Tuff stuff out of the post-industrial ghost-lands of Buffalo, NY
Filmmakers Marc Moscato and David Gracon are in Nanaimo on Wednesday July 22nd to present Tuff Stuff From the Buff, a collection of underground and defiantly independent videos about their hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. Their Do-It-Yourself media arts community focuses on contemporary works that blur the lines between video art, personal documentary and media activism. [Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin] (more…)
Two artists talk about mental illness, mental health, and the creative path
The experimental link between creativity and mental illness is well-documented, and now a new study out of Hungary has discovered what could be a genetic link between the two. In dicussing his findings, Dr. Szabolcs Keri also suggested that people with mental illness can express themselves a lot better through visual and musical forms of communication. [Source: The Edmonton Journal] (more…)
Nanaimo poet’s voice returns after a decade
Kim Goldberg is an author, poet, photographer and art activist. She has penned five full-length books, over 2,000 articles, and various chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies in North America.
Between 1997 and 2005, her writer’s voice disappeared and when it returned, “new poems started to pour forth.” Kim told the Nanaimo News Bulletin that the new poems “were completely different…they were about the homeless encampments I walk by every day in downtown Nanaimo where I live.” Her poems about urban decay will be published this fall under the name Red Zone. (more…)
Navigating the space between brilliance and madness
Will Hall is a 43-year-old man who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Doctors have prescribed medication for him. “But Hall would rather value his mentally extreme states than try to suppress them, so he doesn’t take his meds. Instead, he practices yoga and avoids coffee and sugar.” Will is also a member of The Icarus Project—an Icarista—and is involved in Mad Pride activities.* He’s also hosted Madness Radio for three years. [*Source: Newsweek, “Listening to madness”]. (more…)
Leef Evans, an author and artist, experienced a severe bout of depression six years ago that resulted in hospitalization and the loss of apartment, car, and virtually all connection with family and friends.
While living on Vancouver’s downtown eastside, Lee participated in an art program at Coast Mental Health Resource Centre and he is now a part of the Gallery Gachet collective.
He recently told Westender magazine that he has been forced, through his painting, to deal with his lifelong struggle with depression. (more…)
Made-in-Nanaimo approach frames busking as a downtown safety and security issue
Arts and culture…or safety and security? Nanaimo’s Street Entertainer’s Bylaw was enacted in 2003 to control altercations between panhandlers and street entertainers. Now, a review of that bylaw will be undertaken by the Safer Nanaimo Working Group. Over the past year, entertainers have called for a relaxation of the bylaw and some buskers disagree with the bylaw being reviewed by the Safer Nanaimo Working Group…preferring the activity be seen from the perspective of arts and culture. [source: Nanaimo News Bulletin] (more…)
