Rhubarb remembers

The Open Spaces Series celebrates gay heritage with live projects in historically significant queer sites


Part an ongoing effort to establish connections in the queer community and trace a lineage through queer heritage, the Open Spaces Series — part of the 2014 Rhubarb Festival — brings performances to historically significant queer sites in Toronto. Below is a list of the shows and sites.

Listening at the CLGA
Conceived by Christopher Willes and Cathy Gordon, this piece unlocks their collection of uncategorized cassette tapes. Containing music, interviews and other unknown material, the works will be turned into digital archives while audiences listen in via headphones.

Wed, Feb 12, 6–9pm
Fri, Feb 21 & Sat, Feb 22, running for 24 hours starting at 6pm
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, 34 Isabella St

I Say This As a Gift
Led by Gein Wong, this project invites audiences into private areas of Glad Day Bookshop for conversations with older members of the queer community, who will share memories of important events in Toronto queer history.

Wed, Feb 12, 6–9pm
Sat, Feb 15 & Sun, Feb 16, 2–8pm
Glad Day Bookshop, 598 Yonge St

The School of Bartered Knowledge
Golboo Amani’s project sees the artist engage in a “fair-trade knowledge exchange” inside an intimate wooden structure in The 519’s lobby. Passersby will be invited to both consume and contribute knowledge to the project’s library.

Wed, Feb 12 & Wed, Feb 19, 6–9pm
Sun, Feb 16 & Sun, Feb 23, 4–7pm
The 519 Church Street Community Centre, 519 Church St

Beyond The Body Politic
As part of the development of Nick Green’s play about The Body Politic, audiences will watch different people involved in the publication tell their stories live at the offices of Pink Triangle Press while Green translates the material to scenes that will be used in the script.

Wed, Feb 12, 6–9pm
Thurs, Feb 13, noon–3pm
Fri, Feb 14, 3–6pm
Pink Triangle Press, 2 Carlton St, Ste 1600

Chris Dupuis

Chris Dupuis is a writer and curator originally from Toronto.

Keep Reading

Queer films to watch out for this spring and summer

From a theatre troupe in a maximum-security prison to hot bisexuals sweating it out on the tennis court, spring and summer have plenty of queer cinematic fare to offer

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 15 power ranking: Losing is the new winning for one queen

Who is the champion of this season’s LaLaPaRuZa tournament?

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 15 recap: LaLaRuUnion

Our eliminated queens are back to battle it out in a lip sync tournament

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 14 power ranking: The final three

For the first time since Season 12— and the first time intentionally since Season 8—we have just three queens in the finale