Sixty years ago Canada opened a small building in Venice and took a big step into the wider world. This small jewel sits inside what is known as the Giardini, a parkland that is at the centre of the visual art world every two years. The Venice
NACO and Alexander Shelley end their season this week by pairing two heroically themed works by outsized personalities: Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5, and Richard Strauss’ thinly disguised self-tribute, Ein Heldenleben. The concert was also a parting gift for the NAC’s retiring CEO, Peter
When the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra announced its plan to make a stringed instrument with a 3D printer, it had other ideas too. The OSO also challenged, along with Canada Makes, innovative Canadians to come up with their own ideas for a 3D instrument. The OSO has now
The first Ottawa Folk Music festival took place 25 years ago on Victoria Island. On the lineup Aug. 28, 1994 were a couple of Ottawa singer-songwriters, Valdy and David Wiffen. The event moved to Britannia Park the next year and carried on there until 2011
The Bramwell Tovey farewell tour rolls into Ottawa this week. And while there have been many kind words and lots of warm, nostalgic feelings, the man himself is trying to stay focussed on the task at hand
The world of Newfoundland author-actor-musician Joel Thomas Hynes is filled with bad boys we learn to love despite their petty crimes, barroom brawls, substance abuse and doomed romances. “My challenge is always to make those characters sympathetic somehow,” Hynes said in a recent ARTSFILE interview. One of
I think therefore I am is Rene Descartes' famous statement of human awareness. Embedded in that sentence is the fundamental reality of the human brain, that marvellous and still mysterious organ that controls our every function. Understanding our brain and understanding the implications of what it
The horses are running again alongside Sussex Drive. By early Thursday afternoon, with the artist watching, a new set of Joe Fafard's 11 magical, colourful, Running Horses had been installed by a technical crew working for the National Gallery of Canada. Work began in the morning
There was a time, mayhap 25 years ago, when the news of an exhibition of great impressionists was thrilling, but today, after so many impressionist exhibitions in Ottawa, Toronto, New York, etc., the thought of another can elicit an artful meh. I thought of this
When Heather Gibson took over the NAC Presents series of Canadian music concerts, she promised change. Guess what? She has delivered. A series that once hosted about 50 concerts a year will stage about 100 in 2018-19 with shows that include artists such as Bahamas, Holly
