Event X : A Whole Decade of Work with Women in Art and Technology!
Montréal, 6 September 2006

In 1996, Studio XX became the first feminist artist-run centre in North America as a non-profit organisation with the main objective of supporting technological creation, exploration and critique by women. In order to highlight its 10th anniversary, Studio XX invites the public and all people engaged in the media arts to a conference on October 5th and 6th 2006 that will look back on the last ten years so as to inspire the ten years to come! Event X will feature lectures and panels by local and international artists and curators, as well as performances by Canadian artists, at the Café and Hydro-Québec Studio of the Monument National (1182, St-Laurent Blvd.).

In a world where an increasingly large number of women are technologically savvy, but where the expression “cyberfeminism” still leads to confusion, it is of special relevance to be thinking about the present state of affairs by measuring the distance achieved over the last ten years. Inspired by an article on new technologies that featured in Wired magazine and was entitled “10 Years that Changed the World”, Studio XX wants to examine its effect and affect as a site of education, production, information, dissemination and exchange within the networks that it contributed to build, in order to optimise its action for the upcoming decade.

On the evening of October 5th 2006, Studio XX will honour its four founders, Kim Sawchuck, Patricia Kearns, Sheryl Hamilton and Kathy Kennedy, with the help of important figures who have shaped the centre throughout the decade. This special celebration will open with a cocktail and will culminate with a concert-performance by the Chœur Maha and artist Kathy Kennedy. On Friday October 6th, as of 10AM, a series of roundtable discussions will take place on themes of embodiment, movement, sensuality, sound and space with the participation of guests speakers from Canada (Isabelle Choinière, Nancy Tobin, Karmen Franinovic), the United States (Diane Willow) and the Netherlands (Nat Muller, who will also hold a professional training workshop in the morning of October 5th). As a way to look into the local context of production and dissemination, a panel composed of representatives of women artist-run centres in Montreal (La Centrale, Groupe intervention vidéo (GIV), Studio XX) and Winnipeg (Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA)) will surely spark ideas and debates on the relevance of feminist initiatives in art.

In closing the day of conference, Studio XX will present an evening of performances at 8.30PM. This presentation will unfold in two parts. To begin, Quebec-based multidisciplinary artist Diane Landry will present « Morse Alphabet Soup », a brand new performance developed via the complicity of light and lenses, forming an inspiring canvas of silhouettes, images and words within which the public will be able to circulate. Finally, a piece called «Target Marketing», from the Winnipeg-based duo dempsey/millan will be performed by Shawna Dempsey in a costume which emulates the human target silhouette used by pistol marksmen. The text juxtaposes a media phenomenon (increased violence shown on the news) with a discussion on brain function. Tickets for this event will be sold at the door at $12 on the same evening of October 6th, starting 7.30PM, at the Hydro-Québec Studio of the Monument National. All the other events are free admission, and are held in French and in English.

For more information on Event X’s program taking place October 5-6th at 1182 St-Laurent Blvd., please visit Studio XX’s website: http://www.studioxx.org/newsletter/evenXprog.html

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