visualaidredoctober

Visual Aid Red October

Visual Aid: Red October 5

by Peter Stevens

It was Paul Lisson's 5th Red October, and the biggest. There was stuff going on everywhere. A festival filled Durand Park with folks selling incredible things and bands playing. Vija from the Broadway Cinema and Renee Albrecht from the Women's Bookstop put the festival together. Nothing like that had happened in Durand, and nothing like it has happened since.

Bob Wiseman presented a concert at Saint Cuthbert's Church on the Tuesday night. Calla Shea, who was working at the Power Plant Art Gallery in Toronto, came into town and assembled an installation that was seen by thousands of people. On Wednesday John Terpstra and Bryan Prince put together Road Rhymes, bringing Nino Ricci in to read with Hamilton writers including John Levesque, Marilyn Pilling, and Bernadette Rule. That was at the Players' Guild on Queen. At one point, Paul Wooton came out to the lectern with his guitar, yanked the microphone to its full height, and sang like Muddy Waters. That was to let the literary types know there'd be some good rockin' Friday night at Hamilton Place.

Fiona Kinsella assembled an exhibition called A Red Ribbon Affair at the Art Gallery of Hamilton with work by Jane Adeney, Wayne Allen, Michael Allgoewer, Dawn Beatty, Doug Carter, Paul Cvetich, Kathy Dain, Owen Ford, Sarah Enright, Nora Hutchinson, Renee Johnson, Terance Kinsella, Rose Logie, Yvonne Maracle, Stan Rath, Anna Torma, Vesna Trkula, and Istvan Zsako, among others. Unexpected contributors included Bob Wiseman and Sarah McLaughlin. David Christopherson showed up despite the fact there was a near hurricane. If the weather kept anybody away, it still seemed pretty packed.

Friday night. Electric Red Jumper. Mary Ferguson coordinated transport, tickets, sound systems, lights, volunteers, and the best musicians anywhere. Ever.

Paul asked me to document what was happening. Here are a few of the photographs from that night.

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[Distillate © HA&L + Peter Stevens | {from the Greek bios} -- the course of a life.]