Various Locations, Permanent Installation

[murmur] is a documentary oral history project that records stories and memories told about specific geographic locations. It’s coming to the Church-Wellesley neighborhood just in time for Pride. [murmur] has recorded personal stories about a number of places around the neighbourhood. In each location, a [murmur] sign with a telephone number on it is installed. Use your mobile phone to call and listen to that story and engage in the physical experience of being right where the story takes place. Some stories are anecdotal while others are more historical, but all are told from a personal perspective by somebody who cares about that information and place. See www.murmurtoronto.ca for exact sign locations.

[murmur] was developed at the Canadian Film Centre's new media lab and has been established in various Toronto neighbourhoods, as well as in Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Sao Paulo, Dublin, Edinburgh, San Jose (CA), and Galway, Ireland.

Co-sponsored by The Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal Foundation

Saturday, June 28, 3-5PM

In a saucy and sexy celebration of the power of Lesbian Femmes, a clothesline will be strung between trees at the James Canning Park (from 3:00-5:00) on the day of the Dyke March. All self-identified femme lesbians are invited to hang up a piece of their favourite salacious clothing for all to gaze upon. Their butch admirers are welcome to be spectators of the gaiety from the sidelines. The clothesline will be photographed each time a piece of clothing is added.

Melissa Levin is a visual artist, primarily working in video and mixed mediums. She is interested in reclaiming and using discarded and undervalued objects, words that could also be attributed to the gaze at queer lives through her videos that humorously explore Lesbian/Dyke identities. Old School Femme – for Joan Nestle takes the trope of the clothesline from her video, Cherries in the Snow – an Ode for Joan Nestle celebrating the renowned femme, activist, and dyke Joan Nestle. Melissa has made eight other short videos as well as a feature documentary. Currently she is using vintage jigsaw puzzles; pairing disparate images, she creates new works that reflect on our perceptions of memory and lose. She has a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art (1982) and an MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago (1998).


 

Saturday, June 28, 9PM

Join the folks from Improv in Toronto in a brief impromptu reading. Stop, reflect, and read for 30 seconds wherever you are. Improv in Toronto (I.T.) was originally formed on the Global message board of Improv Everywhere (a similar group based in New York City).  I.T. is a group of fun loving people from all around the GTA whose main goal is to improve the lives of everyone in Toronto by giving them a moment that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Previous events include a subway dance party and a large number of people mysteriously starting to scratch themselves in a public place. Everyone at Improv in Toronto is glad to be helping out with Pride because without unity, their work would be nothing.

Join us and participate by reading the following statement:

"What Out is About! Global Human Rights for Queers! In May, Gambian President
Yahya Jammeh threatened to cut off the head of any homosexual caught in his
country. In June, a Turkish Court ordered the Lambda Istanbul Lesbian Gay
Bisexual and Transvestites Association to be shut down. On June 25th,
organizers of the first-ever Cuban Gay Pride march were beaten and arrested
by police. In Uganda, homosexuality is still punishable with life in prison.
In Canada, the odds of being a victim of a violent crime are nearly two
times greater for gays and lesbians and 4.5 times greater for bisexuals. In
the course of one year, gay hate crimes increased 90% in parts of Scotland.
And to this day, the Iranian government continues to execute homosexuals.
Off of the dance floor and into the Streets! Global Human Rights for Queers!"


 

Saturday, June 28, 7-11PM

Tryst is a Witch Nation outreach project featuring two witches and two bears and a faerie princess, (FASTWÜRMS, Andrew Harwood and R.M. Vaughn, and Katie Bethune-Leamen), in a public service performance and participation narrative featuring free fortune telling, psychic divination, hand fasting, glitter cosmetics, and Gayga.

In their custom truck and tent compound, the Tryst crew will be sharing card readings and psychic prophecy, giving glitter make-up and tying Tryst friendship bracelets, and demonstrating the new queer exercise program, Gayga.

FASTWÜRMS is an ongoing avatar-artist cultural project, the trademark and the joint authorship of Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse. FASTWÜRMS is a Witch identified art practice based on a DIY sensibility, bent identity politics and the subversive exchange and circulation of aesthetic knowledge as a performative and public narrative.

Andrew Harwood is a visual artist, psychic celebrity (Madam Zsa Zsa)
RM Vaughan is the author of eight books and many short films. He is fat, but does not let that keep him from teaching other people how to do Gayga, the hot lavender version of yoga. Pride means never having to stop snacking.
Katie Bethune-Leamen is a visual artist and sometimes writer, raised in Winnipeg by feral voyageurs who indoctrinated her in their justified and ancient ways.

 
 

Sunday, June 29, 5-9PM

Stop by Paige Gratland’s Tit Pin booth and get a photo button with your tits on it! Participants pose while Paige makes a souvenir button. Be sure to bring your friends and lovers to share or trade with. Open to everyone!

Paige Gratland produces small objects. Her work is collaborative in process and production, and is conceptually informed by a feminist gay aesthetic. One of her latest projects is an ongoing series, Celebrity Lezbian Fists, which are a limited edition series of silicone fists cast from the actual hands of famed and favourite queer cultural icons.


 

Sunday, June 29, 7-10PM

Graham and Diane is an unconventional ventriloquist act that could be enjoyed by some children, but it’s mostly for adults who enjoy dark humour. Diane is a meek admin assistant who is recently trying her hand in the performing arts, after being inspired by a visit from corporate comedians at her workplace.  Diane has been living with this doll, Graham, since she was 14 (a gift given to her by her drifter uncle), and is Diane's only friend.  Graham is ribald, brash, and utterly foul mouthed, but very popular with the people, even though her fashion sense is lacking.

Lex Vaughn is a multi-disciplinarian artist and ex-pat based in Toronto. For three years, she toured with The Second City, was nominated for the Tim Sims Award in 2001, and a Canadian Comedy Award in 2002, for her work in the sketch troupe, Glyph, co-founded with David Tomlinson, who also collaborated with Lex on a one-act play for the Playwrights Unit at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 2006.  In addition, Lex is a character based installation artist, mounting Peanut Brittle and WEZY, at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, and has been invited for a residency with the same character at the AKA Gallery in Saskatoon. She was part of the calendar project JD's Lesbian Utopia, in 2005, that culminated in a show at Deitch Gallery in NYC. As a drummer, Lex has performed, recorded, and toured extensively with musical groups such as The Hidden Cameras, Lesbians on Ecstasy, and Final Fantasy. Lex also won Best Short at the 2002 Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Film for her documentary, Play She Said, and in May 2007 was invited to choreograph a dance piece for the prestigious Toronto Dance Theatre, entitled Say Dollface. Most recently, Lex played Pee-wee Herman in the Pee-wee Herman Picture Show, at the Bloor Cinema as part of a fundraiser that raised $15,000 for the Toronto Cyclists Coalition. Film and television credits include John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus, Queer As Folk, and Soulfood.

Sunday, June 29, 7-10PM

This looped video programme includes a collection of short, sexy art videos chosen by AA Bronson of General Idea fame. As part of AA Bronson's School for Young Shamans, this programme features international work by Naufus Figueroa, Paige Gratland, Peter Hobbs, William E. Jones, Terence Koh, Jeremy Laing, Will Munro, and SUPERM (Slave Mogutin & Brian Kenny.) Drop in and out, or stay for a while. Contains adult content. From the silly to the sexy, this programme is a visual feast.

Originally screened as The Museum as Brothel, Art House as Porn House programme at The 53rd International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, Germany. This collection of works look at the space where art and sex intersect.

Sunday, June 29, 10:00 & 10: 30PM

A spinning human disco ball invites queer reverie. Jess Dobkin's performances, artist's talks, and workshops are presented at museums, galleries, theatres, universities, and public spaces internationally. She creates innovative live and video solo performances as well as multiple artist productions. For more information and documentation of her work, visit her website at www.jessdobkin.com