Extend: The Great Hall - September 14th, 7:30-11pm (Screening at 8pm) - 1087 Queen St West

The Course Of An Empire: Unlovable Gallery - September 14th, 7-11pm - 1415 Dundas east of Dufferin

Fermenting Feminism: Critical Distance - September 14th, 6-9pm - Artscape Youngplace, Suite 302 (3rd floor) - 180 Shaw Street btw Dundas and Queen

International Women's Day may be officially held in March, but this Thursday September 14th shows that in Toronto any day is a good day to reflect on the politic of the feminine, and these three openings guarantee a good run for your money. Not that you'll have to walk far as they are all within spitting distance of each other, and all free for that matter.

EXTEND – Akin artist Nicole Krstin is one of several artists performing and exhibiting this Thursday at The Great Hall in a curated combination of film, music, art and photography by young women creators. The event showcases the work and the ways female artists extend themselves into new spaces creatively and professionally. Artists and art-lovers are invited for an evening of presentation and discussion to celebrate the strong women, ambitions, and creativity in Toronto’s independent film and arts communities.

In a recent interview for She Does The City (one of the event sponsors) filmmaker Nadia Maria Oliva talks about the event, ‘’There’s a very strong group of talented female artists in this city who genuinely believe in the ethos of collaboration and supporting one another’s work. I’m really excited by the program Dominique’s put together and the chance to have a conversation with all of these women about why they do what they do. Carving out space to meaningfully connect and amplify underrepresented voices at an event like Extend is one small step towards changing the fabric of the industry we’re part of.’’ Tickets/RSVP

Featuring the work of: Sofia Bohdanowicz - sofiabohdanowicz.com, Grace Eakins - graceeakins.com, Alicia K. Harris - aliciakharris.com, Julia Hendrickson - juliahendricksonimages.com, Nicole Krstin - nicolekrstin.com, Moira Ness - moiraness.com, Emilia Perri - www.emiliaperri.ca, Farihah Aliyah Shah - fshah.format.com, Gemma Warren - gemmawarren.com, Haya Waseem - hayawaseem.com, Dominique van Olm - deviio.com, Performance by Falcon Jane. A conversation follwing the screening will be moderated by Nadia Maria Oliva. Event collatoral designed by Natalie Mathers - www.nataliemathers.ca
SPONSORS: She Does The City, Smokestack, The Great Hall Toronto

THE COURSE OF AN EMPIRE: Danielle Cole is a familiar face at many Akin events and recently led a fantastic Akin workshop on DIY collage. She creates playful and intriguing assemblages from original vintage graphics, often exploring the absurdity of domestic roles and the need for material goods. Whether it's her series on Girls And Dinosaurs (source of her instagram handle @girlsanddinosaurs - check it out!), or the most recent body of work, opening in an exhibition tomorrow night (featuring a hella lot of long legs and cars - see above) the nature of a woman's role in society is lightheartedly highlighted.

If her work seems familiar it may be because it can be found on Collective Arts Brewing most recent beer label. Danielle has also won the 2015 Art Here award and has been featured in Kolaj Magazine Issue #16 and in Collage Collective Co.’s book ANNUAL 2016. Following the success of her 2016 show, Clipped Wings, at Gravenfeather Gallery, several of her pieces have found homes in LA and San Francisco. Danielle has spent the last year traveling across the west coast of the USA, as well as, visiting Rome and Spain in search of materials and inspiration. Her most recent work, The Course of an Empire, has been four years in the making and benefited greatly by the colourful, lush old magazines found in her travels. Chat with her charming self tomorrow night 7-11pm at Unloveable Gallery (1415 Dundas). The show runs until September 24th, 2017.

FERMENTING FEMINISM: If you have lazily forgone visiting Critical Distance Centre For Curators, on the third floor of Artscape Youngplace on Shaw, you've been missing out on some of the best exhibitions Toronto has to offer. This Thursday Critical Distance is thrilled to launch their landmark 5th year of programming with Fermenting Feminism, curated by Lauren Fournier and featuring Sharlene Bamboat, Hazel Meyer, Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint, Sarah Nasby, Kayla Polan, Walter Scott, and Agustine Zegers. More about the artists and curators can be read on the Facebook Event Page here…

Fermenting Feminism is a multidisciplinary project that takes different forms: beginning as a publication in collaboration with Lauren Fournier and the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology, it has evolved into site-specific exhibitions, installations, and screenings in Toronto, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Kansas City. This exhibition at Critical Distance marks the Canadian launch of this project. The site-specific evolution of Fermenting Feminism instantiates the context-specificity of microbes and fungi, of fermenting bodies, and of feminisms.

'' Kombucha, guts, bacteria, vessels, vitalism, effervescence, degradation, and decay. Fermenting Feminism brings together artists whose work fleshes out the intersections between fermentation and intersectional feminisms. As the process of microbial transformation, fermentation becomes both a metaphor and material practice through which to approach feminist practices in the contemporary. Is feminism a relic of the past, something that has soured? Or is feminism still a vital imperative? This exhibition positions fermentation as a vital and viable space to re-conceive feminisms’s pasts, presents, and futures. Working across art, science, performance, and design, the works in Fermenting Feminism make space for multidisciplinary experimentation and conceptual play. Fermentation symbolizes bioavailability and accessibility, preservation and transformation, interspecies symbiosis, sustainability and futurity, harm reduction and care. Spanning the speculative and the literal, the embodied and the ephemeral, the works in this exhibition revisit questions of importance to feminists—consumption, colonialism, hygiene, wellness, agency, ritual, sexuality, transformation, and tradition—through the theory and practice of fermentation.'' Join artists and curator at the opening reception this Thursday, September 14th from 6–9 pm. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

CRITICAL DISTANCE (CDCC) is at
Artscape Youngplace, Suite 302 (3rd floor)
180 Shaw Street btw Dundas and Queen Streets
Gallery hours are Friday–Sunday 12–5 pm and by appointment through November 26th. Office hours by appointment only.