EDGY 2013 : 20th ANNIVERSARY ART/ SPORTS/GENDER

The 20th anniversary of the Edgy Women festival in March 2013 will have a sports and gender theme involving three major events intertwining the worlds of art and athletics: a lucha libre wrestling match scripted by artist/wrestling club co-director Marijs Boulogne; a participatory hockey game with creative rules orchestrated by Meg Hewings, General Manager of the Montreal Stars, writer, video artist and self-proclaimed “art-jock”; and a collaborative performance event taking place at the Blue Cat Boxing Club. In addition, this project will include a colloquium (in collaboration with U-Pop and various universities), and two bloggers (an Anglophone and a Francophone) and a vlogger will reflect on the residency and issues raised.

More info about the theme

This idea for this arts and athletics theme emerged gradually, around a few key incidences. Years ago, a women’s boxing tournament was held at the Sala Rossa, a popular cabaret venue. It was fascinating to see a sporting event lit by chandeliers, and this powerful experience triggered reflections about the nature of spectacle and the role of context. A seed was planted when Phil Dickinson, the organiser, later opened the Blue Cat Boxing Club and expressed an interest in hosting art events. At the 2011 edition of Edgy Women, Karen Sherman created a performance intervention on a public ice rink, in response to the extremely gendered representation of female bodies in women’s hockey and roller derby. The process spawned a great deal of conversation about sports, gender, community and art. There was a clear desire to further the investigation. Recent conversations with artists Marijs Boulogne and Heather Cassils, revealed their passion for their parallel athletic careers, and a visit to the atmospheric Blue Cat Boxing Club with its vast 4000 square foot area with punching bags and a ring, and intimate adjoining rooms, sealed the deal!

We live in a world that promotes a rhetorical opposition between art (sensitivity/subculture/femininity) and sports (strength/mainstream/masculinity). Both worlds harbor interesting and complex gender dynamics – particularly in terms of visibility and representation, competition and collaboration. Athletic culture offers a rich terrain for exploration in gender studies, about which much has been written, and there seems to be a growing interest to explore these issues through performance among the artists Studio 303 is invested in.

About Studio 303
Studio 303 exists to promote the evolution of live artistic practices. Concentrating on the physical body, Studio 303 is a unique resource centre which offers cutting edge workshops, innovative administrative services and a flexible, intimate studio laboratory where new works may be created and presented. Studio 303′s programming aims to stimulate enriching exchanges between a variety of artists, art forms and the public.

PRESS KIT
Click herePresskit_Edgy13_en_web

PRESS RELEASES
Press release #1 (announcing the festival): click here
Press release #2 (detailed programming): click here.