M:ST’s Critical Initiatives Series encourages active, rigorous, and lively dialogues about contemporary performative art. Artists and audiences are welcome to join in on the discussion through publications, panels, lectures, workshops, and online interaction with M:ST 4 Festival artists, writers, and bloggers.

Publications

Local and national writers offer critical thoughts and context for the performances, artists, and themes that are a part of the Festival in the form of an essay. These publications are available at our member organizations or by contacting the M:ST office.

Margaret Dragu (aka Lady Justice), "Performing with Personae: Entrée into Psychology and Politics" A background to the artists and projects in the M:ST 4 Alter-Egos, Doppelgangers, and Split Personalities Series.

Margaret Dragu is celebrating her third decade as a performance artist. She has presented her work in galleries, museums, theatres, nightclubs,libraries, universities and site-specific venues including parks, botanical gardens, and public parade routes across Canada, the United States, and in Western Europe. Dragu is also a film/video artist, writer, choreographer, fitness instructor/personal trainer, and an extremely famous cleaning lady.

Tomas Jonsson, "Public Incorporated" A background to the artists and projects in the M:ST 4 Event Architecture Series.

Tomas Jonsson is an artist, writer and curator in Toronto. He was Programming Director at The New Gallery, and a board member of M:ST from 2002-2005. Jonsson is pursuing a Masters in Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto, with an emphasis on social planning, and recently participated in the Border Cities Kolleg at the Bauhaus Institute in Dessau, Germany, where he developed projects with creative and precarious communities in Tallinn and Helsinki. He will be part of The City of Calgary's 'This is my City' project, and Urbanistika in Tallinn in 2009.

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M:ST 4 Festival Blog

Join our interactive online forum for response and dialogue about the Festival, in a style particularly suited to the live, time-based, and performative artworks that are M:ST’s hallmark. Participating performers, artists, panelists, and audience members are welcome to post reviews, thoughts, and responses about their experiences of M:ST, alongside up-to-the-minute reports from our official festival bloggers. www.mstfestival.blogspot.com

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Panel Discussions and Lectures

The format of these events encourages audience participation in the form of questions, comments, and conversation with the panelists. This interaction impacts directly on artists and audiences, allowing them to contextualize and respond to Festival activities, as well as identify, understand, and discuss emerging issues in contemporary art.

Event Architecture: Administration as Artistic Practice
Eryn Foster, John Murchie, and Tom Jonsson
Panel discussion
Moderated by Scott Rogers
Thu Oct 16, 12 - 1PM
The Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary

The history of Canadian artist-run centres has fostered a strong culture of artist-administrators whose practices often draw from their experience working within institutional structures and systems. This has resulted in the development of hybrid projects that investigate and renegotiate the relationships between artists and institutions. This panel brings together several of the artists who are presenting as part of the M:ST 4 Event Architecture Series to discuss the ways that they have used administrative strategies to develop their practices.

Scott Rogers is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and facilitator currently based in Calgary, Canada. He has shown his work in group and solo shows throughout Canada as well as internationally in Germany, the United States, and Ireland. Scott has participated in residencies at Church Basement (Saskatoon), The Gushul Studio (Crowsnest Pass), and The Banff Centre, and has upcoming residencies at Akureyri Artist Studio (Akureyri, Iceland) and KIAC (Dawson City, Yukon). He is one of the founding members of the suburban art collective the Arbour Lake Sghool.

A Practice of Agency
The Movement Movement - Jenn Goodwin and Jessica Rose (Toronto)
Artist talk
Presented by ACAD, Art and Design Now, M:ST
Thu Oct 9, 7 - 9PM
Stanford Perrott Lecture Theatre, Alberta College of Art + Design

The Movement Movement is an ongoing collaborative art project by visual artist Jessica Rose and dancer Jenn Goodwin. Through The Movement Movement, Rose and Goodwin initiate large-scale public actions in which members of the public are invited to run alongside the artists through various major art museums and institutions of the world. As part of the M:ST 4 they will be organizing a run through Glenbow Museum. A Practice of Agency will outline the history of The Movement Movement project, describing its conceptual and ideological underpinnings and its inclusive social agenda.

Adrian Stimson (Saskatoon)
Artist talk
Presented by University of Calgary and TRUCK
Fri Oct 10, 9:30AM
The Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary

Adrian Stimson is a member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation in Southern Alberta. He obtained a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art & Design and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. He is an interdisciplinary artist, activist, writer, and curator who has presented his work both nationally and internationally. As an interdisciplinary artist, Stimson works in a variety of media including painting, installation, and performance to investigate and re-signify colonial history.

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Student Workshop

Cheryl L'Hirondelle
Student workshop and performances
Presented by M:ST and ACAD
Tue Sep 30 - Sat Oct 4
Alberta College of Art and Design

Performances: Thu Oct 9, 9 - 11PM,
The Arthole, Alberta College of Art and Design

This workshop will provide students from the Alberta College of Art and Design the opportunity to work with renowned multidisciplinary artist Cheryl L'Hirondelle. Participants will come to the workshop with an idea or project and will work with L'Hirondelle over the course of five days to develop and prepare a performance for presentation. The workshop will culminate in an evening showcase that will present the next generation of Calgary performance artists. Registration is prioritized for ACAD students and is limited to 10 participants. For more information about registering for the workshop, email info@mstfestival.org.

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