Writers will be descending on Calgary and Banff next week as one of the country’s largest literary festivals begins on October 14 and runs until October 20. From the page to the stage and from video to radio Wordfest is a celebration of storytelling. This is the place to rub shoulders with authors like Margaret Atwood and Chuck Palahniuk and hear first-hand from shortlisted nominees for the Giller Prize ( Craig Davidson Lisa Moore Lynn Coady ) and the Governor General’s Literary Awards ( Joseph Boyden Eleanor Catton Priscila Uppal and Teresa Toten ). Check out Fast Forward Weekly’s coverage in this issue and next week and get the details online at wordfest.com .
For another take on the written word try reading the text in Truck Gallery ’s project space where you’ll find words occupying every space from the ceiling to the floor. Artist Linda Carreiro’s Inside Out of Words plays upon Jacques Derrida’s decentering of language positioning the lines titles and marginalia of a Herman Melville text throughout the room.
In Truck’s main space Phase Seven features works by six Calgary-based artists working in installation video painting kinetic sculpture sound and performance. Curated by DIY gallery veterans Nate McLeod and Matthew Bourree the exhibition is presented as part of Truck’s 30th anniversary celebrations ( truck.ca ).
A third exhibition is also up and running at Truck but this one is presented by Stride Gallery ( stride.ab.ca ). After being left homeless by June’s flood Stride was offered a temporary space on the upper floor of Truck’s new location in Sunalta when it moved in last month. So Stride is back in business with Gary McMillan’s Fun and Games (pictured) which explores the tension between what seems to be serious and what seems to be foolish — or “playful conflicts.” The Alberta College of Art and Design grad describes his paintings as a “fun-filled meditation on risk.”
Springboard Performance’s Fluid Festival kicks off on Wednesday October 16 with the opening of Mayday’s Junkyard/Paradise at Theatre Junction Grand. Choreographed by Mélanie Demers the show explores the “fragile ground between precious and disposable.” The lineup also includes performance’s by Compagnie Marie Chouinard of Montreal Vienna’s Liquid Loft and Calgary’s Nicole Mion among others. See our coverage in next week’s issue and get the details at springboardperformance.com .
Artist Conrad Ouchi has long been interested in bridging the art and philosophy between East and West and now he’s taking a stand on shark finning with a new exhibition: Dogfish 3: The Bottom Feeders Art Show running at Art Central (100 7 Ave. S.W.) until 12. The show marks the debut of the longtime artist as a sculptor (he has previously worked in other mediums) and he describes the works as “an embodied expression of my concern over the unethical harvesting of shark fins.”
