Arts

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Big Ocean breaks new ground as K-pop’s first deaf group

Juwon Park, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Big Ocean breaks new ground as K-pop’s first deaf group

Juwon Park, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Big Ocean, a three-member K-pop group composed entirely of artists with hearing disabilities, is redefining the limits of music and performance — one beat at a time.

When Big Ocean takes the stage, they seamlessly incorporate sign language into their performances. But their polished shows are built on extensive preparation using high-tech tools born from necessity — vibrating smartwatches that pulse with musical beats and LED visual metronomes that flash timing cues during practice sessions. This technological approach represents significant progress in South Korea’s entertainment industry, where career opportunities for people with disabilities have historically been limited.

The trio, PJ, Jiseok and Chanyeon, made their debut in April 2024 and recently wrapped a solo European tour marking their first anniversary. The band performed in four countries, including France and the U.K., while promoting their second mini-album, “Underwater,” which dropped on April 20.

PJ rose to prominence as a YouTuber who educated viewers about hearing disabilities. Chanyeon previously worked as an audiologist. Jiseok was a professional ski racer.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Members of K-pop band Big Ocean, Jiseok, PJ and Chanyeon, from left to right, participate in an interview with The Associated Press in Seoul, South Korea, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Juwon Park)

Members of K-pop band Big Ocean, Jiseok, PJ and Chanyeon, from left to right, participate in an interview with The Associated Press in Seoul, South Korea, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Juwon Park)
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First solo show in WAG-Qaumajuq’s flagship Qilak gallery

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Preview
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First solo show in WAG-Qaumajuq’s flagship Qilak gallery

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

Since his last gallery show in Winnipeg, Abraham Anghik Ruben’s focus has shifted from introspection to cross-cultural exploration.

That personal and artistic arc is currently on display at WAG-Qaumajuq in a sprawling retrospective of the master Inuit sculptor’s 50-year career.

It’s a fitting full-circle reunion.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery hosted Ruben’s first solo show at a major institution in 2001 and now, nearly 25 years later, the artist’s work is featured in the first solo exhibit in Qaumajuq’s main Qilak gallery.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

A grouping of artworks at Abraham Anghik Ruben’s retrospective collection, at the WAG-Qaumajuq.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                A grouping of artworks at Abraham Anghik Ruben’s retrospective collection, at the WAG-Qaumajuq.
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Échos croisés: le projet des sœurs Rezaei

Marie Wielgocki 3 minute read Preview
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Échos croisés: le projet des sœurs Rezaei

Marie Wielgocki 3 minute read Saturday, Apr. 19, 2025

L’exposition Échos croisés, proposée par Mancy et Farzaneh Rezaei a pris place, le 27 mars dernier, dans la galerie contemporaine de la maison des artistes visuels francophones.

Dans l’art comme dans la vie, Farzaneh et Mancy sont sœurs. Basées aujourd’hui à Montréal, les deux artistes sont originaires d’Iran. “Nous nous sommes installées au Canada il y a 11 ans,” explique Farzaneh, tout en précisant que ce choix fut motivé par l’envie de découvrir d’autres arts et d’avoir de nouvelles inspirations. C’est la quatrième fois que les deux artistes exposent en duo. Un tandem artistique qui existe depuis toujours, et qui a commencé à présenter leurs œuvres ensemble en 2018.

À travers “Échos croisés,” les sœurs offrent des propositions aussi différentes que complémentaires. C’est la première fois que les deux artistes, en parallèle de leur métier de médiatrices au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, exposent en dehors du Québec. Dans cette exposition, elles explorent le féminisme et la migration, des thématiques auxquelles elles ont pu être confrontées dans leurs parcours personnels. L’exposition composée d’une trentaine d’œuvres est ouverte aux visiteurs jusqu’au 10 mai.

Corps féminin

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Saturday, Apr. 19, 2025

Marta Guerrero photo

Mancy et Farzaneh Rezaei, sœurs et artistes

Marta Guerrero photo
                                Mancy et Farzaneh Rezaei, sœurs et artistes
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                                Farzaneh and Mancy Rezaei
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Runway show focuses on treasures, not trash

Conrad Sweatman 5 minute read Preview
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Runway show focuses on treasures, not trash

Conrad Sweatman 5 minute read Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025

Some of Manitoba’s best-known public figures — including radio host Ace Burpee, activist Mitch Bourbonniere and politician Nahanni Fontaine — walk the catwalk in a fashion show at 109 Higgins Ave. tonight.

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Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS

Voices alumni and dress designer Brittany-Morgan Erb paints a garbage bag dress, which symbolizes how many youths in care are forced to move between homes with their belongings stuffed in garbage bags.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS
                                Voices alumni and dress designer Brittany-Morgan Erb paints a garbage bag dress for the Voices: Manitoba’s Youth in Care Network fundraiser.
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Preview
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

There’s a sweet new edition on the way.

Sisters Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan are expanding their successful local bakery business with a new cookbook venture. Jenna Rae Cakes at Home: Our Favourite Recipes to Enjoy with Family and Friends hits bookstores Oct. 8 and features more than 100 colourful, family-friendly recipes.

The cookbook is a followup to their first release, Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats, and is a labour of love that brings together the twins’ individual interests.

“Ash was meant to make cookbooks,” says Hutchinson, whose passion for cake design prompted the entrepreneurial siblings to open their first Jenna Rae Cakes shop in 2014.

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Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024
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Miss Shakespeare turns gender bias on its ear

Holly Harris 5 minute read Preview
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Miss Shakespeare turns gender bias on its ear

Holly Harris 5 minute read Sunday, Sep. 29, 2024

Winnipeg Studio Theatre kicked off its season with the guts and glory of female empowerment in its all-women-led local premiere of Miss Shakespeare.

The two-hour musical — directed by company artistic director Erin McGrath and presented by Rainbow Stage — runs through Oct. 5 at the University of Winnipeg’s Asper Centre for Theatre and Film. Saturday night’s crowd eagerly lapped up its feminist ethos.

Its quasi-historical protagonist, Judith Shakespeare (played by a spunky Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu), is the Bard’s real-life daughter “born with a poetic soul.” Judith lives in the shadows of her famous father during the repressive 1600s, when women were relegated to becoming wives and mothers, rather than pursuing their own passions.

Judith yearns for her own identity as a self-actualized creative powerhouse, and cobbles together the “Gossips,” a merry band of like-minded women who surreptitiously meet each week in the bowels of The Cage tavern to create a play. They spar, share stories, and dream, risking public humiliation if they’re discovered treading the boards like their male counterparts.

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Sunday, Sep. 29, 2024

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu (centre) and others run through a scene on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. An all-woman cast and crew are behind the upcoming Winnipeg Studio Theatre-Rainbow Stage presentation of Miss Shakespeare. For arts story. Winnipeg Free Press 2024

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu (centre) and others run through a scene on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. An all-woman cast and crew are behind the upcoming Winnipeg Studio Theatre-Rainbow Stage presentation of Miss Shakespeare. For arts story. Winnipeg Free Press 2024
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Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

Thandi Vera 5 minute read Preview
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Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

Thandi Vera 5 minute read Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024

They say laughter is the best medicine. Throw a little song-and-dance into the mix and you get Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System — an 11-part web microseries that humorously addresses Canada’s ailing medical system through music and satire.

Sara Kreindler, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, spearheads the show, drawing from her extensive research.

“It’s about starting a conversation,” says writer-composer Kreindler, who has a PhD in social psychology. “Whether you’re a health-care provider or just someone curious about the system, I want viewers to come away feeling empowered to hold our elected leaders accountable for addressing the underlying issues.”

Through the character of Larry, played by Winnipeg actor Toby Hughes, viewers embark on a journey navigating the complexities of health-care policy.

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Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024

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Larry (Toby Hughes, left, with Melanie Whyte and Lisa Bell) delves into our health care.

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                                Larry (Toby Hughes, left, with Melanie Whyte and Lisa Bell) delves into our health care.
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Riel, le lien entre les francos d’Amérique

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press  5 minute read Preview
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Riel, le lien entre les francos d’Amérique

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press  5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Pour Jocelyn Jalette, bédéiste de Joliette, au Québec, pas besoin d’être métis, ou manitobain, ou encore francophone en milieu minoritaire pour apprécier le combat, le triomphe et la tragédie de Louis Riel. Et voici pourquoi.

Dans La République assassinée des Métis, la bande dessinée de Jocelyn Jalette qui vient tout juste d’être publiée aux Éditions du Phoenix (www.editionsduphoenix.com), des personnages fictifs côtoient Louis Riel et Gabriel Dumont, mais aussi les politiciens Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Louis-Joseph Papineau et Honoré Mercier.

Une palette de personnages pour mieux placer la résistance des Métis dans un contexte francophone plus large, comme le souligne l’auteur de 47 ans :

“Les liens sont étroits entre la résistance des Métis, Louis Riel et les francophones du Québec. Surtout quand on se rappelle que la lutte pour assurer un statut d’égalité entre le français, l’anglais, et les cultures francophone et anglophone, c’est l’affaire de tous les francophones.”

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Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Daniel Bahuaud photo
‘Toute la francophonie nord-américaine est liée’: Le bédéiste québécois Jocelyn Jalette a rendu hommage à Louis Riel en visitant, le 8 novembre dernier, la tombe du Père du Manitoba. Riel a été pendu le 16 novembre 1885.

Daniel Bahuaud photo
‘Toute la francophonie nord-américaine est liée’: Le bédéiste québécois Jocelyn Jalette a rendu hommage à Louis Riel en visitant, le 8 novembre dernier, la tombe du Père du Manitoba. Riel a été pendu le 16 novembre 1885.
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Traversant le Canada en 20 chansons

Manella Vila Nova 4 minute read Preview
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Traversant le Canada en 20 chansons

Manella Vila Nova 4 minute read Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

De La Rochelle à la Colombie-Britannique en passant par l’Acadie, le Québec, l’Ontario et les Prairies, voici le voyage que proposera la chorale québécoise En Supplément’Air dans la Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface à l’occasion du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération canadienne, le 11 juillet.

Le Chœur En Supplément’Air a été fondé en 2015 par Carole Bellavance, la directrice artistique de la chorale. “Cette année, le chœur compte 300 choristes de toute la province du Québec. Tous les étés, nous organisons une tournée avec une quarantaine d’entre eux. Nous sommes partis le 3 juillet pour un premier concert à Ottawa, puis nous nous rendrons à North Bay, Sault Sainte-Marie, Thunder Bay. Nous terminerons à Winnipeg le 11 juillet,” Bellavance a dit.

C’est la première fois que le chœur se déplace aussi loin à l’ouest du Canada. “Avec notre spectacle Le périple de la chanson francophone en Haute-Amérique, nous voulons faire valoir l’histoire de la chanson francophone au Canada à travers le temps. Nous avons choisi des chansons de partout pour mettre en valeur les régions. Le propos se prête bien à la grande aventure de la francophonie canadienne. J’ai profité du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération pour faire vivre aux choristes les chansons francophones canadiennes, et pas seulement québécoises.”

Harmonisé et orchestré par François Couture, le spectacle met la culture francophone au premier plan. “La culture francophone a été apportée de l’Europe. Pour illustrer cela, notre première chanson s’intitule Je pars à l’autre bout du monde. Au début du spectacle, on se sent vraiment à La Rochelle. Ensuite, on arrive dans les Maritimes avec des chansons qui reflètent l’histoire de l’Acadie, puis du Québec, et le développement de l’Ontario. Nous suivons le trajet de la chanson francophone, d’est en ouest.”

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Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

Photo gracieuseté Carole Bellavance
Le Choeur En Supplément’Air lors d’un concert au Grand Théâtre de Québec.

Photo gracieuseté Carole Bellavance
Le Choeur En Supplément’Air lors d’un concert au Grand Théâtre de Québec.
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Gripping drama Elle brings outdoor hardship to PTE's indoor stage

Randall King 2 minute read Preview
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Gripping drama Elle brings outdoor hardship to PTE's indoor stage

Randall King 2 minute read Friday, Feb. 24, 2017

The medium of theatre doesn't necessarily lend itself to a story of survival in the wilderness.

There's a reason The Revenant was a movie and not a Broadway play.

And yet the historical drama Elle, an adaptation of the Governor General’s Award-winning novel by Douglas Glover of the same name by Toronto actress Severn Thompson, manages to be an engaging, gripping piece of work... even in the civilized Prairie Theatre Exchange environs in Portage Place.

Over the course of 90 minutes (without intermission), Thompson connects us to an extraordinary character, based on Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, a headstrong young Frenchwoman tantalized to a trip to Canada in 1542 by exotic tales of naked natives and strange customs.

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Friday, Feb. 24, 2017
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Teen quartet We’re Only Here for the Snacks to release debut album on limited-edition Winnipeg-inspired vinyl

AV Kitching 4 minute read Preview
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Teen quartet We’re Only Here for the Snacks to release debut album on limited-edition Winnipeg-inspired vinyl

AV Kitching 4 minute read Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

The teenage instrumental indie-rock quartet will launch its debut album, Missed Our Stop, Sunday at the West End Cultural Centre.

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Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

Vincent Blais / Adventures Within Media

From left: We’re Only Here for the Snacks’ Sal Tait, Bennett Erum-Rieger, Sebi Zurzolo and Madis Paas

Supplied
                                We’re Only Here for the Snacks’ Bennett Erum-Rieger (from left), Sal Tait, Sebi Zurzolo and Madis Paas.

$54.7M sale of Frida Kahlo self-portrait breaks auction record for female artists

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

$54.7M sale of Frida Kahlo self-portrait breaks auction record for female artists

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

A haunting 1940 self-portrait by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold Thursday for $54.7 million and became the top-selling work by any female artist at an auction.

The painting of Kahlo asleep in a bed — titled “El sueño (La cama)” or in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” — surpassed the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," which sold for $44.4 million in 2014.

The sale at Sotheby's in New York also topped Kahlo's own auction record for a work by a Latin American artist. The 1949 painting “Diego and I,” depicting the artist and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, went for $34.9 million in 2021. Her paintings are reported to have sold privately for even more.

The self-portrait is among the few Kahlo pieces that have remained in private hands outside Mexico, where her body of work has been declared an artistic monument. Her works in both public and private collections within the country cannot be sold abroad or destroyed.

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Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

FILE - A painting by Frida Kahlo titled "El sueño (La cama)" or (The Dream (The Bed), is displayed at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Sept. 19, 2025. The painting, estimated at 40-60 million US dollars, is part of a collection of surrealist masterpieces unveiled ahead of its upcoming sale in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - A painting by Frida Kahlo titled
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Travelling sign painter finds his groove on the move

AV Kitching 5 minute read Preview
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Travelling sign painter finds his groove on the move

AV Kitching 5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

For someone whose writing appears all over the city, Joseph Pilapil’s penmanship isn’t the best.

You’ve probably seen his meticulously formed letters above store entrances, on shop windows and decorating sandwich boards all across the city.

But when it comes to writing on paper, well, the less said the better.

“My handwriting is terrible. When I am writing out my day-to-day stuff, it’s absolutely really bad,” he says, with a laugh.

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Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Joseph Pilapil’s meticulously formed letters, from bold block capitals to curly twirls and swirls, appear in front of restaurants, on shop windows and sandwich panels.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Joseph Pilapil’s meticulously formed letters, from bold block capitals to curly twirls and swirls, appear in front of restaurants, on shop windows and sandwich panels.
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La créativité franco-manitobaine rayonne: Anna Binta Diallo expose à travers le pays

Virginie Frere 4 minute read Preview
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La créativité franco-manitobaine rayonne: Anna Binta Diallo expose à travers le pays

Virginie Frere 4 minute read Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

En 2025, l’artiste visuelle franco-manitobaine Anna Binta Diallo connaît une année charnière. De Vancouver à Toronto, en passant par Edmonton et Winnipeg, ses expositions se succèdent, confirmant la place qu’elle occupe désormais parmi les figures majeures de la scène artistique canadienne contemporaine.

Née à Dakar, Sénégal, en 1983 et élevée à Saint-Boniface, Anna Binta Diallo tisse depuis toujours des liens entre les continents et les mémoires. Ses œuvres explorent les intersections entre identité, nostalgie et nature, dans un langage visuel qui conjugue collage, vidéo, graphisme et sculpture.

“Le collage est depuis longtemps au cœur de ma démarche,” confie-t-elle. “J’aime réagencer des images anciennes, des sons, des fragments d’archives pour construire de nouveaux récits.”

L’artiste collecte cartes, livres et photos qu’elle transforme en compositions hybrides, à la croisée du passé et du futur.

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Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

Alicia Régnier photo

En 2025, l’artiste franco-manitobaine Anna Binta Diallo a multiplié les expositions à travers le pays.

Alicia Régnier photo
                                En 2025, l’artiste franco-manitobaine Anna Binta Diallo a multiplié les expositions à travers le pays.

Rosa Parks and Helen Keller statues unveiled at the Alabama Capitol

Kim Chandler, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Rosa Parks and Helen Keller statues unveiled at the Alabama Capitol

Kim Chandler, The Associated Press 4 minute read Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, pivotal figures who fought for justice and inspired change across the world, were unveiled Friday on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol.

The monuments honoring the Alabama natives whose advocacy helped dismantle racial segregation and promoted the rights of people with disabilities are the first statues of women to be installed on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol, broadening the history reflected on the grounds that also include tributes to the Confederacy, which was formed at the site in 1861.

Gov. Kay Ivey, currently the nation's longest serving female governor, said Parks and Keller “rose to shape history through quiet strength and unwavering conviction.”

“Courage changes the course of history, and today, these statutes stand as symbols of that courage — testaments to what one person, especially one determined one, can do to make the world a better place,” Ivey said.

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Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025

FILE - Rosa Parks speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 15, 1969. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway, Jr., File)

FILE - Rosa Parks speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 15, 1969. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway, Jr., File)
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Hommage vivant à une pionnière du théâtre franco-manitobain

Virginie Frère 6 minute read Preview
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Hommage vivant à une pionnière du théâtre franco-manitobain

Virginie Frère 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 17, 2025

Du 22 octobre au 1er novembre 2025, le Théâtre Cercle Molière donnera vie à la figure emblématique de la francophonie manitobaine, Pauline Boutal.

Pour le centenaire du TCM, l’ancienne direction a choisi d’inaugurer sa saison avec la programmation d’une pièce “100 % Manitoba,” comme le dit Marie-Ève Fontaine, nouvelle directrice artistique et co-directrice générale de l’établissement.

Il s’agit de Pauline Boutal, entre les toiles et les planches, œuvre de théâtre écrite par l’une des plus importantes figures de la littérature franco-canadienne de l’Ouest actuelle, Lise Gaboury-Diallo, et mise en scène par Simon Miron, également franco-manitobain.

Le spectacle retrace en deux actes les faits saillants de la vie de Pauline Le Goff Boutal (1894-1992), illustratrice, artiste-peintre, costumière, comédienne, metteuse en scène et première directrice artistique du TCM, qu’elle a dirigé pendant 27 ans.

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Friday, Oct. 17, 2025

Marta Guerrero photo

Lise Gaboury-Diallo a mis 4 ans pour donner vie à la figure marquante de la culture franco-manitobaine.

Marta Guerrero photo
                                Lise Gaboury-Diallo a mis 4 ans pour donner vie à la figure marquante de la culture franco-manitobaine.
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The Orange Notebooks navigate love, longing and a quest for a lost child

Reviewed by Laurence Broadhurst 5 minute read Preview
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The Orange Notebooks navigate love, longing and a quest for a lost child

Reviewed by Laurence Broadhurst 5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025

He turned. He looked back, precisely when he seemed to have the cosmic solution in his hands — and that was his terrible undoing. That was Orpheus’s mistake.

Susanna Crossman reimagines turning and looking back here, in a kind of experiment in genre. The Orange Notebooks is an adventure story, to be sure, but it is also part aching memoir, part lyrical poetry, part polychromatic kaleidoscope, part surreptitious “found footage” but, most thoroughly, part primordial myth.

Crossman seems to dwell, as her writing does, between worlds. She grew up in the U.K. in a “utopian commune” about 50 years ago but now resides in France, writing (both essays and fiction), lecturing and practising arts therapy. Her 2024 memoir, Home Is Where We Start, set a lingering tone of journeys, nostalgia and psychological reflection.

The Orange Notebooks reprises that tone, beginning with the pretense that we are being handed a set of journal reflections written by our protagonist, “Anna,” who herself lives in liminal spaces. She too was raised in England but grew to adulthood as a server on an English Channel ferry, married a dashing Frenchman with an exotic name, Antton (the two Ts a vestige of his Basque heritage) and eventually settled with Antton in a lovely rural French home, both as teachers.

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Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025

Morgane Michotte photo

Susanna Crossman’s novel carries a tone of nostalgia and reflection that’s similar to that of her 2024 memoir, Home Is Where We Start.

Morgane Michotte photo
                                Susanna Crossman’s novel carries a tone of nostalgia and reflection that’s similar to that of her 2024 memoir, Home Is Where We Start.

Thousands mark Truth and Reconcilation Day

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

Thousands mark Truth and Reconcilation Day

Malak Abas 4 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025

As a sea of thousands clad in orange waited, Helen George braids her son’s long, straight hair.

They’re at the RBC Convention Centre, preparing for the grand entry ceremonies hosted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization to mark the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Tuesday afternoon.

Originally from Ochapowace Cree Nation in Saskatchewan but living in Winnipeg, George is helping her son, Houston, get dressed for the upcoming powwow. For her, seeing so many families coming together to recognize the impact of the residential school system and celebrate Indigenous resilience is touching.

“It’s meaningful,” she said.

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Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS

Thousands clad in orange marched from Oodena Circle at The Forks to the RBC Convention Centre to mark Truth and Reconcilliation Day.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
                                Thousands clad in orange marched from Oodena Circle at The Forks to the RBC Convention Centre to mark Truth and Reconcilliation Day.
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Misguided dramedy not great

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Preview
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Misguided dramedy not great

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 26, 2025

Making her directorial debut, actor Scarlett Johansson (whose movies range from Lost in Translation to The Avengers) has chosen a small human story that is enormously well-intentioned.

But as the central character in this awkward, uneven dramedy proves, good intentions can have disastrous consequences. Attempting to make a much-needed statement about our contemporary culture’s difficulty in dealing with age, grief and loneliness, Eleanor the Great misfires, sometimes badly.

There are things that work. As we often see in projects by actors-turned-directors, the film’s core strength comes from its performances, especially that of 95-year-old June Squibb, a veteran actress who has a long list of supporting work in such movies as Nebraska and About Schmidt and recently received star billing in 2024’s Thelma. Here she takes the title role of Eleanor Morgenstein, a cranky, critical but compassionate senior.

As the story opens, Eleanor is living in Florida with Bessie (Rita Zohar). After the deaths of their husbands, the two old friends have been looking after each other. When Bessie wakes from nightmares rising out of her experiences during the Holocaust — a story she has never related, even to her own family — she and Eleanor sit at the kitchen table and talk it through.

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Friday, Sep. 26, 2025

Anne Joyce /Sony Pictures Classics

Eleanor (June Squibb, left) has a yarn to spin for journalism student Nina (Erin Kellyman).

Anne Joyce /Sony Pictures Classics
                                Eleanor (June Squibb, left) has a yarn to spin for journalism student Nina (Erin Kellyman).
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Local filmmaker’s lo-fi feature packs a punch

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Preview
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Local filmmaker’s lo-fi feature packs a punch

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Thursday, Sep. 25, 2025

It feels right that this low-budget, lo-fi experimental feature should be showing as part of We’re Still Here, a slate of programming that marks 50 resilient and resourceful years of the Winnipeg Film Group.

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Thursday, Sep. 25, 2025

Supplied

Greg Hanec plays Al, a questioning artist, in his long-gestating feature Think at Night.

Supplied
                                Greg Hanec plays Al, a questioning artist, in his long-gestating feature Think at Night.

Music Go Round gears up for Canadian grand opening

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Preview

Music Go Round gears up for Canadian grand opening

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 24, 2025

Keith Dixon has fond memories of learning to play his sister’s guitar in 2005. Three years later, he acquired an axe of his own — a Gibson Les Paul with a cherry sunburst finish.

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Wednesday, Sep. 24, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

‘It’s super exciting because there’s a lot of great gear to be had here,’ says Keith Dixon, owner of Music Go Round.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
                                ‘It’s super exciting because there’s a lot of great gear to be had here,’ says Keith Dixon, owner of Music Go Round.
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Indigenous stories given wings by peers, playwrights

Ben Waldman 8 minute read Preview
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Indigenous stories given wings by peers, playwrights

Ben Waldman 8 minute read Thursday, Sep. 25, 2025

Six Indigenous storytellers are sharing new works with local audiences this week through Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Pimootayowin: A Festival of New Work.

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Thursday, Sep. 25, 2025

Supplied

Ian Ross (standing) introduces Martha Troian’s reading of her new work, The Creatives.

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                                Ian Ross (standing) introduces Martha Troian’s reading of her new work, The Creatives.
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Winnipegger’s artwork chosen for Walmart’s national Orange Shirt offering

AV Kitching 5 minute read Preview
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Winnipegger’s artwork chosen for Walmart’s national Orange Shirt offering

AV Kitching 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

As she walked into the Unicity Walmart department store, Indigenous artist Brooklyn Rudolph-Nicholas felt her excitement levels rising.

She headed towards the racks of instantly recognizable orange T-shirts, smiling as she glimpsed the familiar image on the front.

It was a pinch-me moment: her work was emblazoned on Walmart Canada’s National Day for Truth & Reconciliation orange shirts stocked in stores across the country.

The granddaughter of two residential school survivors, Rudolph-Nicholas made her T-shirt art in honour of her late grandparents.

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Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

ENT - TnR shirts / Walmart

Photo of local artist, Brooklyn Rudolph-Nicholas with her designs on TnR shirts at the Walmart in Southdale.

Story: Winnipeg Artist selected for Walmart Canada’s Orange Shirt Day Campaign
Indigenous artist Brooklyn Rudolph-Nicholas, a member of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation and granddaughter of two Residential School Survivor is the artist and designer of Walmart ‘sCanada’s National Day for Truth & Reconciliation campaign. Her design will appear on Orange Shirts which are currently on sale Walmarts throughout the country.

Story by AV Kitching

Sept 19 h, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press 

ENT - TnR shirts / Walmart

Photo of local artist, Brooklyn Rudolph-Nicholas with her designs on TnR shirts at the Walmart in Southdale.  

Story: Winnipeg Artist selected for Walmart Canada’s Orange Shirt Day Campaign
Indigenous artist Brooklyn Rudolph-Nicholas, a member of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation and granddaughter of two Residential School Survivor is the artist and designer of  Walmart ‘sCanada’s National Day for Truth & Reconciliation campaign. Her design will appear on Orange Shirts which are currently on sale Walmarts throughout the country.  

Story by AV Kitching 

Sept 19 h,  2025
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Ten noteworthy concerts on classical calendar

Holly Harris 4 minute read Preview
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Ten noteworthy concerts on classical calendar

Holly Harris 4 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

Welcome to your brand new arts season! Winnipeg is well known for punching above its weight in world-class performances, and this year proves no exception.

Here is a list of 10 concerts that have caught my eye from now until the snow flies, listed (mostly) in chronological order:

1) The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra launches its next chapter under new concertmaster Karl Stobbe. A pair of back-to-back concerts, Volodin Plays Tchaikovsky, led by Daniel Raiskin, features internationally acclaimed pianist Alexei Volodin performing two different works by the Russian composer on Saturday, Sept 27, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2 p.m. For more details, see wso.ca.

2) If you still need more (and who wouldn’t?), the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg also showcases the virtuoso in a solo recital at the Desautels Concert Hall on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. Visit wmcwpg.ca.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

Mark Rash photo

Bryan Cheng

Mark Rash photo
                                Bryan Cheng