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September-October 2018

Indigenous arts are the real deal. How counterfeiting is destroying that

New campaign aims to protect Indigenous crafts from mass-produced knock-offs in Canada’s gift shops

Prajakta Dhopade

Think of the dreamcatcher and it evokes a familiar image. A hoop, a woven web, adorned with beads and feathers. The iconic talisman, said to have originated from the North American Ojibwe, is a common sight in most Canadian souvenir shops. But don’t believe its “Made in Canada” label. More likely, it’s been mass produced […] More »

Q&A: Paul Vermeersch talks self-fulfilling prophecies, science fiction, and his new poetry collection

RM Vaughan sits down with the poet to chat about Self Defence for the Brave and Happy

RM Vaughan

The great French novelist Andre Malraux once declared that “the 21st century will be spiritual or will not be,” a sentiment undoubtedly shared by many who lived under the shadow of the Cold War’s mushroom clouds. Paul Vermeersch’s beautiful new book of poems, Self Defence for the Brave and Happy posits that the 21st century […] More »
September-October 2018

Music criticism is changing its tune—and that’s a good thing

The music explainer is the new review, and it has the potential to improve our understanding of music criticism

Drew Crocker

Photo by Gavin Whitner “Music criticism is dead,” proclaimed Dan Kopf emphatically on culture website Quartzy this past spring. In the present streaming era, when you can easily discover music on your own, the “music explainer,” in the form of podcasts, is where it’s at, he argued. Why consider secondhand opinions when you can hear […] More »
September-October 2018

New Toronto film project aims to preserve the pasts of Indigenous and visible minority communities

A look inside the Home Made Visible project

Emily Macrae

A child playing in a snowbank. A woman cutting a cake. A man digging a car out of a snowdrift. At first glance, these are common Canadian moments. But look closer and they become celebrations in the daily life of any Canadian family. Whether they are new to the country, first- or fifth-generation Canadians, these […] More »
September-October 2018

This Vancouver teacher turned her master’s thesis into a comic book

She wanted to prove that graphic art can still be scholarly

Valérie Frappier

It’s been said that the medium is the message, but how much say do we have over which mediums shape our experiences—and how might they shape our education? Meghan Parker, an art teacher at a public high school in North Vancouver, considers this question in her recent thesis, “Art teacher in process: An illustrated exploration […] More »
September-October 2018

Stand-up comedy got me through the darkest point of my life

How I laughed through the pain

Erica Ruth Kelly

Dear stand-up comedy, I almost threw up all over you the first time we met. I was 18. My then-boyfriend took me to a Just for Laughs showcase in Montreal. Mascara ran down my face as I watched one of the performers, Jeremy Hotz. You and I were still getting to know each other then. […] More »
September-October 2018

Inuk scholar celebrates long-overlooked Nunatsiavut art in her new book

On Heather Igloliorte's SakKijâjuk

Victoria Chan

In the absence of access and recognition comes resilience and creativity. This became apparent to Heather Igloliorte, an Inuk scholar and art historian, as she researched the presence of Labrador Inuit artists in Canada’s history during her years of doctoral research at Ottawa’s Carleton University. What she discovered was the near absence of information on […] More »

For Asian artists, social media has changed everything

In the typically white, male-dominated Canadian arts community, online promotion and sharing has paved a new path for marginalized artists

Hanna Lee

Hana Shafi’s Instagram feed is a burst of bright colours and thick lines interspersed with the occasional selfie. The Toronto-based artist, who goes by Frizz Kid, posts images of her digital art almost every day. From the playful—an anthropomorphic pizza slice placed around the words “Thick as hell”—to the serious—a person, closed-eyed with purple hair, […] More »
September-October 2018

Rework

Poetry by Arielle Twist

Arielle Twist

I am reworking my reality.  How does a tranny coexist    with lust,       being told of an    “unattainable” touch even with the saliva of a man    dripping off of my chest   how he bites at my soft parts       and kissed me    rigid. I think this man    could love me,   fuck me       outside of glory holes       a […] More »
September-October 2018

Celebrating Indigenous writers and artists: A special feature

Featuring Gwen Benaway, Kai Minosh Pyle, Lindsay Nixon, Ziibiwan Rivers, Fallon Simard, Jaye Simpson, and Arielle Twist

This Magazine

EXPLORE THE FEATURE: Editor’s note by Gwen Benaway ● Prose by Kai Minosh Pyle ● Interview with Lindsay Nixon ● Visual art by Fallon Simard ● Interview with Ziibiwan Rivers ● Prose by Jaye Simpson ● Poetry by Arielle Twist A note from the editor: When I was asked to guest edit an Indigenous-specific supplement for This, my first instinct was […] More »
September-October 2018

this woman, nokum

Prose by Jaye Simpson

Jaye Simpson

how do i explain my queerness to the gatekeeper of my blood line when she flushed hers out with communion wine and holy water? how do i explain my ever-shifting body to the woman who prayed for damnation for me, rather than my absolution? my grandmother who held me at birth, has prayed for my […] More »