2008 • 7th 7a*11d Festival

7a*11d is pleased to present the seventh International Festival of Performance Art from October 23 to November 2, a culmination of 11 years of working together as an artist-run collective. In order to celebrate this accomplishment, the 2008 7a*11d festival is nothing less than an international survey of global live art – progressive and provocative new performance works by over 30 local, national and international performance artists. The festival hosts residencies, performance art events, panel discussions, artists’ talks, video/performance screenings, and workshops in 11 jam-packed days.

7th 7A*11D Festival Postcard 2008

Schedule

Oct
16
Thu
êkâya-pâhkaci (don’t freeze up)
Toronto Free Gallery
8 pm
Oct
17
Fri
Outside In
Fleishman Gallery (at WonderWorks)
7 pm
Oct
18
Sat
Outside In (video exhibition)
Fleishman Gallery (at WonderWorks)
continues to October 31, 11 am - 6 pm
Oct
21
Tue
Hymn to the Universe/Le milieu divin
Palais Royale (1601 Lakeshore Blvd. West)
8 pm
Oct
23
Thu
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
23
Thu
What is important? performances by workshop participants
Toronto Free Gallery
5 pm
Oct
23
Thu
Nosferanook
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
23
Thu
Dr. V Does The Classics
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
23
Thu
Two surfaces in contact
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
23
Thu
How deep is your love?
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
23
Thu
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
24
Fri
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
24
Fri
A Sweeping Statement
Off-site route: Shaw St, Dundas St W, Spadina Ave, Queen St W
12 pm - 2 pm
Oct
24
Fri
What is important? performances by workshop participants
Toronto Free Gallery
5 pm
Oct
24
Fri
untitled
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
24
Fri
The Art of Making Art
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
24
Fri
Forget me not
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
24
Fri
Raaka – RAW
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
25
Sat
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 6 pm
Oct
25
Sat
Black box
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 6 pm
Oct
25
Sat
Project Zero: Space
XPACE Cultural Centre
6 pm - 9 pm
Oct
25
Sat
Belonging Networks
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
25
Sat
51 starts in Reinohelen
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
25
Sat
A Possible Past
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
25
Sat
Viva Fluxus
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
26
Sun
Hush My Dear
Trinity Bellwoods Park
12 pm - 4 pm
Oct
26
Sun
Queen St W & Ossington Ave
1 pm
Oct
26
Sun
untitled
XPACE Cultural Centre
4 pm
Oct
26
Sun
Exercises In Failure Pt 3: Clown Torture Revisited
XPACE Cultural Centre
4 pm
Oct
26
Sun
Farewell
XPACE Cultural Centre
4 pm
Oct
27
Mon
A Sweeping Statement
Off-site route: Dalhousie St, Dundas St E & W, Spadina Ave, Queen St W & E
12 - 2 pm
Oct
28
Tue
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
28
Tue
Best Place to Sleep
XPACE Cultural Centre
1 pm
Oct
28
Tue
Introduction to the body-orchestra
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
28
Tue
Voice in Movement
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
28
Tue
Last Drop
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
29
Wed
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
29
Wed
Becoming a Plant
Poppies Flower Shop
12 pm
Oct
29
Wed
Queen St W between Bay St & James St
3 pm
Oct
30
Thu
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
30
Thu
Becoming a Plant
Queen St W & Bellwoods Ave
12 pm
Oct
30
Thu
Osgoode subway (Opera House side)
4 pm
Oct
30
Thu
Seventh situation for a nicer painting
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
30
Thu
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
30
Thu
Untitled (Toronto)
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
30
Thu
untitled: a work that draws on past works
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
31
Fri
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
12 pm - 7 pm
Oct
31
Fri
some times three
outside the Design Exchange
12 pm
Oct
31
Fri
Becoming a Plant
Queen St W & Crawford St
!2 pm - 3 pm
Oct
31
Fri
untitled
XPACE Cultural Centre
6 pm
Oct
31
Fri
Every Rose Has a Thorn
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
31
Fri
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
31
Fri
KALEIDOSCOPOPSPECTACAL Live Cinematic Trans Flux
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Oct
31
Fri
Picked you out of my pocket and death was the door prize
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Nov
1
Sat
Quiet River
Toronto Free Gallery
3 pm
Nov
1
Sat
A Sweeping Statement
Toronto Free Gallery
3 pm
Nov
1
Sat
Toronto Free Gallery
4:30 pm
Nov
1
Sat
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Nov
1
Sat
Wind Nest – variation
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Nov
1
Sat
untitled
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Nov
1
Sat
Wind from Sky
XPACE Cultural Centre
8 pm
Nov
2
Sun
Terms of Engagement: Presence and the Performative
XPACE Cultural Centre
12 pm

Special Programming

d2d.4 = direct to documentation 2008

d2d.4 = direct to documentation Wednesday October 29 7:30 pm The Gladstone Hotel | 1214 Queen St W

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Terms of Engagement: Presence and the Performative panel discussion

Terms of Engagement: Presence and the Performative Sunday November 2 12 pm XPACE Cultural Centre

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Parallel Events

FADO and imageinNATIVE present Cheryl l'Hirondelle

Cheryl L’Hirondelle êkâya-pâhkaci Thursday October 16 8 pm Toronto Free Gallery

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Fleishman Gallery presents Lezli Rubin-Kunda

Lezli Rubin-Kunda Outside In Friday October 17 7 pm: Opening Reception & Performance: Saturday October 18 to Friday October 31 11 am - 6 pm: Exhibition of videos continues Fleishman Gallery (at WonderWorks)

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FADO's What is Important? workshop

What is Important? Performance Art Workshop with BBB Johannes Deimling Friday October 17 to Tuesday October 21 Workshop Thursday October 23 5 pm Participant performances Friday October 24 5 pm Participant performances Toronto Free Gallery

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Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie presents Hymn to the Universe/Le milieu divin

Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie Hymn to the Universe / Le Milieu divin Tuesday October 21 8 pm Palais Royale (1601 Lakeshore Blvd. West)

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Creative Residents

The 7a*11d International Performance Art Festival marks the occasion of our 7th Festival and our 11th year of programming by inviting seven artists of international stature to celebrate with us through Creative Residencies taking place during the eleven days of the Festival. The residencies begin October 13 and overlap throughout the Festival. These Creative Residencies allow us to support a depth of engagement and further the means of the processes of creation. This is especially relevant in the context of a performance, as much work is based in process – social, interactive, personal, material, and conceptual. The residencies will allow durational work to unfold and artists who respond to site or who wish to work with particular groups to have the support to do so. We have invited artists whose work is a provocative mix of approaches, aesthetics, cultural backgrounds and range of experience: two of the Residents are the 2008 Éminences Grises, Glenn Lewis and Robin Poitras. The Residencies by these seven artists will give 7a*11d audiences the opportunity to engage personally and intensively with the residents, while affording the artists the time and space to work and to have a more meaningful relationship with various Toronto communities and individuals.

The Seven Creative Residents are:
Gustavo Alvarez (Mexico) *
Warren Arcand (BC)
Sylvette Babin (QC)
Norbert Klassen (Switzerland)
Glenn Lewis (BC)*
Robin Poitras (SK)*
Chaw Ei Thein (Burma)

*Creative Residents Gustavo Alvarez, Glenn Lewis and Robin Poitras will be performing in various locations throughout the Festival.

Critical Texts for 7th 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art

2008 Blogposts (by Andrew James Paterson and Elaine Wong)

 

With this year’s incredible line-up of activities, we know you won’t want to miss a thing. But in case you do, 7a*11d offers a festival “blog” with daily critical commentary (description, introspection, cultural implication, and maybe just a tad of gossip…) and interviews with participating artists by selected local writers. For this inaugural year, we are pleased to introduce you to our writers, Andrew James Paterson and Elaine Wong.

Andrew James Paterson is an interdisciplinary artist working with video, film, performance, writing, publishing, and music. He has presented and performed work locally, nationally, and internationally. His body of work has been characterized by a fascination with relationships between bureaucracy, technology, and bodies. Dynamics between performers and audiences has been another recurring obsession. Paterson performed in the first two 7a*11d festivals, and has been an enthusiastic observer at all of the others.

Elaine Wong, a recent graduate of McMaster University, has been involved in theatre production for eight years, and has been writing for even longer. Her most recent effort combining the two was the play she co-wrote for the McMaster Honours Performance Series, 16 Stunning Storeys from the City Streets, a piece examining the definition of street art and audience interaction.

Éminences Grises

Éminence Grise n. somebody who exercises great power or influence secretly or unofficially...

One ongoing aspect of the 7a*11d Festival is the designation of Éminences Grises. This program highlights our commitment to bringing forward a lived history of performance in Canada by presenting seminal artists. Inaugurated in 2002 with Bruce Barber, it was continued in 2004 with Cheryl L’Hirondelle Waynohtêw, and in 2006 with a residency by Rita McKeough. Realizing that it would take 20 years to present the best of Canadian performance history one at a time, this year we have invited two artists for this special recognition: Robin Poitras (SK) and Glenn Lewis (a.k.a. Flakey Rosehips) (BC). Diverse in their origins and practices, both Poitras and Lewis will develop new work and present it during the Festival. Though educated at York University, Robin Poitras has never presented her work to an Ontario audience. And Glenn Lewis has not made a performance in Toronto since 1984.

Venues

xpace logo
XPACE Cultural Centre

58 Ossington Avenue
tfglogo
Toronto Free Gallery
1277 Bloor Street West

 

gladstone_logo
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West

 

wonderworks-logorgb
The Fleishman Gallery at WonderWorks
79A Harbord Street (west of Spadina)

Festival Eyes and Ears

With this year’s incredible line-up of activities, we know you won’t want to miss a thing. But in case you do, 7a*11d is offering a new feature this year: a festival “blog” with daily critical commentary (description, introspection, cultural implication, and maybe just a tad of gossip…) and interviews with participating artists by selected local writers. Our team includes 7a*11d performing alumni and artist-about-town Andrew J. Paterson and up-and-coming playwright Elaine Wong, as well as photographer Henry Chan. Even if you were there, you’ll want to read what they have to say and see Henry’s amazing images.

Andrew James Paterson is an interdisciplinary artist working with video, film, performance, writing, publishing, and music. He has presented and performed work locally, nationally, and internationally. His body of work has been characterized by a fascination with relationships between bureaucracy, technology, and bodies. Dynamics between performers and audiences has been another recurring obsession. Paterson performed in the first two 7a*11d festivals, and has been an enthusiastic observer at all of the others.

Elaine Wong, a recent graduate of McMaster University, has been involved in theatre production for eight years, and has been writing for even longer. Her most recent effort combining the two was the play she co-wrote for the McMaster Honours Performance Series, 16 Stunning Storeys from the City Streets, a piece examining the definition of street art and audience interaction.

This is Henry Chan‘s second time documenting the 7a*11d festival. Since 2006, he has also photographed the activities of FADO Performance Art Centre, as well as events, exhibitions and performances at various contemporary art venues in the city including The Images Festival and The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. When he is not using a camera, Henry is crunching numbers and pushing paperwork as an accountant.

7a*11d gratefully acknowledges the support of

And a special thanks to this yer's co-presenters, and media and venue sponsors

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