Category Arts & Culture

Impromptu interview

image - Socalled Peoplewatching CD cover

After having spent decades trying to visit Wilensky’s lunch counter, made famous by the Mordecai Richler novel and film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, I finally made it to the weekday-only Mile End joint in Montreal a couple of months…

Amy doc a dismal portrayal

photo - Image from the movie Amy. Amy Winehouse died four years ago this month

Image from the movie Amy. Amy Winehouse died four years ago this month. (photo from epk.tv) Amy Winehouse, the brash little Jewish girl with the great big voice, died four years ago this month. There are any number of ways…

Bridges built with art

photo - From left to right, Echoes artists Sidi Schaffer, Sorour Abdollahi and Devora

From left to right, Echoes artists Sidi Schaffer, Sorour Abdollahi and Devora. (photo by Olga Livshin) The term “artistic brotherhood” was coined in the 19th century. Among the most famous of such brotherhoods were the Pre-Raphaelites in England and the…

Constant musical evolution

photo - Babe Gurr’s Butchart Gardens Summer Festival concert on July 24 is the first of several in July/August

Babe Gurr’s Butchart Gardens Summer Festival concert on July 24 is the first of several in July (photo from Babe Gurr) Musician Babe Gurr has a busy summer ahead with concerts at Butchart Gardens Summer Festival, Islands Folk Festival, Harmony…

Painter and sculptor David Aronson passes away

image - “The Golem,” by David Aronson, 1958, encaustic on panel 57” x 64”

“The Golem,” by David Aronson, 1958, encaustic on panel 57” x 64”. (all photos from David Aronson Archive via Braithwaite & Katz Communications) American painter and sculptor David Aronson, 91, of Sudbury, Mass., passed away on July 2, 2015. He…

Alt-neu klezmer sound

photo - Shtreiml and Ismail Fencioglu will play at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, as well as concerts on Vancouver and Salt Spring islands

Shtreiml and Ismail Fencioglu will play at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, as well as concerts on Vancouver and Salt Spring islands. (photo from Vancouver Folk Music Festival) Shtreiml and Ismail Fencioglu will be right at home among the top…

Community talent in TUTS

photo - Left to right: Nathan Piasecki (the Artful Dodger), E. Marie West (Nancy) and Stephen Aberle (Fagin) in Theatre Under the Stars’ production of Oliver! He also plays Mr. Brownlow

Left to right: Nathan Piasecki (Artful Dodger), E. Marie West (Nancy) and Stephen Aberle (Fagin) in Theatre Under the Stars’ production of Oliver! Aberle also plays Mr. Brownlow. (photo by Tim Matheson) Actor Steven Aberle describes Theatre Under the Stars as…

Ben-Gurion the leader

The story is told that the idea of building a modern city in Beersheva came from David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister. He appointed a committee of experts to examine the idea. The committee reported back that it could not…

Cookbooks for the summer

While it might be hard to contemplate cooking on these hot summer days, there are a few recent cookbooks enticing enough to draw you into the kitchen – with savory results. Jewish Soul Food: From Minsk to Marrakesh (Schocken Publishers,…

Handmade by artists

photo - Left to right are artists Robin Adams, Jan Smith and Julie Kemble

Left to right are artists Robin Adams, Jan Smith and Julie Kemble. (photo by Olga Livshin) In common perception, the word “manufacture” is associated with industrial production and machinery, but it wasn’t always so. The word’s origins are found in…