By MATTHEW HARRISON
(Photo, Freshh Anderson; Model, Amal; Clothing, Marcelle Bénédicte)
Palestinian traces (FREE!)
Visually stunning, evocative, heart-breaking, and most definitely thought-provoking — perhaps even controversial — Rehab Nazzal’s exhibit, Invisible, presents traces of video and audio recordings, found footage, and photography; all of which are fragments of her Palestinian homeland; a people and a place struggling to remain unforgotten amidst the ongoing conflict with Israel. In her exhibit, the smallest moment of captured memory becomes “precious.” A vernissage for the exhibit at the Karsh-Masson Gallery will be held on Thursday May 8 at 7:30 p.m. The exhibit runs until June 22. Karsh-Masson Gallery is at 110 Laurier Ave. (City Hall).
Shades of house
Chicago, Detroit, New York, glitch, ghetto, funk or deep — all of house music’s varying shades fall under one roof this Friday, May 9 at the Mercury Lounge with special guest, German-born, L.A.-based DJ, producer, and radio host Lars Behrenroth. Joining resident Lance Baptiste, Behrenroth brings the sounds from his Deeper Shades Recordings label to the Lounge for a unique night-out. $10 advance, doors open at 10 p.m. Mercury Lounge is at 56 Byward Market.
Gatsby, gangsters, garters
“I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties, there isn’t any privacy” —Taking a cue from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, but perhaps Boardwalk Empire also, the fourth Pins & Stripes fashion-event aims to delight, entertain, and “strengthen the local fashion community” with a prohibition era-themed (only with drinks!) soiree at Saint-Brigid’s Centre for the Arts on Saturday, May 10. The show, hosted by local fashion maven Marcelle Benedicte, includes art, entertainment, dancing, and snacks. Cost? A donation to Solidarité Jeunesse, an organization providing opportunities for volunteering abroad in the aim of promoting global peace and understanding. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts is at 10 Patrick St.
Electro-cleaning (FREE!)
Before tossing that computer stack being used as a side table in your home office; before swearing to the gods to finally rid yourself of that dot-matrix printer; and before taking a sledgehammer to that embarrassingly-large TV set — do the landfill and those with hearing problems a favour by dumping unwanted electronic gear off at the Canadian Hearing Society’s (CHS) Electronic Recycling Event this Saturday, May 10 at 2197 Riverside Drive, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Computers, TVs, telephones, stereos — all of it will be accepted, collected, and recycled, with valuable base metals being sold and proceeds donated to the CHS. Can’t make the May 10th event? — Drop off gear at CHS Ottawa on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the days leading up to event.
Search for Hidden Art (FREE!)
Secret staircases and hidden doors — it’s this kind of Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew trope that, on some small level, fuels this weekend’s mystery-art-adventure. On Saturday, May 10, the latest edition of Research In Art’s “Art In Odd Spaces” will guide art-seekers into attics, basements, lavatories, and up staircases in the search for hidden art. As a testament to the kind of Drew-like danger you’ll be facing, organizers are asking participants to sign waivers — that kind of risk alone makes this art-adventure tempting! Although free, participants must register in advance: researchinart.ria@gmail.com. Since the art is located in homes around the city, you’ll either need your own transportation or sign up for their shuttle service. Refreshments will served at the end of the trip, where participants will be able to get one last look at Never Forever, an exhibition up since April 6 that features works by seven artists — Gail Bourgeois, Karen Jordon, Deborah Margo, Christine Nobel, Susie Osler, Rene Price, and Bozica Radjenovic.
Wakefield Writes
Acclaimed Canadian novelists Frances Itani (Deafening, Requiem), Trevor Ferguson (City of Ice), Tim Wynne-Jones (Odd’s End) will be in Wakefield this weekend — they are the literary stars of the village’s annual Writer’s Fest, which is being held on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10. They, along with a host of superb local writers, will be leading a program that includes workshops, a CBC-led tête-à-tête, a brunch, and a literary pub-crawl, among other activities. Some of the events are free — the author’s brunch, the tête-à-tête, and the workshops vary in price. Events will be at various locations and at different times throughout the village. Wakefield’s about 30 minutes from Ottawa.