The provincial government is putting a total of $23 million into the local film industry, premier Tim Houston announced today. Eight million of the funds will support a soundstage that, according to a press release from the province, “will increase the industry’s capacity, create more jobs and allow productions to continue year-round.” The remaining $15 […]
Arts & Culture
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Dartmouth’s Michnat Fashion is diversifying the scene—and your closet
Funmi Odeniyi learned to sew by studying her family members cranking fabric through machines—just like the Italian master of glamour and the bias-cut, Gianni Versace, learned the craft from his dressmaker mother. Odeniyi launched her label, the Dartmouth-based Michnat Fashion House, while pregnant—just like Paris’s 1970s queen of knitwear Sonia Rykiel. Her favourite things to […]
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The African Nova Scotian Music Association’s annual awards kick off March 7
The African Nova Scotian Music Association is shaking up awards season this year. Instead of a typical gala one-night ANSMA Awards showcase, it’ll be keeping the party going all month long with its “Mondays in March” series. Starting tonight, each Monday evening at 10pm on Eastlink TV (and recapped on the Black Cultural Centre’s YouTube […]
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Propeller Arcade Bar is levelling up on fun
Propeller Brewing’s Gottingen Street outpost has long been the postal code for good times—even more so when the building turned its basement into a retro arcade bar in 2019. The space is known for having all your favourite throwback arcade games (including pinball), craft beer on tap and no cell service. Yesterday, though, the space […]
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Packing up decades of music memories as The Pavilion becomes a shelter
Before it was The Pavilion, it was a swimming pool shed. Back then—the 1990s—Halifax was (arguably) at its musical apex, thanks to bands like Sloan and Thrush Hermit. People who wanted more all-ages, dry music shows took over the small building on the south Common, and built a scene along the way. From 1998 to […]
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Celebrate Women’s History Month with two hot local books reframing women’s history
Sometimes, just when you think you know a story by heart, a new narrative shows up to make you reconsider all you thought you knew. Case in point? Two new hot, local books from Nimbus Publishing are ready to prove you blissfully wrong. Painted Worlds: The Art of Maud Lewis–A Critical Perspective by Dr. Laurie […]
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Two Nova Scotian-made movies will be screening at Cineplex this month
It’s a good month for Nova Scotian films: Two locally made movies that debuted at last fall’s FIN Atlantic International Film Festival have been picked up by movie monolith Cineplex. This all-too-rare bit of movie business means that, at long last, viewers have the chance to see these stories on the big screen. Related First […]
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The triumphant return of the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery
Halifax needs its university galleries. Without them, there’d be roughly 100 fewer art exhibitions per year in the city (by our calculations); space for emerging talent would be even more competitive; and the stepping stones to larger venues would essentially wash downstream. With all this in mind, it’s no wonder the visual art community in […]
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Shakeup at Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as CEO Nancy Noble’s contract not renewed
Today, at 4:18pm on the Friday before a long weekend, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia released a statement that it is looking for a new CEO. The position was held by Nancy Noble, who previously served as the CEO of the Museum of Vancouver for over a decade before taking the AGNS job in […]
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Halifax platform Side Door brings indie artists to South By South West
It’s depressing but it’s a fact: Any night a band spends on the road *not* performing, it is hemorrhaging money. This is what makes touring complicated and difficult. How do you get from your town to the next without running into the red? Since 2017, Halifax-founded online platform/Airbnb of gigs Side Door has been solving […]
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Attention Indigenous musicians: The OHSOTO’KINO Recording Bursary program wants to help you record an album
It isn’t easy to be a musician right now. Between the cents-per-stream earned through the likes of Spotify to the drying up of live shows, chances to make money have dwindled during the pandemic. But, if you’re a First Nations, Métis or Inuit artist looking to make an album, here’s an opportunity of note: The […]
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Getting to the bottom of the competing Van Gogh exhibits in Halifax
There are three different art exhibits descending on Canada currently that celebrate Van Gogh, the post-impressionist prince who painted “Starry Night.” All lean on the word “immersive” to describe the experience of walking through projections of works by the Dutch painter. None feature physical paintings, but claim to take you “deeper” into the experience of […]