Canadian summer cultural offerings
By William
Doyle-Marshall
This year’s CaribbeanTales International Film
Festival(CTFF), returns to Downtown Toronto, at The Royal
Cinema, 608 College Street, with an Opening Gala September 7,
then daily between September 14 - 17 at 6 p.m. and 8:30
p.m.
Now in its 11th year,
the festival celebrates the talents of established and emerging filmmakers of
Caribbean heritage who practice their art across the Caribbean Diaspora
worldwide - including Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, the Americas, and those of
African, Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern descent.
From September 6 through September11, the Festival
hosts the 8th Annual CaribbeanTales Incubator
Program (CTI). This year the program is sponsored
by Flow, the Caribbean's leading TV and communications provider, as
part of its commitment to the development of the Caribbean filmmaking industry.
The CTI's flagship program is the Market Incubator Program (MIP), a
marketing and packaging forum for long-running series projects. It includes
five weeks of online training, and one week of intensive workshops in Toronto. It
culminates in The Big Pitch at the TIFF (Toronto International
Film Festival) Bell Lightbox. Winners of The Big Pitch will graduate to
the nine-month CTI Production Support Program (PSP), that takes
projects from pitch to production and for the first time ever, PSP projects
will receive pilot funding from Flow.
The annual Stone sculpture exhibition
from Zimbabwe known as Shona sculpture, will be held at the Rice Lake Gallery, Rice Lake 17 from
August 6th to September 4th. The
curator, Fran Fearnley,
travels to Zimbabwe to purchase sculptures directly from the artists. She
travels extensively around the country to choose a body of work that fully
represents the breadth of style, form and stone that makes this art movement so
dynamic and universal in its appeal.
Stone sculpture from Zimbabwe is often called Shona sculpture, named after the largest tribe engaged in this indigenous art movement. Zimbabwe, morphed from the Shona word “dzimbadzamabwe” which means “house of stone,” is the only country on the African continent that has large deposits of stone suitable for sculpting.
Zimbabwean sculptors, who traditionally carve entirely by hand, work outdoors – creating and frequently displaying their work in open air-studios. Al fresco shows of Zimbabwean sculpture are very popular in the UK, many European countries, Australia and the US.
ZimArt brought this concept to Canada and hosts a number of public and private outdoor exhibitions annually, including The Rice Lake Series, which was launched in 2000.
Stone sculpture from Zimbabwe is often called Shona sculpture, named after the largest tribe engaged in this indigenous art movement. Zimbabwe, morphed from the Shona word “dzimbadzamabwe” which means “house of stone,” is the only country on the African continent that has large deposits of stone suitable for sculpting.
Zimbabwean sculptors, who traditionally carve entirely by hand, work outdoors – creating and frequently displaying their work in open air-studios. Al fresco shows of Zimbabwean sculpture are very popular in the UK, many European countries, Australia and the US.
ZimArt brought this concept to Canada and hosts a number of public and private outdoor exhibitions annually, including The Rice Lake Series, which was launched in 2000.
All summer long in cities across Canada jazz
and other cultural events were staged in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Alberta as well as Victoria, B.C. and elsewhere.
It is Sunday afternoon
with a sort of tropical style Victoria setting – brilliant sunshine and gentle breeze
blowing through Veteran’s Memorial Park, Langford, Victoria. The audience is
enjoying a musical journey by Fraser Kersley and his team of very experienced
musicians called the Hornetz R&B Review. They took fans on a
merry melodious route, tapping into hits of the sixties by Ray Charles, Louis
Armstrong, the Temptations, Wilson Pickett and many others popular in that era.
Bonnie Lawrence, flutist and her Cuban counterpart Raul Tabera on drumsaccompanied the Bruce Hoagg Latin quinntet during the Calgary Jazz Festival 2016. |
Making up the Review were Fraser
Kersley on
guitar, Raman MacArthur on lead vocals,
Roger OPlant, bassist and Dave Pretty on drums. The horn section goes by
the name of 'The Capital City Horns' and when they jam with Seacruze the outfit
is called the Hornetz R&B Review.
Whether they occupied wheel chairs, electric scooters, or park benches,
it was almost impossible to keep them seated. Dancing is always enticement to
musicians in any surrounding. These musicians were served their full share of
appreciation especially with the presence of spontaneity throughout. When Peter
Willing, coordinator of the series, stepped on stage with the band, he was
applauded for his efforts. His outfit the
Ready Willing Band will offer a repertoire of Motown R&B, Blues and rock
combination August 14. Willing said the music series has been running for 15 years and was
contacted by the Mayor of Langford to produce it over the past seven years. The
City of Langford sponsors it and he is responsible for the eight-week
production which began the first Sunday in July. It is a free public event from
two to four o’clock every Sunday afternoon when parents bring out their
children to have fun and enjoy the water park facility while adults embrace the
concert offerings.
Gerald Mar, TD Victoria Jazz Int'l Festival |
This Sunday Fat Cats, a
country band will be featured. The next week will be the Ready Willing Band
with its offering of Motown R&B, Blues, rock combination to be followed
August 21 by the Maureen Washington Jazz Quartet performing jazz and blues
selections. Rukus will close out the series August 28 with its classic rock and
roll numbers.
Indeed,
it is turning out to be quite a summer packed with cultural offerings across
the country. Gerald Mar, founded the TD Victoria International Jazz Fest which
celebrated its 32nd anniversary this year as part of the Jazz
Festival Canada network was elated with the Victoria turnout for his production..
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