Hodgepodge Opening reception Monday, October 31, 5:30-7:30pm To November 5 Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street A feast of colour and fabric, Emily Lawrence’s exhibition Hodgepodge is what would happen “if Willy Wonka and Pee-Wee Herman had a baby,” the artist says. The sculptural installation fills a room of the Anna Leonowens gallery to the brim […]
Laura Kenins
All over but the crying: Friday at HPX 2016 and the Saturday finale
I was a little surprised to have missed all of Monomyth’s set arriving at the Marquee Friday night, but chalked it up to my own lateness. Turns out the band had the sound cut prematurely after drunkenly acting out on stage. (Save it for Montreal, guys.) Fortunately, no such incident befell Sackville, NB’s Partner. More […]
Bright lights, gig city: The first two nights of HPX 2016
The Art Bar was the perfect home Wednesday night for Montreal’s She-Devils. Audrey Ann Boucher dresses like a youthful version of Xavier Dolan’s belaguered mother in J’ai Tué Ma Mère, and the band plays like a soundtrack, with a smooth while electronic sound ranging from the dreamily droning to the upbeat. Bandmate Kyle Jukka hovers […]
Halifax Pop Explosion 2016 is on
Started in 1993, today our beloved HPX packs it in city-wide—over 150 bands, musicians, comedians and speakers, in over 15 venues. Put aside thoughts of struggling venues, band breakups and Netflix ruining your nightlife—this weekend we celebrate what’s good in local and not-so-local music. Whether your hands are permanently stained with bar stamps or if […]
The Highest Order’s spooky party
The Highest Order w/Cactus Flower, Laura Sauvage, The Barr Brothers Saturday, October 22, 10pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street “It’s the most ‘party’ record I’ve ever made,” The Highest Order’s Simone Schmidt says of the band’s second album, Still Holding, released this past June. Three-quarters comprised of former members of country group $100 (Schmidt, […]
Lady Wray’s time in the sun
Lady Wray w/BadBadNotGood, Daniel Caesar, Reeny Smith Thursday, October 20, 8pm Halifax Forum Multi-purpose Centre 2901 Windsor Street, $40 A late addition to the HPX lineup, Nicole Wray is finally heading for her time in the sun. Signed to Missy Elliott’s label as a teen, Wray’s second solo album Queen Alone was just released in September, […]
Voivod returns to ‘80s roots
Voivod w/Black Moor, Scumgrief, Geil Thursday, October 20, 9pm The Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street $25 With over 30 years together, Quebec sci-fi thrash metal band Voivod is still going strong. The band has gone through some changes along the way–after guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour passed away from colon cancer in 2005, the group said […]
Breastival Vestibule
South Courtyard of Halifax Central Library and Khyber Centre For the Arts A festival within a festival, Breastival Vestibule is a temporary space that aims to break rules and help us reconsider how we use space. A soft, inflatable breast-like structure, it’s the creation of Baltimore-based artist Rachael Shannon, who began the project considering the […]
Oversight
Dalhousie School of Architecture and Planning Inspired by different activist movements, Oversight is an installation exploring our relationship, as citizens, to the police. The collaboration between the three artists started as a Centre For Art Tapes project (together with Lindsay Dobbin), now being adapted for the festival. Dina, Pearse and Bowles look at the way […]
Requiem for Radio: New Dead Zones
The Sands at Salter Street Since 2014, the Trans-Canada just hasn’t looked the same after CBC dismantled the Radio-Canada International broadcasting site in Sackville, NB—the glowing red towers alongside the highway. Moncton artist and filmmaker Amanda Dawn Christie has been documenting the site for seven years, premiering her documentary, Spectres of Shortwave, at the Atlantic […]
Nocturne 2016: Art is all around you
The ninth annual Nocturne is your yearly booster shot of installations, interactive art, multimedia pieces, performances and more crammed into one night. On Saturday, October 15, from 6pm to midnight, art is spread out over 5 zones in Halifax and Dartmouth: Zone 1 (downtown Halifax), zone 2 (Halifax waterfront), zone 3 (Spring Garden), zone 4 […]
The Thundermaker
Anna Leonowens Gallery 1 window Few Mi’kmaq stories remain in their original form. “There are only two stories found in their original form, not compromised [through translation],” artist Alan Syliboy says. The story of “The Stone Canoe,” recently rediscovered after 150 years, is one of these, a story that’s taken on larger significance for Syliboy. […]

