Sunday 26 July 2009

Press conference: ‘De Caribana Lime’ Moves to Ontario Place!


Media Invite
‘De Caribana Lime’ Moves to Ontario Place!
Scotiabank Caribana island event to be held at Toronto’s #1 family destination

TORONTO – July 24, 2009 – Come hear the official announcement and all the details as Scotiabank Caribana festivities come to Ontario Place. August 2nd features “de Scotiabank Caribana Lime” and August 3rd features Scotiabank Caribana Tent Village.

What:
Speeches, photo ops, live entertainment and light refreshments.

Date:
Tuesday, July 28

Location: Ontario Place, Vista Courtyard

Time: 11am

Please RSVP to this address or the phone number below. On July 28, please come to the eastern-most entrance to Ontario Place by turning off Lakeshore Boulevard. on to Ontario Place Boulevard. Proceed along our east causeway to the security booth. They will contact media relations and let you through to park in our Administration lot. From there you will proceed to our Vista Courtyard for the press conference.

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For More Information, Contact: Ontario Place Media Relations Office
Phone: (416)314-9773; Phone (416)314-9814
E-mail: media@ontarioplace.com

Issued By Stephen Weir
stephen@stephenweir.com

Thursday 23 July 2009

MEDIA ALERT: Formal Scotiabank Caribana Gala this Friday night at Liberty Grand CNE 6.30 Thursday, July 23, 2009 1:21 AM

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MEDIA ALERT
2n ANNUAL SCOTIABANK CARIBANA GALA
Liberty Grand - Exhibition Place


Friday, July24th 2009
6:30 pm - midnight

An evening of elegance celebrating Carnival Music and Arts
The Right Honorable Lincoln M. Alexander, PC, OC, BA, LLD.
Former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is this Patron of this event

What: Formal event (with a Carnival flair) to celebrate Scotiabank Caribana and to honour the works of the pioneers of the Caribana Festival. Evening includes presentations to builders of the festival, carnival style entertainment followed by a dance.
Why: This Scotiabank Caribana Gala is a fundraiser for the Caribana Arts Foundation, which was organized in 2008 to enhance and develop the quality of knowledge and leadership in the field of Carnival Culture and Arts in Canada
Who: Founders of Caribana. The Festival Management Committee. Dignitaries including the Honourable Lincoln Alexander, the Honourable Margarett Best, The Honourable Alvin Curling, Mayor David Miller, The Consul Generals of Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Entertainment: Hummingbird Tassa Band, Deltones Steel band of Trinidad & Tobago and Ossie Gurley & De Relativs
When: 6:30 to midnight. Presentations begin at 7pm
Where: Liberty Grand Ballroom on the western grounds of the CNE

NOTE: Media are welcome to cover this event but please note that seating/dinner will not be provided. There is seating in a balcony overlooking the stage.



Media Contact

Stephen Weir, Publicist Alicia Sealey, Publicist
Email: Sweir5492@rogers.com atchp@the-wire.com
Toronto Office: (416) 489-5868 Cell: (416) 801-3101 (416)599-0664

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Scotiabank Caribana kick-off

MEDIA ALERT
WON’T STOP THE VIBE – THE LAUNCH OF THE SCOTIABANK CARIBANA™ FESTIVAL

Tuesday, July14th 2009
11.45am – 2pm

Official Launch for the Caribana Festival at Yonge/Dundas Square
Minister of Tourism, Federal Minister of Health and FMC to speak
Harder They Come, Calypso, Mas costumes and Steel Pan to perform

What:
Scotiabank Caribana™ 2009 is kicking off the summer festival. The launch showcases the many events that will entertain and energize Toronto over the next three weeks. Speeches. Musical performances. Dance troupes and dancers in Mas costumes. Special performance by members of the cast of The Harder They Come Musical. Calypso singers. Soca music. Pan orchestra.
Why: Scotiabank Caribana™ is an important tourism event. It annually brings hundreds of thousands of tourists into the city. This year, the volunteer-driven festival is marking its 42nd year.
Who: Scheduled to speak - the honourable Lisa Riatt and the Honourable Monique Smith. Councilor Joe Mihevc and FMC Chairman Joe Halstead. Other dignitaries, including a Federal Government representative will be announced soon
When: Mini-Caribana tent (historic displays, info on festival events) opens at 11am.
Speeches 11.55 am to 12.30 pm. A cavalcade of entertainment until 2pm.
Where: NOTE NEW LOCATION. Yonge/Dundas Square. Corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets. Downtown Toronto.
How: All media are welcome to cover the event. www.caribanafestival.com The public is encouraged to attend this FREE event

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Media Contact

Stephen Weir, Publicist Alicia Sealey, Publicist
stephen@stephenweir.com atchp@the-wire.com
Toronto Office: (416) 489-5868 Tel: (416) 599-0664 Cell: (416) 801-3101 Cell: (416) 500-4349

Sunday 5 July 2009

Ian Thom - Order of Canada. Author. Curator. Nice Guy


On Canada Day curator and author Ian Thom, was one of 60 people named a Member of the Order of Canada. The announcement was made Wednesday, July 1st, by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaƫlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. Mr. Thom will receive the award at a future ceremony.

The Order of Canada is the highest honourary distinction in the country. It recognizes exceptional lifetime contributions to Canada and to humanity at large. Ian Thom is renowned for his contributions as a curator of Canadian art, and as an advocate for British Columbia artists.

Mr. Thom was a guest speaker at the McMichael at the Canada Day public opening of the exhibition he has curated, when the Governor General made her announcement of his appointment. He returned to the Vancouver Art Gallery the following day.

Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast is both the name of the gallery’s new exhibition and the title of a companion book. Written by Mr. Thom and co-published by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Douglas & McIntyre, this publication explores the career, working methods, and philosophies of up-and-coming artists originating from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakw a k a ’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Ian Thom discusses the Challenging Traditions exhibition at The McMichael on Youtube here.

The exhibition, Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast, brings Mr. Thom’s magnificent publication to life. It showcases a collection of over seventy pieces of contemporary art that are featured in the book and investigates how artists are drawing inspiration from history and grappling with the challenges of interpreting traditional design and transforming it into modern-day Northwest Coast art. The exhibition continues at the McMichael until September 20, 2009.

Responsible for organizing more than 100 exhibitions over his twenty-year curatorial career at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver-born Ian M. Thom is the resident expert on British Columbia’s art and artists. Mr. Thom is also a prolific writer, publishing numerous books on popular artists: Maxwell Bates, Alistair Bell, B.C. Binning, Franklin Carmichael, Emily Carr, C.J. Collings, Robert Davidson, Gathie Falk, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Clarence Gagnon, Lawren Harris, Edwin Holgate, E.J. Hughes, Ann Kipling, Arthur Lismer, David Milne, Jack Shadbolt, Gordon Smith, Takao Tanabe, Andy Warhol, and many more. Prior to joining the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1988, he worked as the McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s Curator of Collections, and at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria as Chief Curator. Thom holds a BA and MA in Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia.

CUTLINE: Ian Thom signing copies of his new book "Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast" at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario (Toronto). Mr. Thom was at the gallery to open the new exhibition which the book accompanies. Photo by Stephen Weir

Art Patrons admire this huge red cedar mask carved by Beau Dick. The piece is part of the Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast exhibition curated by Ian Thom.