Beakerhead art and science festival
From September 11–15 Calgary will play host to Beakerhead, an arts festival that celebrates achievements in science and engineering. The five day event is just a facet of a larger Calgarian initiative thought up by Jay Ingram and Mary Anne Moser.
Beakerhead is intended to help make science more accessible to the general public, and will feature attractions such as art bikes and cars, sculptures, exhibits, fairs and performances. Contributors include artists, scientists, engineers and students, including some from the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering students.
One of the largest events will be The Tremendous and Curious World of Beakerhead, a collection of entertaining science-based performances taking place on Sep. 13 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Comdr. Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut made famous by his social media presence, will be headlining the event.
Other attractions include the annual Calgary Mini Maker Faire, which showcases DIY projects made by Calgarians, and a variety of educational and entertaining workshops and lectures. Most of the events will be free and open to the public. For a complete schedule and more information, visit their website.
U of C hosts Canadian Folk Music Awards
The ninth annual Canadian Folk Music Awards will be held at the University of Calgary Theatre on November 10, 2013.
Presenting an award in each of 20 categories, the CFMAs judging process consists of a three-stage jury process carried out by 100 jurors who represent all Canadian provinces and territories. The jurors will decide between five nominees for each category, each of whom released an album between June 2012 and June 2013.
A bilingual event, the show will include live performances and is hosted this year by Shelagh Rogers of the CBC and musician Benoit Bourque. Tickets to the event are available for $40, either online at their website or in person. Tickets to other gala weekend live performances held throughout Calgary will go online in this month.
Water Works film series
Four films about water will be screened along the Bow River later this month. The Water Works film series is hosting two screenings on September 27–28 on the Bow River pathway and River Walk downtown. The four films will include two documentary films: Jeroen van Velzen’s documentary Wavumba: They Who Smell of Fish about a Kenyan shark fisherman, and Kyle Armstrong’s documentary Magnetic Reconnection that explores man-made debris around Churchill Manitoba and contrasts it with the northern lights.
The series will also include a short film by Chloe Leriche, Blue Suns, that examines the natural world while following a solitary figure through the woods and an experimental film Leviathan by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel about the commercial fishing industry.
The film series is hosted by the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers and the City of Calgary’s Watershed art program for the 2013 Alberta Culture Days.
New writer-in-residence
The University of Calgary’s Distinguished Writers Program writer-in-residence, Deborah Willis, will be stepping down this month. Sara Tilley will be taking on the writer-in-residence position during the program’s Hello/Goodbye reading at the Arrata Opera Centre on September 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The Calgary Distinguished Writers Program is part of the U of C’s faculty of arts. The 10-month paid residency helps writers further their own work while helping U of C students through manuscript consultations, public readings, classroom visits and talks.
Made in Calgary exhibit continues
If you’re in the mood for a little history, the Glenbow Museum is continuing it’s Made in Calgary exhibit with the third part of it’s series, the 1980s. The five-part series presents examples of Calgary’s art community from between 1960 to 2010, exploring how local artists developed over those years. The exhibit runs until Jan. 5.