In just two, short days, Exposure: Edmonton's Queer Arts and Culture Festival, with an eye for what's queer from around here, will begin showcasing some of Edmonton's most talented queer artists and cultural contributors.
The festivities kick off on Friday, November 14, 2008 with the legendary Darrin Hagen hosting the 17th Annual Loud & Queer Cabaret followed by another eight days of events including the highly-anticipated transformation of Steamworks bathhouse in to a one-night-only art gallery. Exposure promises to expose festival-going audiences to the diverse talents that live and produce work here in Edmonton.
Audiences will have a chance to hear about historical heroes like the first Edmonton Councilwoman Margaret Crang and her part in the 1942 Homosexual Sting Operation conducted by the RCMP that rocked the theatre world from here to Vancouver in Jocelyn Brown's Alleged Depraved Individuals.
Festival goers will also be offered a contemporary view of what it is like to be queer and here in modern-day Alberta in local playwright Jonathan Seinen's staged reading of his play Unknown Pleasures.
Exposure will promote local musical talent at the No Pants Dance Party, organized by the alternative scene empresario Marshall Watson, featuring the funky jazz stylings of Mo LeFever who will transform herself into the reclusive Brian Wilson for this all ages beach party event.
Edmonton's queer visual artists will also be on display with: Travis McEwan's show I Bet They Can Tell Just By Looking at Latitude 53; Mercedes Allen, Denby Jorgensen and Chris Buffalo who will be exhibited in the group show Transgressions at Garage Burger; Dave Jackson's (jackson photografix) solo show Abstract Nudes at 29 Armstrong; and You Are Here – a queer youth art exhibit currated by queer youth at the Art Gallery of Alberta made possible by further partnership with the University of Alberta's Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.
To get the entire community in on the act, Team Edmonton will produce a special photography scavenger hunt that will be screened on the dancefloor monitors at Play Nightclub entitled Exposing the Queer City.
Lastly, Edmonton style, fierceness and talent will be de rigueur at Exposure's closing event NOIR - a Masqueerade Gala where beguiling queer tribes from all across the city will come together to strut their stuff in all their glamour and prairie pride on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at the Starlite Room.
For details or more information on all Exposure 2008 events, please visit:
www.exposurefestival.ca
The 2008 Exposure Festival gratefully acknowledges funding from: the Stollery Foundation; Provost, University of Alberta; Edmonton Arts Council; and the Downtown Business Association.