Love this painting by Rachel Shaw, who recently exhibited in Montreal last Saturday. The exhibit will be up until Sunday, November 27 at Studio 427, Belgo Building, 372 Rue St. Catherine Ouest, Montreal, QC.

Check out this fabulous lady!

madelinecoleman:

HEAD ROOM, 2011.

Delicate, stylish and strangely hopeless paintings by Montreal artist Rachel Shaw.

Learn more and sign the petition here.

Before coming to McGill, I was lied to by a campus representative about being able to integrate fine arts courses into my curriculum. Upon arrival, I was told by an advisor who had never met me to transfer to a “hands-on” university. After deciding to stay, I was deprived of an indoor space to sit down and eat my lunch without having to spend my money and support McGill’s corporate interests, save for a cramped basement space with plastic coverings hanging from the ceiling to cover up mold and years of neglect. A close friend of mine was misled by McGill Health Services, leaving his pneumonia untreated, resulting in a series of consequences you can imagine if you are at all familiar with McGill’s devotion to academic rigour. Several more friends had their mental health record tossed around like a hot potato from one McGill Mental Health practitioner to the next due to understaffing, overpopulation, and little to no emphasis on individuals and subjective, rather than collective, student experiences. I watched as the campus became more and more isolated from the Montreal community, as the security presence intensified and the campus became increasingly gated. The “pedestrianization” measures confused bicycle traffic with speeding vehicles, creating a barrier between the institution and the mode of transport I and just about everyone I know on campus depended upon. In the winter, I actually saw pedestrians slipping and falling on the green-painted road that was meant to represent how safe the campus had become since these measures had been implemented. I watched tuition fees rise well above provincial standards and what many might have the means to meet. I watched McGill slowly burn bridges with many socially-conscious organizations that have historically used the school’s name to link to the student community. As an alumna, I watched the campus newspaper I once worked for break news of riot police and Mcgill security severely violating the rights of students on November tenth. Though some of these actions may seem small in practice, they are collectively symbolic of serious systemic problems. Whether this is grounds for HMB stepping down is impossible to say, as what was once in my eyes the country’s most prestigious place to learn has ballooned into a corporation, erecting an impermeable wall between administration and students, and privileging the interests of just about all above students and professors.

- Sasha Plotnikova, “Why People are Signing”

McGill students violently forced off campus

This is so… confusing.

On one hand, I’ve never really seen any political demonstrations this scale at McGill - it’s surprising to see so many students come together for a cause, in this case - rising tuition fees. Previous protests have happened on campus where a couple of kids walk around with some hand made signs and a guy playing tuba in the back… but nothing, nothing of this scale or intensity.

To be clear, this was a non-violent protest by the students, professors, et. al on McGill campus. It’s shocking to hear how quickly police violence scaled - I mean, it’s pretty abnormal to even see police on McGill campus in the first place. 

“We were beaten in the ribs, in the back of the knees, on our shoulders, it was unbelievable,” she said.

“We decided to let go of one another and put our hands up, and say, ‘we’re standing here peacefully, this is our campus, we have a right to be here. Please’ – I’m sobbing at this point…asking, ‘why are you doing this, we’re students, we can be here, we’re protesting peacefully, please don’t come forward,’” she continued.

“They were still pushing us, beating us, I think that was around the time when the first can of tear gas was thrown, they were sort of pushing us down the stairs. A couple of us fell down the huge steps… But they were actively pushing,” she added.

What is going on, Montreal??

Over 100 riot police stormed McGill campus this evening, forcefully dispersing student demonstrators that had gathered in front of the James Administration building. Pepper spray, tear gas, and physical force were used by police against demonstrators who were protesting the detainment and violence usedby McGill Security against 13 McGill students, who had occupied Principal Heather Munroe-Blum’s office starting at around 3:45 p.m.

At 4:05 p.m., a group of approximately fifty students entered McGill campus after news of the occupation in James Admin reached the demonstrators. The occupiers called and texted supporters, telling them that McGill Security had begun to use force.

The demonstration in front of James Admin began peacefully, with students forming a human chain around the building and demanding access…

Read more here.

haha this is the guy that designed the lezza party haus “drugstore” in montreal!

fantastic.

Super-8 footage of the JBVD street fair from July 30th 2011 hosted by Rue Publique.

Location: rue St. Viateur, Montreal Quebec

Directed by Debbie So (me!)
Music by Miracle Fortress

P.S. You can spot the urban oasis we built, mentioned in a previous post.

Jamie Ross collaboration with Jonas Gilbert. Five images are postered on walls in the neighbourhood targeted by the Quartier 21 project in the West End of Montreal.

…in places of decreased human surveillance, non-human actors actively express themselves on the urban environment with a powerful creative agency. It is these plant species - weeds, mauvaises herbes - terms which verify the conotative judgement made on their value, that have a great capacity to make the city more sustainable. Plant life, especially that unplanned by humans, reduce the heat island effect, improve water management and provide habitat for other animals. Comestible wild plants provide a tasty source of free, local, healthy food.

The importance of people is primordial in the creation of place, and it is something very powerful when definitions of place cease to be dependent on human-centered notions of personhood and agency. An invasive tree pushes back against the fence, allowing foxes to pass through new gaps. Informing and familiarizing human city residents of the lives and habits of those with whom we share space, and educating the public of their uses and histories is a powerful gesture that has the ability to completely revolutionize the way people understand the city as within, rather than opposed to the category of ‘nature’. Inclusion of the names of plants in the languages of Science, of European settlement and of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Montreal area is equally important, as it highlights the various communities’ interaction with these species.

timkellyfilm:

Big Small portraits by Marc Rimmer

1900-2011

1960-2011

A dear friend of mine from Montreal. One of the funniest, sweetest guys there will ever be. Check out Jason Harvey’s tumblr here.

Part of the BIG SMALL project by Tim Kelly, in part with Pop Montreal.

The 2011 Montreal Bicycle Film Festival is set for Thursday, September 1 - Saturday, September 3!

RSVP here.

Brendt Barbur, Founding Festival Director, was compelled to start the Bicycle Film Festival when he was hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. He insisted on turning his negative experience into a positive one. In 2001 Barbur started the Bicycle Film Festival as a platform to celebrate the bicycle through music, art and, of course, film.

The Bicycle Film Festival has been a major catalyst for the urban bike movement, one of the most powerful and culturally relevant forces of the last decade. The BFF is sure to carry this momentum into the next decade.