Feed the Birds, Aug 12

Fire Parade on Ward's Island July 30/10

(received from Shadowland Puppet Theatre)

The annual Ward’s Island Fire Parade takes place this Friday July 30.
Assembly and pre-parade at 8.30pm at the Ward’s Island clubhouse (straight ahead from the Ward’s dock).
Parade sets off at 8.45pm

Cross the Water. Breathe the cool Island Air. Walk the earth. Feel the fire. Experience the unbroken circle.

Music, Lanterns, Stiltdancers, Hoola-Hoopers and Fire.

Feel free to bring instruments, candle-lit lanterns, your dancing selves and your friends and families.

Shadowland is running workshops each day 10am to 6pm, making costumes, shadow images and fire sculpture. A’Rythmics band practices are Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm.

Boats leave the city at 6.15, 7, 7.45 and 8.30. The Ward’s Island café (wonderfully resurrected by new owners) is right by the clubhouse and the Rectory café by the Algonquin Bridge, so come over early for dinner and then join us to celebrate the Dark and the Light.

Call 416 898 0946 for any more details. For further ferry information call 416 392 8193.

Muslim & American Extremists censoring Art

In the Time magazine article Indonesia's Artists vs. Muslim Extremists,by Jason Tedjasukmana, the author decries the "Talibanization" of Art in Indonesia. He recounts a story of religious fundamentalists defacing a statue of nude women with spray paint. Government officials and police did nothing to intervene in this and other incidents within Indonesia. There is a certain sanctimonious tone to the story. "Here in the democratic West we are so much better than that" is the assumption of the article. "Our secular society does not allow the religious nutty fringe to dictate our policies toward art".... but is that true?

Earlier this month, at a virtual worlds event, in the leading edge of 3D art, an installation by Rose Borchovski was summarily ejected by organizers because the art's nude figures were in violation of the zoning restrictions in the virtual world. Last fall, Linden Lab, the creators of the Second Life virtual world caved in to pressures from American social conservatives to push "adult" content into virtual red-light districts. One would expect openness and sophistication in the high tech international community of virtual reality residents and the arts community. Instead Linden Lab seems to have chosen to "Taliban-ize" expression within Second Life more effectively than the Indonesians with spray cans.