Propagandhi, meow mania, Queen, realism, celebrity bowls – Winnipeg Free Press

Propagandhi oral history book launch

TREVOR HAGAN / FREE PRESS FILES

Todd Kowalski (left) and Chris Hannah
of Propagandhi

For nearly 40 years, Winnipeg (via Portage la Prairie) political punk band Propagandhi has been pumping out head-banging songs with a conscience. And for the last few years, Buffalo, N.Y.’s Greg Soden has been exploring the band’s catalogue and ethos via his podcast Unscripted Moments: A Podcast About Propagandhi, which has featured a range of musicians waxing poetic about the foursome as well as conversations with band members themselves.

Soden has compiled more than 15 hours of interview material from band members past and present for his new book Unscripted Moments: Conversations with Propagandhi (2020-2025), which he launches in Winnipeg on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Public Domain, where he’ll be joined in conversation by Witchpolice Radio podcast host Sam Thompson.

Will Propagandhi be taking the stage to play the event? Not likely. But those in attendance can instead enjoy some tunes from Mike Koop and Paul Hodgert.

Tickets for the event are $10. And for all you aging punks out there: don’t forget your reading glasses.

— Ben Sigurdson

Meow Mania Fall Market & Adoption Fair

• Assiniboia Downs, 3975 Portage Ave.
• Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Tickets $5-$30 at meowmaniaexpo.coms. Children 12 and under free.

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Meow Mania Fall Market & Adoption Fair will be this Saturday at the Assiniboia Downs.

Winnipeg’s largest, and quite possibly only, feline fair dedicated to celebrating all things kitty-related promises to be a paradise for all cat lovers.

Proud cat parents, aspiring cat owners and admirers of all things feline are welcome to join in the family-friendly activities.

Event highlights include a cat adoption fair featuring seven local rescues, a market with more than 40 vendors offering a wide range of toys, treats and cat-themed merchandise, meet-and-greets with local cat celebrities, cat expert presentations and a silent auction and raffle with all the proceeds donated to the local rescues.

Well-socialized cats in strollers or on-leash are welcome to attend with their human families.

— AV Kitching

Queen: Heaven

• Manitoba Museum Planetarium, 190 Rupert Ave.
• Saturday, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
• Tickets: $21-$26 at ManitobaMuseum.ca

See one of rock music’s most stratospheric bands take its rightful place among the cosmos at the Manitoba Museum Planetarium.

Queen: Heaven is an immersive dome show that has been shown in planetariums all over the world, and now it makes its way to Winnipeg for eight showings across four Saturdays in October and November.

The Manitoba Museum wanted to bring more musical experiences to the planetarium based on the success of Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon, which was retired last year.

“Queen is one of the most popular bands in history, never fading away despite not having a new album in 30 years,” says astronomer Scott Young in a media release. “This show really brings the band’s music to life. Every song is a banger.”

You’ll hear Queen anthems such as Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, I Want to Break Free, We Are the Champions and many more. And unlike other planetarium productions, this one doesn’t just feature space images and video effects; audiences will be treated to classic concert footage and rarely seen performance images, Young says.

Doors will open one hour prior to showtime to give attendees a chance to enjoy a beverage from the pop-up bar and have a field-trip nostalgia moment in the Science Gallery.

Saturday’s shows are the first of the run. For additional dates and times, visit ManitobaMuseum.ca.

— Jen Zoratti

Ekene Emeka Maduka and Bria Fernandes in dialogue

• Room 2M70, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave.
• Today, 10 a.m.
• Free

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Bria Fernandes’ art will be on display at the University of Winnipeg today.

If painting is dead, as Douglas Crimp infamously declared in 1981, realism is supposed to be really dead — long taken over by more abstract styles.

Yet more and more young, often Black, artists in the city are distinguishing themselves as virtuosos of realism — painting with a verve for detail and verisimilitude.

At the same time, there’s nothing sterile or conservative about these works: they bowl you over with their colours and work on your subconscious with everyday scenes that feel just a little surreal.

One of these artists is the Nigerian-born Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, who just moved to California and was shortlisted last week to represent the Prairies region for the prestigious Sobey Art Award.

Others include Ekene Emeka Maduka, also Nigerian-born and Canadian-born, Bria Fernandes.

Maduka and Fernandes will be speaking about their practices at the University of Winnipeg at 10 a.m. today — if that’s a little early in the morning for you, note that Fernandes’ solo show, Things Left Unsaid, is on display at Gallery 1c03, also at the U of W, until the end of the month.

Maduka writes in an essay on the exhibition: “Too often, Black identity is flattened into a singular, monolithic experience. Yet human identity is inherently multifaceted.”

There’s nothing uniform about the artists mentioned; each is recognizable for the singularity of the voices, yet the common impression they give is that Winnipeg painting is in an exciting moment.

— Conrad Sweatman

Celebrity bowls hit the auction block

• Online
• Bidding closes Oct. 18 at 10 p.m.
• Visit harvestmanitoba.ca to view and bid on auction items

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A bowl decorated and signed by Dolly Parton is available at Harvest Manitoba’s Empty Bowls fundraising auction.

Is your china cabinet missing a one-of-a-kind bowl autographed by Dolly Parton? How about a set of soup vessels signed by Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd?

This week, Harvest Manitoba is giving bidders the chance to snag one of 30 hand-painted bowls signed by A-list celebrities during its Empty Bowls fundraising gala and online auction. The local food bank last hosted the event in 2019.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to raise a record amount of money for Harvest due to the support of a lot of incredible Manitobans,” Harvest president and chief executive officer Vince Barletta says, adding past iterations have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other participating celebrities include John Travolta, Katy Perry, Jelly Roll, Teemu Selänne and Bob Odenkirk, with most bowl bids starting at $100.

Parton’s creation — a white tiered bowl with flower and sequin embellishments from one of the country music star’s costumes — is available for upwards of $2,000 and comes with a backstory. The first bowl delivered to Parton arrived broken. The second got briefly lost in transit after being glazed and decorated by the singer.

“It affirms that the work we do here at Harvest to feed tens of thousands of Manitobans every month is important,” Barletta says of the fundraising support from Parton and the other celebrities.

Other items up for auction include staycations, tickets to sporting events and shows, dining events and gift baskets. Funds raised will support Harvest’s food banks and food insecurity programs.

— Eva Wasney