Children’s film festival showcases joy of shared experience

In a world where anyone can stream anything almost instantly at any time, film festivals such as Freeze Frame International still matter, says artistic director Pascal Boutroy.

“I am disheartened by how accessible some things are to children,” says Boutroy, who established the festival in 1996 with his wife Nicole Matiation.

“We have screens everywhere — the television, the computer, the cellphones … shared experience has disappeared over the years. But (watching a movie with an audience) is such a thrill; it’s actually like watching a game of hockey or soccer with people in a stadium or arena rather than watching it in front of TV by yourself.

“There’s something very precious about the shared experience.”

Actor connects multiple storylines in RMTC’s telecommunications drama Rogers v. Rogers

Inviting audiences into the inner sanctum of a dysfunctional dynasty, playwright Michael Healey’s Rogers v. Rogers does for the Canadian telecommunications industry what Adam McKay’s The Big Short did for subprime loans: surveying a national economic ecosystem that feels destined to take advantage of consumer’s best interests while lining the coffers of a controlling billionaire class.

‘Anti-social’ dancer fell in love with metal, ‘community’ at WECC

Dammecia Hall is an artist, and for her that means spending a lot of time by herself.

“I’m extremely anti-social,” says the dancer, choreographer and educator. “But as soon as you put me in a social environment, I come alive.”

One of the social environments Hall finds herself in these days is the West End Cultural Centre, the non-profit performance venue inside a former church at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

While attending an event at the WECC, a friend of a friend encouraged Hall to volunteer at the venue. The 43-year-old Wolseley resident applied soon after, and has been volunteering at the WECC for more than a year.

Elmwood students’ clothing venture instils pride, breaks down stereotypes in blue-collar neighbourhood

Xander Woodley is spending his fourth period filling orders.

The Grade 12 Elmwood High School student pulls a blank sweatshirt from the supply closet and double-checks the customer’s purchase: one double-extra-large GPS Crewneck in navy.

He walks over to the heat press at the back of the graphics lab and flips through a stack of transfer sheets to find the correct design.

“It’s a map of our community of Elmwood; these are all of the streets, as well as the Red River and co-ordinates of where we are,” Woodley says, pointing to the line-art rendition of the northeast Winnipeg neighbourhood, the ward boundaries of which run from McLeod Avenue to the Canadian Pacific mainline and from the eastern bank of the Red River to Lagimodiere Boulevard.

Harlequin Costume seeks to sell building, ‘staggering’ collection; dancewear store to continue under same name

Looking to buy a building in downtown Winnipeg? Get in touch with the owners of Harlequin Costume.

If you’re interested in purchasing thousands upon thousands of costumes, you’ll want to talk to them, too.

Scott and Jan Malabar are selling their building at 375 Hargrave St., where the husband and wife have operated their costume, dance and formal wear business since the 1980s.

The asking price for the building, which sits a few blocks south of the Exchange District and a short walk from Central Park, is $995,000.

Art for Minneapolis: West Broadway not-for-profit partners with sister agency

Art City has issued a callout to creatives of all kinds for paintings and other flat artworks to show solidarity with residents of Minneapolis.

The West Broadway not-for-profit is hosting a free workshop on Monday to create and collect art to send south of the border.

“There’s a lot of feelings of anxiety because this is a situation that we have no control over and we don’t like it,” said Eddie Ayoub, artistic director of the local community hub.

As ICE operations continue to upend daily life in their sister city, Ayoub said his team wants to give residents a chance to gather, process and take action.

Stage-fighting the system in touching madcap comedy 'Holland'

One of Winnipeg’s funniest playwrights and an ensemble of five of the city’s strongest comic actors spin gold from parental rage in Holland, a guns-blazing production full of righteously madcap decision-making at the Tom Hendry Warehouse.

Exhibition digs into colonial ideas, societal pressures and resource use of lawns

Carrie Allison has thought a lot about lawns.

Specifically, the Halifax-based multidisciplinary artist thought about the time, money, resources and energy spent on the endless pursuit of the perfectly manicured, kelly-green squares in front of suburban houses; the colonial ideas about value, virtue, class and wealth lawns uphold; and the pressures exerted by societal expectations and full-on city bylaws to control what is a living thing.

It’s those ideas that inform we tend to care, a touring solo exhibition curated by Franchesca Hebert-Spence. The Winnipeg iteration of the show will be presented across two venues — Urban Shaman and within WAG-Qaumajuq’s permanent collection galleries — in collaboration with Marie-Anne Redhead, assistant curator of Indigenous and contemporary art at WAG-Qaumajuq.

“Lawns and grass are very much associated with that sort of, I would say, propaganda of what we value in society,” says Allison, 39, who is of nêhiýaw/Métis/mixed European descent. “They are used to tell people what they should value and how they should use their time.”

A curator’s dilemma: art, power, and the limits of neutrality

In recent weeks, a major Canadian art museum found itself at the centre of international attention — not over an exhibition on the wall, but over whether a recently produced artwork should enter its collection at all.

Teen newcomers hope powerful poem opens minds

Escaping Syria as a child, Fawwaz (Ali) Al Hassan knows a thing or two about global conflict.

“I’ve gone through war, genocide, poverty, myself firsthand, and I know how bad and terrible it is for anyone, not just for people of my kind, but anyone across the world,” the 17 year old who immigrated to Canada 10 years ago said.

The Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute student co-wrote the spoken-word poem What We’re Meant to Be, along with Sami Suliman, 16, and Tobilola (Tobi) Olorunsola, 17. The trio recited it Monday at the Manitoba legislature as part of the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation’s international development week.

The teens, all newcomers to Canada, brought their own personal experiences to the poem, a journey across the globe.

Tad et Birdy: quand le jeu devient un langage commun

La nouvelle production jeunesse du Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP), Tad and Birdy, mise sur la créativité pour aborder la peur, la curiosité et le courage. Présentée au 7 février à Winnipeg, la pièce partira ensuite en tournée dans plusieurs communautés manitobaines.

Dans les coulisses, Sarah Lamoureux, responsable de la régie, décrit un processus de création fondé sur la collaboration et l’expérimentation. Travailler avec une petite équipe lui permet de dépasser le rôle traditionnel de coordination pour participer activement à la mise en scène.

“Je peux suggérer des choses à essayer, et on a la chance de vraiment les explorer ensemble. Les comédiens nes aussi proposent leurs idées, parce que ce sont eux et elles qui sont sur scène.”

Cette liberté créative se reflète dans les choix scéniques. Lorsque le texte ne précise pas les accessoires, l’équipe invente. Des crayons géants, des cartes Pokémon et des objets du quotidien deviennent les moteurs d’un imaginaire partagé.

Protest songs capture horror, hope in times of turmoil

Bruce Springsteen has always held a mirror up to America.

Sometimes that looks like 1975’s Born to Run, about escaping small-town suffocation and hitting the open road. Sometimes that looks like 2001’s American Skin (41 Shots), about the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student who was hit by 19 of the 41 rounds fired at him by the NYPD. And sometimes that looks like 1993’s Streets of Philadelphia, which was about the AIDS crisis.

On Wednesday, Springsteen released Streets of Minneapolis, an appropriately Dylan-esque protest song about ICE’s reign of terror in Minnesota. The Boss does not mince words, calling out “Trump’s thugs,” “Miller and Noem’s dirty lies” and naming the two “left to die on snow-filled streets,” Alex Pretti and Renée Good.

No, it’s not subtle. But it can’t be. These are not times for subtlety.

Métis-Canadian soprano exploring portrayals of Indigenous women in opera stresses need for joy, humour

While historically opera has been divided into comedies and tragedies, buffa and seria, Camryn Dewar believes Canada’s recent operas have tended to be overly solemn when tackling certain difficult subjects.

The Métis-Canadian soprano is thinking, in particular, about the representation of Indigenous issues — a lightning rod for both government funding and critical scrutiny in Canadian culture.

“Lots of (operas) tackle the struggle and the loss, but not many of them feature Indigenous joy and humour,” she says. “And that’s something that’s really necessary because it helps with normalization, showing us as normal people.”

Dewar, a Fulbright Scholar with a newly minted master of music in vocal performance from Montclair State University, is on a Canadian tour showcasing Indigenous Female Representation in Opera, 1879–Present. Part lecture, part singing performance, the presentation had its first Winnipeg stop last week at the University of Manitoba and returns to the Canadian Mennonite University at 11:30 a.m., March 12, in the Laudamus Auditorium.

New Music Festival explores theme of technology amid global rise of AI

This year’s New Music Festival runs Jan. 21-29 and includes six events.

Profiter de l’hiver en musique

Depuis plus de vingt ans, le festival Music ‘N’ Mavens s’est donné pour mission de transformer l’hiver winnipegois en saison de rencontres, en misant sur la curiosité culturelle et le plaisir de se retrouver. Jusqu’au 26 mars, au Rady Jewish Community Centre (Rady JCC), la série propose chaque mardi et jeudi après-midi des concerts et des conférences pensés comme des instants de rencontre.

À contre-courant des habitudes culturelles, Music ‘N’ Mavens assume pleinement son créneau de jour avec des concerts et conférences en plein après-midi.

”Je me souviens qu’au début, on me demandait comment je pouvais penser que les gens viendraient à 14 heures quand il fait -30 degrés,” raconte Karla Berbrayer, fondatrice et directrice artistique du festival. Je leur répondais qu’il fallait une raison pour quitter la maison. Et aujourd’hui, plusieurs me disent que c’est la raison qui les pousse à sortir pendant la journée.”

À l’initiative du projet, l’on retrouve Karla Berbrayer, polyglotte et francophile, elle a nourri son intérêt pour la langue française qu’elle a commencé à apprendre en école d’immersion. La fondatrice défend depuis le départ une idée simple, celle d’offrir des propositions artistiques, sociales et culturelles à un moment de la journée souvent négligé.

Storybook ending for student warming hut winners

Manitoba’s newest student-designed warming hut doubles as a public awareness campaign for a child advocacy centre.

Children’s Hospital to spruce up ward with local art

Local artists are being invited to create child-friendly nature-themed original artworks for the walls of CK5, the childhood cancer, blood disorders and transplants ward at the Health Sciences Centre Children’s Hospital.

Robert Archambeau and the value of artistic legacy

When I last visited Robert Archambeau’s ceramics studio in Bissett — long after the kiln had cooled and after Robert himself had left us — I found myself standing in a place that felt both haunting and profoundly alive.

Mythical quest takes audiences on wild ride in The Lightning Thief

Manitoba Theatre for Young People plunges a full house of mortals into the shadowy underworld as it presents the Greek myth-infused The Lightning Thief.

The musical holiday production (90 minutes including intermission) is based on American author’s Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson fantasy novel series, featuring a heavenly, all-local cast that would make any god or goddess proud.

After being expelled from school for his “fifth time in six years,” 12-year-old Percy Jackson, a “half-blood” son born of a human mother, Sally Jackson, and Poseidon, god of the sea, embarks on a hero’s quest to rescue a powerful lightning bolt stolen from Zeus.

We follow Percy into Camp Half-Blood, where he learns he’s a demigod, before setting out with his half-blood chums Annabeth and Grover to various locales, including Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with all roads ultimately leading to Hades.

‘We’re going up, up, up’: K-pop dominated Canada’s YouTube viewing trends in 2025

If YouTube’s year-end data is any clue, Canada is deeply in its K-pop era.

The streaming platform says Netflix’s hit animated musical film “KPop Demon Hunters” was a major driver of engagement in 2025, with several of its tracks becoming Canada’s most-watched music videos and shorts.

Meanwhile, “APT” — American singer Bruno Mars’ collaboration with K-pop star Rosé — ranked as the country’s top song of the year. It also became the fastest K-pop track to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, beating "Gangnam Style."

“KPop Demon Hunters” songs including “Golden,” “How It’s Done” and “Soda Pop” also cracked the top songs list, with the latter additionally ranking among the country’s most-watched shorts, which are YouTube's vertical short-form videos.

City considers restrictions on Bois des Esprits tree carving

It started out as something quirky, a bit like hide-and-seek in the Bois des Esprits forest.

First came Woody, a large mythical troll-like carving in the trunk of a diseased tree marked for removal, off of the main trail. Several years later, another carver came forward requesting permission to produce a series of smaller carvings on dead trees and branches tucked away in the forest that hugs the Seine River in south Winnipeg. They were hidden gems to be found by the sharp-eyed walker.

But since 2020, there’s been a significant uptick in unauthorized carvings, including on living trees, often accompanied by small dedication plaques and in much more visible locations. Nearby Royalwood residents have raised concerns about the proliferation and the disruption to the natural setting.

Although there is no formal policy, the city continues to receive requests to allow carvings in both Bois des Esprits and other parks.

Teen quartet We’re Only Here for the Snacks to release debut album on limited-edition Winnipeg-inspired vinyl

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

Sony, Warner and Universal sign AI music licensing deals with startup Klay

LONDON (AP) — The world's biggest music labels have struck AI licensing deals with a little-known startup named Klay Vision, the companies said Thursday, the latest in a series of deals that underlines how the technology is shaking up the music industry ’s business model.

Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, and their publishing arms, all signed separate agreements with Klay, according to an announcement posted on Warner's website.

It comes a day after Warner inked two other deals involving artificial intelligence, with startups Udio and Stability AI.

There were few details released about the agreements or about Klay, which is based in Los Angeles, and what it does.

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

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.