The Ottawa Indie Book Crawl is a fun opportunity for the Ottawa community to explore their local independent bookstores.

Independent and emerging voices in the Ottawa animation scene will be honoured during the inaugural Animation Show-N-Tell Ottawa tonight at the Mayfair.

Matriarchs Uprising: Samantha Sutherland & Aria Evans (Program B) is one of three dance programs by Indigenous women presented by the National Arts Centre (NAC) Dance and NAC Indigenous Theatre last week, aimed at showcasing contemporary Indigenous dance and storytelling. In the emotionally evocative Program B, the audience was carried through rich transformations via two solo dance performances.

Julie Baribeau is no stranger to indirectly supporting causes that are important to her. Making, for her, functions as a way to build community and shift culture. Now, Baribeau supports her causes more directly with an art benefit show supporting the Ottawa Food Bank.

Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, on display now at the National Gallery of Canada, is a collection of nearly 200 works of art, including paintings, photography, beadwork, and sculpture. It honours the cross-country creations of women during the interwar period over 100 years ago.

Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age exposes the cyber harassment that many women face. The documentary is being screened at St. Paul University as part of a community event featuring non-profits dedicated to eradicating misogynistic violence.

What do mealworms, artists, and researchers all have in common? Art. That’s just one theme captured in a two-day SCI_ART symposium hosted by SAW gallery this weekend in celebration of its 50th anniversary. This birthday event is packed with varied programming, including performances, panels, and book launches that celebrate collaborations between artists, scientists, academics, and nature. 

As part of the International Film Festival of Ottawa, the Mayfair Theatre will be screening on March 18 Cinema’s First Nasty Women, a compilation of 99 gender-non-conforming silent films produced more than a century ago.

Imbued with humour, Kate Hamill’s 2014 theatre adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, on at the OLT until March 18, explores the complicated love lives of two sisters with opposite temperaments.

The environment artist Paul P. worked in has always been one of openness. It wasn’t always the same for the artists displayed next to 30 of his works in the National Gallery of Canada (NGC)’s latest Paul P. exhibition. Those creative minds, dating back to the 16th century, faced repercussions if their depictions of homosexuality became known—from social ostracization to imprisonment.

Handel’s romantic and dramatic opera, Alcina, weaves a complex narrative where lovers’ quarrels unravel on an island. The story is filled with electrifying magic, heartache, and even spell-casting. To depict some of those lofty scenes, Ottawa opera company OperOttawa will simplify some visuals in its upcoming performance of the show this March. An urn is broken to release Alcina from her sorcery, and some surprising character changes are revealed through costuming.

“Umoja” means unity in Swahili, and it’s also the name of an upcoming evening of multidisciplinary creativity and self-care hosted by The Origin Arts and Community Centre. From yoga to house music, Umoja has plenty in store.

Art director Nadyne Kasta was approaching her 50th birthday when inspiration struck. She wanted to commemorate the milestone through photographs of other women her age. That’s how Project 50 came about.

With nasally squeaks and squawks, Simpson and Johnson make exceptionally convincing raccoons, rolling around or standing on top of one another. This cute and hilarious play shows that these humans and raccoons share commonality through displacement.

Small Tortures (I Love You), by Ottawa-based theatremaker Ludmylla Reis, depicts a toxic and violent partnership that takes place behind closed doors. The show features expressive dance performances that tell the story through movement.