Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Caribbean photograph exhibition is making a Thursday night stop in Whitby By Stephen Weir The Station Gallery in Whitby is hosting a vibrant art exhibit featuring seven renowned Caribbean Canadian photographers, including Anthony Berot, the official photographer of the Caribbean Carnival. The exhibit, titled "Canadian Caribbean Photographic Arts Collective | Beyond the Carnival 6," has been on display all month and will run until August 25, 2024. This evening, Thursday, July 18th, the gallery will come alive with a special welcoming reception from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, featuring the enchanting steel pan drum music of the InfraRed Band. The exhibit showcases the talents of Benjamin Alunyo, Jenny Baboolal, Anthony Berot, Lisa Faure, Ian P. Grant, David Lewis, and Gilbert Medina. As members of the Canadian Caribbean Photographic Arts Collective (CCPAC), their mission is to capture and present images that celebrate Pan-Caribbean culture. The photographers aim to create a lasting...

Yorkdale hosting the brand new Carnival Portal   Stephen Weir :  Post Covid days in Toronto are strange times indeed. Who’d ever guess that the place to get a good fix of 2022 Carnival magic is inside the posh super mall, Yorkdale.  And, totally out-of-character for all that makes Yorkdale a to-die for shopping experience, Carnival Portal is a new carnival happening that is admission free! Located at the Allan Expressway and Highway 401, the indoor mall is better known for selling $100,000 watches and Tesla cars indoors than having a pop-up portal of the Caribbean Canadian Carnival Arts.  Carnival Portal, a joint project of the City of Toronto and Oxford Properties (owners of Yorkdale) which opens today (June 23 rd ) and runs to September 4th celebrates all that is carnival.  The exhibition, located in the middle of the mall, is divided into two rooms: one displaying costumes, headpieces and photography, the other is an augmented and virtual reality experiences ...

  Thousands of children making a Mas at the T&T Sheppard Avenue West consulate   Toronto photographer and filmmaker  Jenny Baboolal  has just finished installing a photography exhibition at  The Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago in Toronto  that will put a little bit of Carnival warmth into this cold Canadian winter.    The  photographic exhibit called The Art of Mas”, opened yesterday at the Sheppard Ave W Consulate, and is available for viewing online. It is also in-person, on a limited basis, to those with appointments to access services in the building.   The photo show which runs until August 31st is all about Carnival in T&T, and specifically children’s participation in the annual event.    Baboolal has selected over 30 framed pieces   which  document thousands of children’s emotional engagement with the annua festival and documents the wide range of the junior costumes used in the ...

CCAP photographers Beyond the Carnival Exhibition has Gone Beyond the Station Gallery Art Bites by Stephen Weir:  The Whitby Station Gallery has closed its gallery doors because of the Pandemic lock-down. However, that doesn’t mean that the non-profit public art gallery has forgotten about the Black History Month , in fact last week the Station Gallery opened, albeit virtually, Beyond the Carnival 4 a new photographic exhibition. “ This photographic exhibition brings together a group of photographers whose mission is to capture and present images that focus on the Pan-Caribbean culture and to create a legacy that highlights the excellent work of Canadian Caribbean photographers,” said gallery curator Olex Wlasenko. In lieu of the shut-down, Wlasenko has filmed a half-hour walk through the exhibition. This video is available on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/117228666896210/ . Beyond the Carnival 4 features the works of seven seasoned professionals who are members of...

Sophomore band plans to paint Caribana Green in 2020 Last year photographer and long-time filmmaker Jenny Baboolal was a little green behind the ears when it came to starting a new Mas Band. Now almost a year later, not only is she going green again but also plans to be bigger and better than in she was in 2019. “My belief is that Going Green is a win-win proposition for everyone” Baboolal told the Caribbean Camera. “Everyone is aware of the climate change crisis and we all want to make a difference.” In 2019, Baboolal, and Calypsonian Roger Gibbs led a mini-parade of 20 masqueraders wearing green costumes, around Nathan Phillips Square during the City Hall Launch of the annual carnival. “This year I’d love to have enough people in green to encircle the Square.” The Going Green group has a message to the world. “ We must reduce our carbon footprint!” To that end the masqueraders will be at the launch and the parade having fun and spreading the world about their environme...

Canada’s best Caribbean Canadian Photographers To Be Featured in City Hall Exhibition By Stephen Weir A new Toronto City Hall photography show isn’t part of this year’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival, but, the photographers who belong to the Canadian Caribbean Photography Arts Collective (CCPAC) couldn’t have a picked a better time or place to show revellers their award winning carnival inspired work. The free week-long exhibition,  Beyond the Carnival – A Photography Exhibition Edition 2  – will be hanging when the Toronto Caribbean Carnival has its very public noon-hour July 9 th  launch on Nathan Phillips Square, right outside of their exhibition!   The show will hang in the foyer of the Queen Street City Hall from July 7 to July 14. The artists will be available throughout the one-week run of the exhibition to talk about their work.    Last summer the group had a show at the Scarborough Town Hall as part of the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival – t...