Stage WORDS BY ARLAN VRIENS | PARIS | MUSIC NOV 14, 2022 | ISSUE 9 If one had to name the most iconic Canadian classical musician of the moment, it would be hard to choose anyone other than the Nova Scotia-born soprano Barbara Hannigan. Her trailblazing work as an advocate of contemporary opera includes definitive performances of works from György Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre to Louis Andriessen’s Writing to Vermeer , not to mention a clutch of awards, including a Grammy, a Juno, an Edison, and the Order of Canada. Hannigan is also an increasingly sought-after conductor, appearing on the podiums of leading orchestras from Berlin to Cleveland. Today, Hannigan balances this high-profile performance career with a fierce dedication to supporting the next generation. Through the Equilibrium Young Artists project, she mentors a roster of young vocalists and pianists with unique talents and impressive potential; via her Momentum project, Hannigan encourages other artists to share main-stage performance opportunities with rising stars. Sitting down with Editor-in-Chief Michael Zarathus-Cook, Hannigan joins smART Magazine from Paris for a glimpse into her multifaceted career and the priorities that guide her practices. She shares her excitement for an upcoming collaboration with Canadian composer Zosha di Castri, and offers her unique perspectives on training and supporting the upcoming generation of artists.

Raw Poetic Raw Poetic by Earl Davis “Pull from everywhere, because we didn’t belong anywhere” WORDS BY MILES FORRESTER | D.C. | PERFORMING ARTS FEB 28, 2023 | ISSUE 11 In this nascent decade, Washington D.C's alternative rap mavens, Raw Poetic and Damu the Fudgemunk (Jason Moore and Earl Davis, respectively), have released five albums together: Ocean Bridges , Moment of Change , BIG tiny Planet , Laminated Skies , and Space Beyond the Solar System . Each album feels distinct, but at a length of two hours, Space is the most sonically ambitious of the set, oscillating between spiritual jazz orchestration, funky psychedelia, and prog interludes patched through a plenitude of juicy synths. Moore collaborated with his uncle, the canonical saxophonist Archie Shepp, for 2020's roomy, combo-oriented jazz album, Ocean Bridges. Shepp returns to bookend Poetic and Damu's quintet in Space . His expressive tonality floats amidst the backdrop of Damu's digital soundscape, a daemonic counterpoint to Raw Poetic's flow. There have been many exciting recent intersections between free jazz and electronica, but this meeting between generations refreshingly eschews the current...

Wayne Burns’s Top 10 Canadian Films Wayne Burns INTERVIEW — With the recent releases of fastLOVE and Longing, the Canadian actor looks back on the films that helped shape his appetite for cinema Words & Interview by Michael Zarathus-Cook ISSUE 13 | TORONTO | IN FOCUS Born and raised on the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people in Truro, Nova Scotia, Wayne Burns is carving a space for himself in Canadian screens, stages, and scripts. That creative journey continues to extend on the international scene with his latest feature-length project Longing , directed by Savi Gabizon and starring the likes of Richard Gere, Suzanne Clément, and Diane Kruger. The plot unfolds after the sudden discovery by Gere’s Daniel Bloch that he is the father to a long-estranged son who has just died. Bloch’s journey to unravel the life and death of his son pinballs through the psychological labyrinth of the people who knew him, including Burns’s character Mikey. Longing is a Hollywood remake of an Israeli film by the same name and director, which was released in 2017, the same year that Burns was named “Breakthrough Theatre Artist” by NOW Magazine . L: Wayne Burns. R: Poster for Longing The trajectories of his careers in film, theatre, and as a writer come together to reveal an artistry deeply inspired by the sharp edges of storytelling and characters that embody more than what meets the eye. Burns has also released his latest short film, fastLOVE , which was screened in Toronto this fall. Wayne Burns — Cannopy asked me to compile a list of my top ten favourite Canadian films in anticipation of my latest film, Longing , where I’m featured opposite Golden Globe® Winner, Richard Gere. I had a difficult time ranking these, so here they are in no particular order. I have a penchant for darkness, intensity, and stories about people who exist on the edges of society. These films continue to influence my performance style and the projects I gravitate towards. Blackbird by Jason Buxton takes place in a juvenile detention center. I auditioned for this movie several times and finally booked it after I shaved my head for another project. This was the film that started it all. Not only did this film help me get my ACTRA card, but it laid the foundation for how playful and free shooting something like this can be—especially with Jason at the helm. One of my favourite scenes is the ping pong ball moment which all happens in one shot. Elliot Page is a huge inspiration to me, and one of my favourite films of his is The Tracey Fragments by Bruce MacDonald. The images of a young woman wearing a shower curtain on a city bus are burned into my mind. I loved how tragic and messy it all felt, like scraped knees in dirt. Elliot’s performance in this film continued his string of damaged characters hellbent on justice, like in Hard Candy and Mouth to Mouth . Bruce MacDonald is a genius and this made me a lifelong fan. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Kelly McCormack last year in LA, and I was effusive about my love of her film Sugar Daddy . The costume design by Mara Zeigler was impeccable, the music by Montreal artist Foxtrott was haunting and gorgeous, and the performances felt so frenzied and grounded at the same time. I loved the choices that director Wendy Morgan made, which really juxtaposed the reality and the fantasy of making music—it falls perfectly in line with my curiosities about the stories we tell ourselves as artists. Ashley MacKenzie is someone I’ve admired for a long time, and her film Werewolf surpassed all my expectations. Not only did she craft a devastating look at people trying to survive on the fringes of a small Nova Scotian town, but she got incredible performances out of her cast. I will never forget the hospital sequence where Blaise tries to get help from a doctor. Having grown up in rural Nova Scotia myself, these people are all too familiar. Xavier Dolan’s films are featured on many people’s lists, and for good reason. I saw Mommy at TIFF when it premiered at the festival in 2014. I had just graduated from theatre school and was starting to explore filmmaking myself. Xavier is someone who, out of the gate, felt assured as a filmmaker, and watching this piece, which is so claustrophobic and violent in only the ways a mother and son can understand, was absolutely brilliant. That moment when the frame changes from 4:3 to 16:9 is iconic. No wonder Adele nabbed him. Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs is another hard watch, up there with the best of them. Violence has never felt so operatic and beautiful. It’s not for the faint of heart, but the message of survival is potent and visceral. From the first moment of a little girl escaping from a building to the final ascension, I couldn’t look away. The growing theme here is I am fascinated by the ways in which people hurt one another, and this movie takes that to the next level. Truly an unforgettable piece of work. Les 7 jours du talion (7 Days) is a hard watch. I found this on DVD in Montreal and became obsessed with it. It’s a raw and unflinching story about a father who wants justice from the man who murdered his daughter, and the lengths he goes to achieve it. Despite the intense violence that takes place, I found myself drawn into the father’s transformation from a grieving parent to a vengeful monster to an empty shell. It’s a powerful performance from Claude Legault and one that I think of often. The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open by Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is exceptional cinema. The elusive one-shots orchestrated by Norm Li, the deeply nuanced and almost documentary-style performances by Elle-Máijá and Violet Nelson, and the lavish use of colour and sharp editing by Adrian Dark is next level. This is a quintessential film for me, and one that deftly navigates lateral violence and the pitfalls of privilege in one fell swoop. Kevin Funk’s masterful Hello Destroyer continues to do just that. Destroy me. It’s a dark, meandering, violent (go figure), and masculine ode to adolescence. It feels like an underage drunk stumbling home at 3 AM. The party sequence lives in my mind rent-free and I became obsessed with Jared Abramson’s career after this. It makes sense that Kevin moved to directing music videos after this because his world-building felt like an apex predator. I’m not a huge sports fan, but this is what small-town hockey looks like in my mind. I watched Anthony Shim’s Rice Boy Sleeps on the plane back from LA last year and wept. Granted, not the best screen to watch the film on, but its power came through. I have a deep relationship with my mother, and this film, although drawing on Anthony’s life, felt universal. There is a scene where the mother has to stand up for herself at work after being harassed by the men there which echoes profoundly. It doesn't help that I was reading Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner at the same time. Mothers, man, we don’t deserve them. CANNOPY x WAYNE BURNS Keep up with Wayne Burns: www.wayneburns.ca Instagram

Return to the Rat Park "BARDAMU NO.3" by Daria Domnikova. Emerging research at the University of Toronto strengthens the link between social isolation and increased vulnerability to addiction Words By Rafael Faria-Lopes | Illustration By Daria Domnikova ISSUE 12 | TORONTO | ARTS & LETTERS Social isolation is a complex phenomenon to evaluate. Compared to other stimuli, it could be better understood as a lack thereof. Accordingly, evaluating the consequences of social isolation can be challenging but the importance of this task has arguably never been more evident with emerging negative health repercussions of COVID-19 protocols. Another complex phenomenon that has been tied to social isolation is addiction, which can be defined as a brain disorder characterised by patterns of compulsive behaviour such as drug seeking, and repeatedly engaged despite severe consequences. Addictive behaviours are estimated to have risen dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The alignment of these trends highlights the need to further investigate how these two phenomena are mechanistically connected─an ongoing pursuit over the past half century. In the mid 20th century, most of the research on how addictive substances affect behaviour involved studies with rats kept in small, solitary cages. The rats were given access to two drinking bottles: one laced with an addictive substance (usually cocaine), and one with just water. In this setting, rats would often neglect the clean water and begin to obsessively consume the drug-laced water until they eventually overdosed and died. This picture represents the accepted understanding at the time of how the “addictiveness” quality of a substance was considered to be the main and only factor that led to repeated self-administration despite the risk of overdose and overall detriment to health. By 1979, Dr. Bruce Alexander—a psychologist from Vancouver—began to question this assumption and set out to change some key parameters to these experiments. He devised experiments where rats had access to two water sources where one was laced with cocaine and the other was clean; only now, he gave the rats expansive social environments with plenty of space, food, toys, and mates. These experiments gained the moniker “Rat Park” because it was similar to putting the rats in an amusement park where they could have anything they ever wanted. At the end of the experiments, the rats living in Rat Park had overdosed on the available substances at a significantly lower rate. Thus, a growing hypothesis emerged that social isolation may be a factor in the susceptibility to developing all kinds of addictive behaviours. With more and more studies showing that isolated rodents became addicted to substances with greater frequency than rats with opportunities for social activity, the mechanism of exactly how social isolation influenced addiction vulnerability still remains largely unknown. Nevertheless, a 2023 physiology literature review conducted at the University of Toronto has put forward a potential mechanistic pathway by which these two complex phenomena are connected. By aggregating the literature on observed changes evoked by social isolation in the prefrontal cortex area of the brain and examining the patterns in these findings that coincide with a higher probability of exhibition of addictive behaviours, structural and functional patterns were found. Social isolation appears to reduce the opportunity for connections between a subtype of neurons in the medial [middle] prefrontal cortex due to a loss in surface area. Consequently, these neuron populations have a hindered ability to communicate with other neuron populations in the limbic region of the brain, an area critical for modulating behaviour related to motivation and reward. This type of dysfunction in these cells has been consistently connected to short-term reward-seeking behaviour, lower impulse control, and impaired decision making─all of which are established markers of addiction vulnerability. While this mechanistic pathway represents a narrow portion of all the interacting structural and functional regions of the brain that are known to be implicated in social isolation and addiction, it remains a step in the direction of understanding how these factors interplay in the context of a real-world social issue. Furthermore, the exploration of the physical connection between social isolation and addiction can prompt future experiments that examine the causal relationship more directly, demonstrates the value of making use of primary research beyond the applications that were intended for it when it was originally published, and even then helps lead to the identification of potential physical targets for addiction therapy. On a broader scale, pursuing an understanding of the physiological underpinnings of social isolation and addiction represents an opportunity to reckon with major world events in a new light. Ultimately, understanding the repercussions of social isolation can prompt us to take steps towards addressing the harm that addiction presents in people’s lives, and grow more cognizant of the wellness value associated with fostering community and togetherness.