Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani.
House of PainT celebrates a decade of urban arts and urban affairs with this weekend’s festival. There will be music by hip-hop heavyweights Afrika Bambaataa and Big Daddy Kane, Friday at the Dunbar Bridge, in addition to the main event taking place all day and into the night on Saturday underneath the same bridge. There are also a number of educational panels, including one on getting more art in public places. Find the full House of Paint schedule here.
Over the years, we’ve written extensively about the festival’s origins, its advocacy, and its innovation. This time, we chose to zero in on some of the art aspects of the festival. Perusing the schedule, we came upon the Good Look Graphic Art Show that focuses on a decade of graphic design in Ottawa. The show takes place at the newly remodelled Café Nostalgica and features 20 different works.
The launch party happens Thursday night with performances by Boogat, Jaguar Priest, et Le R and DJs Gerald Dragon and Lamb Rabbit. We discussed the city’s graphic-art style with House of PainT’s artistic coordinator, Kenji Toyooka — himself a web and graphics guy — whose work will also be featured in the show.