anniversary – Dr. Kasprzak

The year of PANTONE® 15-0343, Greenery.
The 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.
The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
The Year of the Fire Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac.
The Centenary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The 500th anniversary of The Reformation.
The Centenary of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary at Fatima.
The 200th anniversary of Hegel’s Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences.
The 50th anniversary of the first human heart transplant.
The Year of the Daffodil.
The Centenary of De Stijl.
The Centenary of the Russian Revolutions.
The 700th anniversary of the writing of Gulshan i-Raz by Mahmud Shabistari.

Go sweep out the chamber of your heart.
Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved.
When you depart out, He will enter in,
In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.
– Gulshan i-Raz, Mahmud Shabistari

If I was in Montreal tomorrow, I would certainly be going to this launch! It’s an event to celebrate the release of xxxboîte, a collection of critical writing and a DVD compilation of works celebrating the last 10 years of Montreal’s own new media and network arts centre for women – Studio XX.

First, the details:
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Gallery Yergeau, 2060 Joly, (one block west of St. Denis, just up from Ontario) Montreal, QC

Kick off the 2007 HTMlles festival with a toast to the community that made it all happen. New texts from one of the four founding mothers, Kim Sawchuk, as well as extraordinary artists, Anna Friz, J.R. Carpenter, Michelle Kasprzak, and Marie-Christine Mathieu, and a DVD compilation that is part humourous, part touching, and all guerilla girl action – a true portrait of Studio XX!

Next, the reminiscing: I knew of XX for a long time, but my first real interaction with it was being invited to participate in one of their excellent Femmes Branchées events in 2003. That particular event was themed “Home“, and I presented my interactive piece Scrub, which explores eroticism and domesticity. Dr Perla Serfaty-Garzon was a perfect foil to my comedic performance (complete with featherduster and rubber gloves) in a housewife persona. Shortly thereafter I moved to Montreal, and became the Studio’s technician for a while, as well as being involved in several projects and participating on the programming committee. I have so many happy memories around the Studio and all the people that make up the XX community, which makes it a real honour to take part in xxxboîte and the 10th anniversary. Bonne fête et félicitations, Studio XX!