Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Yvette Martin – Her life is a play that doesn’t have an end yet By Stephen Weir for Caribbean Camera If you pulled back the drapes at many Toronto events, you would find 52-year    old  Yvette Martin pulling the strings, firing up the musicians and cueing the talent.    This weekend, for the first time in many years, the Jamaican Canadian actress is going to be on this side of the curtain joking about running from death! Ms. Martin has so many titles.  Actress, Artistic Director, Writer, Stage Manager, Arts Educator, Forum Theatre Specialist and well, the list goes on from there. She has been actively working in the Arts & Entertainment Sector here in Toronto for the past 35 years. Although Yvette has worked with various cultural groups and mainstream entertainment projects, she always credits the Black & Caribbean Theatres that laid the foundation for her successes. This weekend she is taking to the boards  starring  in a two act play that she also wrote and directs

Elements and Reign – Reign had the biggest crowd, Elements won the WOW factor By Stephen Weir with Craigg Slowly and Don Moreland - Caribbean Camera Don’t try this after a couple of drinks: checking out two costume launches on the same night half a city apart. A few die-hard revellers with fast cars and spotters at both events, managed the impossible seeing both the Fantazia Carnival’s Elements and Sunlime Canada’s Reign costume launches. It is risky business having two events on the same evening, but, the increased interest in this year’s launch shows, meant that neither mas camp was handed their hats, albeit, both have softer attendance numbers than predicted. The launches showcase the costumes that will be worn this year at the August 4 th Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade. Long time costume designer Will Mortimer used the Elements – Earth, Wind and Fire - as the theme of his Fantazia Carnival launch which was held this year at the York Mills Gallery in North To

Original launch date postponed by bad weather Photograph by Anthony Berot De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival 2018 had to put the breaks on their planned April costume launch because of bad bad weather. With spring finally arriving in Toronto, one of Carnival’s longest running Mas Camps is confident that the show will go on for sure this weekend. De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival band Launch will be held May 5th at the Nugget Banquet Hall, (55 Nugget  Ave) in Scarborough. Doors open at 10:00 p.m. Admission is $25 per person and includes dinner, a live steel pan performance, D.J. music and, of course, their costume presentation. The theme for the evening is “Straight Out of John John”. John John refers to a housing district in Trinidad. “Janet Lewis aka “flag woman” is a true Caribbean icon,” reads a press release issued by De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival. “In celebrating Janet’s contributions to Carnival in Toronto and the world, we also recognize the importance of the ro

By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera Louis Saldenah’s Mas-K-Club took no prisoners on Saturday night. The biggest band, with a legacy of winning that stretches back to the early days of Caribana, held a dramatic costume launch at the Chandi Banquet Hall in Scarborough in front an estimated crowd of over two thousand people. Sixteen sections with a theme of the “Wonders of Spring” entertained the audience for 90-minutes of sexy, innovative costumes for both men and women. Costumes shown on Saturday will be worn by the city’s largest band (5,500 anticipated in 2018) during the August 4th Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s Grand Parade. “Louis Saldenah’s Mas-K Club has got class,” said photographer Don Moreland. “Louis filled the place, the whole event had a great vibe at the Hall.” Moreland has covered all of the Carnival launches this season and reports that the Saldenah’s launch was one of the best he has worked .... ever. “Louis is good at what he’s into and that is Carnival,” he

Emerging American artist   Rupy  C. Tut's personal journey back to her Punjabi roots By K.J Mullins --  revised story by Newz4U publisher for Stephen Weir blog American artist Rupy C. Tut's work is currently being featured at PAMA (Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives) as part of Sikh Heritage Month. As the first large solo showing of her calligraphy and miniature paintings in Canada, Tut was excited to be part of the exhibition highlighting her culture at a gallery where Sikh people's culture is celebrated. As a woman, Tut is motivated to embody her heritage in beautiful ways. On Sunday, April 23 she presented a talk about her styles of art to a PAMA packed house. Artist Rupy Tut - Mullins photograph   The Sikh community in Canada has a very rich heritage Tut said during her talk. The struggles that the community experienced in India did not just disappear when people immigrated to North America. This has developed   into a North American Sikh

PAMA is the place this month to take in the Sikh arts  by Stephen Weir for the Peel Weekly News For the month of April and beyond, the rising stars in the Sikh art world have their work on display in the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives (PAMA) in downtown Brampton. Three exhibitions of Sikh art opened today, and, media attending the Friday morning presser learned that the gallery is free for the month of April thanks to the Sikh Foundation of Canada. The shows - RUPY C. TUT: A JOURNEY BACK HOME: AMARDEEP SINGH: LOST HERITAGE: A SIKH LEGACY IN PAKISTAN and KAUM: CELEBRATING CONTEMPORARY SIKH ARTISTS embrace paintings, photography and mosaics.   The artists with works on display at PAMA hail from America, India, Hong Kong and Canada. Rupy C. Tut is a contemporary Indo-American artist based in Oakland, California. She came of age in Punjab, India but as a young child moved to the USA. The visual artist has a strong spiritual connection to her Punjabi Sikh backgroun