MayworksHalifax is a multi-disciplinary arts festival open to the general public. The 2014 festival will take place from April 23rd to May 2nd and will spread over multiple venues across Halifax. MayworksHalifax contributes to building a culture and society that celebrates and recognizes the history and struggle of the working people of Nova Scotia.
The annual festival spans a period of time before and after May 1st of every year, the International Worker's Day, and serves as an extended celebration of the day's significance to all workers and those seeking justice.
See program of events below. Details available at mayworkshalifax.ca
Opening Ceremony – Art & Indigenous Resistance
April 23, 6:00PM – 8:30PM
Dalhousie Arts Centre – 6101 University Ave
Free admission
In recognition of the Peace and Friendship Treaties that bind us together in the Atlantic region, the 2014 festival opens with traditional Mi’kmaw ceremonies offered by elder Billy Lewis and the All Nations Drummers. The Ceremony will take place inside the Dalhousie Art Gallery, currently hosting “Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop & Aboriginal Culture”. The ceremonies will be followed by a screening of “Seeking Netukulimk,” a short documentary film by Martha Stiegman and Kerry Prosper. The evening will then culminate with a panel discussion featuring Ursula A. Johnson, Sherry Pictou and Kerry Prosper.
Society of Law
Us vs Them Theatre Cooperative
April 24 – 27, 8:00PM
The Bus Stop Theatre – 2203 Gottingen St
$10 admission
A new play by Pasha Ebrahimi and 2014 Mayor's Award for Emerging Artist recipient Evan Wade Brown. A Society of Law will introduce audiences to two desperate, disparate men who are forced to negotiate their highest ideals and darkest hypocrisies. The story is set against the backdrop of Canadian class and gender politics, contemporary protests, the Haymarket Massacre and the Iranian Revolution.
A Show of Force
Art + Activism @ NSCAD
April 25 – May 13
Plan B Merchants Coop – 2180 Gottingen St
Free admission
A concurrent exhibition of print portfolios relating to labour and social justice in Halifax, NS, and abroad. The exhibition includes a local exchange portfolio created during a social justice/art making public workshop at NSCAD University alongside curated selections from the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative archives.
The Politics of Creativity
A booklaunch by Max Haiven and Fernwood Publishing
April 26, 6:00PM – 7:00PM
The Bus Stop Theatre – 2203 Gottingen St
Free admission
Max Haiven invites us to consider the politics of creativity and the limits imposed on it within the constraints of our economic system. In this stirring call to arms, Haiven argues that capitalism has colonized how we all imagine and express what is valuable. The event serves as a booklaunch for Haiven's book “Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power: Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons.”
Aftermath: The Conequences of a Workplace Injury
Documentary Photography By Trevor Beckerson
Presented with The Office of the Worker Counsellor
April 28
Location TBA
In commemoration of the National Day of Mourning, when workers mourn and protest people harmed or killed on the job, The Office of the Worker Counsellor present a photographic documentary exhibition in which the work of photographer Trevor Beckerson opens the shutter on the people of the tragedies of workplace injury.
Cafe DaPoPo
DaPoPo Theatre
April 28, 7:30PM – 10:00PM
Bearly's House of Blues and Ribs – 1269 Barrington St
$5 admission
Once again, DaPoPo Theatre returns with its unique blend of ordered chaos with what is now a Mayworks staple hit – the Cafe DaPoPo! Order to your taste, and experience songs, monologues, scenes and other pieces of performance art right at your table at this popular theatrical event.
Reel Justice
Co-curated with the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative
April 29, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
AFCOOP – 5663 Cornwallis St. Suite #101
Admission by Donation to The Burnley “Rocky” Jones Education Fund
Our movie screens are colonized by Hollywood and its big business interests. “Reel Justice” responds with a collection of short films you won’t see at the multiplex. Films include “Encounter at Kwacha House” to pay tribute to the late Rocky Jones, “Making It” (Sobaz Benjamin), “Waters of the Diaspora: The Passage” (Sylvia D. Hamilton), “Reeny” (Fateh Ahmed), “Scarlines” (Stephanie Young), Don't Dictate! NEGOTIATE! (Liz McDougall), and more!
Talk Sexxxy: the not so sexy journal of a phone sex operator
April 30 – May 2, 8:00PM
The Bus Stop Theatre – 2203 Gottingen St
$10 admission
Written by 2012 Mayor's Award for Emerging Artist recipient Lee-Anne Poole and performed by 2013 Mayor's Award for Emerging Artist Stephanie MacDonald. Talk Sexxxy looks at the perverse and private fantasy lives of the phone sex industry. Listening in on these private and anonymous calls for a company that proclaims, “No Taboos, Hardcore Phone Sex!” through the ears of a new phone sex operator and a regular caller.
Visit mayworkshalifax.ca for ticket and details.
MayworksHalifax is a project of the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council, representing over 25,000 workers in all sectors of the economy within the Halifax Regional Municipality.
The site for the Halifax local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
