Ghosts, a solo show and how art gets made: Your Top 3 Winnipeg weekend picks for Nov. 30-Dec. 2
Dalnavert delves into Victorian ghost stories, a former CBC host is onstage at PTE, and the WAG opens a show
Winter has come to Winnipeg, but this weekend, you can get cozy with a one-man performance about a father and son by a former CBC Radio host, a peek behind the usually closed doors of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, or some Victorian ghosts.
Here are three picks from CBC Mantioba radio personalities for the Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 weekend.
Colton Hutchinson's pick: Empire of the Son
Prairie Theatre Exchange invites you to experience the intimate relationship between a son and a father in Tetsuro Shigematsu's mixed-media solo performance, Empire of the Son.
Shigematsu is the former host of The Roundup on CBC Radio, as well as a writer and filmmaker — and now he's taken to the stage.
Near the end of his father's life, Shigematsu realized he knew little about the man and wanted to find out more, so he could pass that history to his own children.
Through a series of interviews, Tetsuro Shigematsu found a new relationship with his father, Akira, and shaped a new opinion about him.
Empire of the Son takes a deep look at their relationship through a unique lens — literally. Armed with film cameras aimed at miniature dioramas, scenes are created with the artist's words and the visual aid of the miniatures.
The result is a powerful experience, as audiences hear the words of Tetsuro Shigematsu and his father, and see the artist come to terms with their complicated relationship live on stage.
Empire of the Son runs at Prairie Theatre Exchange, located in Portage Place mall in Winnipeg, until Dec. 9.
Ismaila Alfa's pick: Behind Closed Doors at the WAG
When you walk into an art gallery, most often all you see is that beautiful finished piece on display — but what got the artist to that point?
Behind Closed Doors is the latest exhibition from the WAG's New Contemporary series, and it explores the artist's process.
It's the brainchild of Jamie Isaac, the WAG's curator of Indigenous and contemporary art, and it features 10 artists from Winnipeg, or who have Winnipeg roots.
The exhibit includes sculpture, collage, painting, drawing, photography, animation, and sound-based work, and features work from Ian August, Irene Bindi, Mia Feuer, Takashi Iwasaki, Shaun Morin and Melanie Rocan, Kristin Nelson, Matea Radic, Dominique Rey and Robert Taite.
As curator, Isaac collaborated with the artists in deciding how to best show their "laboratory of process."
While most of the artists are displaying previously completed works, August and Bindi, who are both making their WAG debuts with this exhibit, were invited to venture inside the gallery's vault and pull an object from the collection to use as inspiration for the creation of a new piece for Behind Closed Doors.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery is launching the new exhibit with a free event Friday night, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Behind Closed Doors will run at the WAG until next spring.
Shannah-Lee Vidal's pick: Victorian ghosts at Dalnavert
It's a holiday tradition to hunker down on a cold evening, as you gather your loved ones in the parlour and share some ghost stories. Or at least that's what the Victorians would have been doing over a century ago.
A Christmas Carol is probably the best known Christmas ghost story, but many others came out of the 19th century. For Victorian society, ghost stories were commonplace — especially ones set in the stark winter months, when death was top of mind.
But why were the Victorians obsessed with ghosts stories, especially at Christmastime? That answer will come this weekend in the form of a lecture at Dalnarvert Museum by the University of Manitoba's Arlene Young, titled Victorian Ghosts for Christmas.
The lecture takes place at Dalnavert, at 61 Carlton St., on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
For more ghostly goodness, Dalnavert is also hosting an event called Ghosts of Christmas Past on Dec. 6-8, featuring an evening of spooky Christmas stories from the era each night at 7 p.m.
If those holiday horrors seems a tad frightful for your little ones, they don't have to be left out. Each Sunday afternoon throughout December, Dalnavert will host storytelling telling sessions especially for a younger audience.
More information on schedules and tickets can be found on the Dalnavert Museum website.