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This article was published 15/06/2017 (3379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal

With all the hype and smiley hoopla surrounding Canada’s 150 years of Confederation in 2017, it can be all too easy to overlook or forget the history of whitewashing, hardship and oppression of indigenous people in this country.

Which is why the collection Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal, published by local imprint ARP Books, couldn’t be more relevant and timely.

Edited by University of Manitoba political science professor Kiera L. Ladner and Berens River First Nation member and law student Myra Tait, the collection features contributions from the likes of Buffy Saint-Marie, Erin Freeland, Peter H. Russell, Adele Perry, Sheryl R. Lightfoot and many others.

The collection goes beyond the scholarly essay format, allowing contributors to reflect on treaty issues, the Indian Act, Idle No More, residential schools, cultural appropriation, Confederation and more through prose, poetry, art and more.

Ladner and Tait launch Surviving Canada at McNally Robinson Booksellers on Tuesday, June 20 at 7 p.m.

— Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

 

No ceremony, just serenity

One of Assiniboine Park’s favourite spots, the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, turns 25 in 2017 and the exquisite blending of art and nature welcomes those wish to mark the anniversary on Sunday, June 18.

The date also serves as a celebration of 125 years of Ukrainian immigration to Canada. No formal ceremony is planned; visitors are asked to reflect and enjoy the garden as Mol intended.

Mol, born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Ukraine, in 1915, immigrated to Canada in 1948 and eventually settled in Winnipeg. His sculptures, paintings and stained glass are found all over the world, but especially here in Winnipeg and in many locations in rural Manitoba.

Mol died in 2009 at the age of 94. He donated 300 of his works to the City of Winnipeg with a condition they be installed in a sculpture garden at Assiniboine Park. It was built, at a cost of $4 million, and includes an indoor gallery and the former one-room schoolhouse from Birds Hill that served as Mol’s studio. Twenty-five years later, the 1.2-hectare park within a park has become a retreat of many Winnipeggers and visitors. It’s estimated that 250,000 people visit the sculpture garden every year.

“This has really been the dream of my life, to have my work properly displayed,” Mol said at the groundbreaking.

The garden includes the welcoming piece Hutsul, or migrant, blowing his trumpet, Mol’s famous sculpture of Tom Lamb trying to start a bush plane by spinning its propeller as well as a statue of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, a two-metre tall replica of the sculpture that sits in Washington D.C.’s embassy row.

Besides his works at the sculpture garden, among the bronze sculptures Mol created include Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox, former prime minister John Diefenbaker (both in Ottawa), three different popes and Queen Elizabeth II.

— Alan Small

 

Timeraiser 150 Winnipeg

Time is money, the saying goes, but this unique “party for social good” in support of artists and non-profits takes the phrase literally.

How does it work? You bid on work by emerging Canadian artists, but you pay in hours, not dollars. Bidding starts at 20 hours and maxes out at 150; if you win, you have one year to complete your volunteer hours with the non-profit organization of your choice. Once you’ve put in your time — track it and send it to Timeraiser using the app — you can claim your piece of art.

Local artists who have contributed work include Adam Willis Kelly, Adrienne Pelletier, Chandra Kremski, Gibril Bangura, Takashi Iwasaki, Katrina Mendoza and many more.

Entertainment include a dance performance by GeNie Baffoe, soul-jazz from Chuck Copenace Music, a maker lab courtesy of ArtsJunktion and music by DJ ResOne.

Refreshments are provided by Tallest Poppy, Little Brown Jug, Bronuts Donuts & Coffee and Fools & Horses.

Timeraiser 150 takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 15, at the Graffiti Gallery, 109 Higgins Ave. Auction is from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

— Jill Wilson

 

Annihilator

For the first time in more than 20 years, Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator will be touring their home country, making a stop in Winnipeg June 20 at the Park Theatre.

Annihilator’s specific brand of heavy metal mashed with trash metal went out of favour in the early ‘90s, forcing them to flee overseas to a more accommodating music market in Europe (mainly Germany), as well as South America and Japan. For two decades, Annihilator saw success there, but it was always a goal of frontman and founding member Jeff Waters to be able to tour Canada.

“I’m getting too old, I gotta do it once in this era of my life here,” says Waters, 51, of their current cross-country tour.

“In a nutshell we’ve had a lot of success overseas since 1989 which is amazing. I haven’t had to have a real job and I’ve had a good career and sold lots of records and done lots of tours and met lots of musicians I’ve idolized as a kid, but we’ve never been able to come back, so to speak, since the 1993 crash of this traditional heavy metal/thrash metal scene,” he explains.

And, even when the scene was expanding at home in the mid-00s, Waters said he had a tough time amping up interest since the band has never developed a huge following here.

“Reality check was we were not a big band in north America to start with so it wasn’t this big return or anything and it wasn’t like we’re a young band with a fresh new sound, so it wasn’t really a big deal to a lot of labels or agencies to bring us back here,” admits Waters. “I tried hard for six months and realized ‘Woah, my time is done here.’”

But, as it turns out, Annihilator’s time in Canada isn’t done; Waters decided to try one last push, calling venues and promoters himself, bypassing the traditional route of going through management and labels, and was able to not only secure a slew of dates, he had more offers come in than the band could feasibly accept.

Annihilator has been working on new music as well, with Waters saying the band’s 16th studio album had technically just been finished the night before he chatted with the Free Press. Waters, who now resides in the Ottawa area, records in his home studio — and has done so since 1994 — and says for this album, he went back to the beginning, pulling inspiration from Annihilator’s first four records (which also happen to be their most successful.) It’s a more stripped-down effort, and Waters was buzzing with excitement while discussing the album’s potential for excellence.

“You know, when they finish work, it’s normal for an artist or painter or poet or musician, you always think it’s the best thing you’ve done in a long time or could be the best thing ever, and that’s not ego usually, that’s just being an artist. In my mind, the part people should always remember is, like, really be honest with yourself — six months later or a year later, was it really that good? And if it wasn’t, what could you do to improve on the next one? And I always think like that,” says Waters.

“A lot of my albums, they vary in not only different styles of metal and thrash music but also quality-wise. You’ve got your great albums, your average albums, and you’ve got a couple you wish you never wrote. But on this one, I’m just ridiculously psyched for this one more than I have been for a long time… It’s up to the fans, the press and the label to tell me if it’s any good, but I really think it’s going to be a Top 5 for us.”

Tickets are $29, and are available at Music Trader, the Park Theatre and online at Ticketfly. Thrash metal band Mason out of Australia, as well as Montreal’s MUTANK, will open the show. Music starts at 7:30 p.m.

­— Erin Lebar