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Although Nuit Blanche may be the top hit on most Torontonians' mental search when the words Art and Late Night are mentioned, it is not the only event that matches this criteria—at least not this year. This Saturday, from 4 PM to midnight, the Junction neighbourhood is home to Blackout, "an interdisciplinary and integrated art and community event."
The event is hosted by the Junction Commons Project (JCP), a group of residents in the West End Junction community and surrounding areas. The group has banded together to repurpose the neighbourhood's now defunct Division 11 police station at 209 Mavety Street with the hopes of transforming it into a community hub. UrbanToronto has been following the group's progress toward their goal which, so far, has included an Ontario Trillum Fund grant and two community charettes. This weekend's Blackout event is a celebration of the group's second anniversary and, fittingly, it will be held on the literal and symbolic heart of the project—Mavety Street.
The event, boasts free entry and a variety of events from live music to art installations by local artists to a candlelit yoga class. There will also be a storytelling session with Norman Perrin, owner of the Junction's Four Winds Storytelling Library, a lending library for storytellers. Perrin, who recently returned from a storytelling tour with stops in Scotland, Ireland, India and Sri Lanka, will punctuate his stories with some tunes from his penny whistle.
Blackout will also feature musicians performing in a variety of genres. Clara Engel, a Torontonian musician whose minimalist blues have been described as being "from another galaxy," will be singing. Along with being talented, Engel is certainly hardworking, having independently recorded and released nine albums and being featured on BBC Radio 2, BBC Introducing and Italian National Radio. Other musicians include one-man band Maintenance Request Form, a.k.a. Danny Georgi who performs in a variety of genres from indie pop to hip hop. Georgi performs by using looping guitars while singing, playing drums and piano simultaneously. If Country, Americana and Folk music are more to your liking, Bob Menzies, will certainly impress. The singer songwriter will perform original songs about his travels across Europe, Asia and North Africa during the 60s and 70s, how they have gotten him to where he is now and how he feels about it all. Other singers include, Sabrina Fallah a guitarist and rock singer and Matt Cooke, a blues guitarist and singer from Newfoundland.
The Junction is known for its love and support of socially-conscious and tasty foods and those going to Saturday's event will have no shortage in either culinary category. Catering for the evening will be provided by When The Pig Came Home Smokehouse and Larder which specializes in locally-grown "Backyward BBQ". While meat eaters will have some sandwiches to chose from, vegetarians will be able to help themselves to Spinach Turnip cake with house made Kimchi and jasmine pickled egg on a bun. The Junction Craft Brewery and the local No Frills will also be providing refreshments.
On the Junction Commons' Facebook page, they have stated that the purpose of Blackout is to bring people together. The post continues by describing the creation of a temporary public leisure area "by the community for the community." Then goes on to define the goal of the night as creating "an inclusive and accessible space where the community can gather in a comfortable environment and have meaningful and exciting moments of exchange." Blackout will certainly be a celebration but, it will also, and more importantly, serve the purpose of demonstrating both what the members of the JCP are capable of and the necessity of having a community hub.
Creativity and ingenuity are certainly in the air this weekend both Downtown and at its periphery. So, whether you are "Nuit Blanche-ing," "Doing the Blackout" or both, this weekend, despite predictions of precipitation earlier on Saturday, is a great time to get out to see and celebrate art in the city, and help a community group get a new community centre.
