September at Rhizome

Café * Arts Venue * Community Space

317 East Broadway

Dear friends of Rhizome-

Here are a few announcements, before we move on to tell you the specifics of this month’s events:

Mark your Calendars:  Rhizome Anniversary Party!

We’ll be celebrating two years of Rhizome Café on Saturday, September 27.  This is a chance for the wonderfully diverse crowd of Rhizome folk to come together to celebrate what we have all created together.  There will be fun and games, performances and art projects, good things to eat, a lovely gathering of friends and co-conspirators, and more.  In addition, we’ll be unveiling (and selling) the Rhizome T-Shirt recently created through our collaborative process of rhizomatic design.  Doors will open at 7:00.  The “formal” program thingy starts at 8:00.  We hope you’ll join us!

Rhizome Anniversary Party:  Seeking (Short!) Performances!

There will be a participatory element to the September 27 anniversary party.  Your assignment (should you choose to accept) is this:  Create a 60-second performance that represents something that happens—or could happen—at Rhizome. You can sing, dance, mime, read a poem, facilitate a game—whatever, as long as it lasts 60 seconds or less!  Comedy, tragedy, documentary, satire—they’re all good!  Perform solo or with a group!   To sign up, send your name, what kind of performance you’ll do, and your technical requirements to lisa@rhizomecafe.ca no later than September 25.

Family Sundays are Back!

Our popular Sunday afternoon kids’ and families’ activities are back after a summer hiatus.  We begin with a two-part mask-making workshop on September 14 and 21, and then it’s Back to Disco, Baby on September 28!  See below for details.

We hope you’ll join us for the various events listed below.  Also, remember that we’re open for delicious lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, snacks and drinks.  Our complete hours are listed at the end of this message.  And let us know if you’d like to use our Community Meeting Room for your group’s activities.  You can check our website for more information on what we do and how we do it: www.rhizomecafe.ca.

Here’s what’s happening in September:

Art on our Walls

Liaison: Paintings by Dzee Louise

Dzee Louise examines how experience materializes in the body and how the body informs our experience. Textures imply systems of veins, nerves or roots.  Patterns are repeated and become the connective tissue across a number of realms.  Abstracted figures interact with and are revealed in the patterns, suggesting occurrences at the biological, environmental and sociological levels.

Events

Jaron Freeman-Fox, Solo Violin

Thursday, September 4, 7:00

On his first westcoast tour since studies in India, Violinist Jaron Freeman-Fox plays homage to his mentor, the late Oliver Schroer, combined with his own tunes, South Indian influences, and live looping. Joining him will be Robin Layne on congas, middle eastern percussion and marimba.

$5

Taking Stock Collaborative Photography Exhibition

Saturday, September 6, 7:00

This event will be the culmination of a day-long digital photography scavenger hunt.  In the morning, participants will be given a list of things to take photos of.  You’ll need your own digital camera, and will be given a fixed amount of time to create images and turn them in to the event organizers.  No cars allowed—just feet, bikes and public transportation.  The photos will be displayed by category at this evening gathering, with music, food and drink.  No prizes or competition, just fun and the building of an archive of city snapshots.  To participate in the scavenger hunt, email takingstockyvr@gmail.com.  Everyone is welcome to come see the results at this evening event.

$5 suggested donation, but no one turned away for lack of funds.

The Writers’ Studio Reads

Thursday, September 11, 7:00

SFU’s The Writer’s Studio presents literary readings in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. The theme of this event is Family.

Free

Board Games are So Gay

Friday, September 12, 7:00

We’re back with another round of queer-friendly board games!  Bring your favourite games or use ours.  DJ Ruggedly Handsome will keep the tunes coming!

Free

thrilLITERATE

Saturday, September 13, 7:30

An evening of poetry, storytelling and of recognizing literacy as a basic human right.  Seven celebrated queer women authors read to raise funds for the women’s literacy program in the Downtown Eastside.  Readings by Mette Bach, Cathleen With, Afuwa Granger, Michelle Miller, Shana Myara, Amber Dawn and Mimi Mahovlich.  Proceeds go to the Literacy and Learning Program at WISH: a centre for female survival sex workers (www.wish-vancouver.net).

$5-$15 sliding scale

Family Sunday:  Devising the Mask Workshop

Sunday, September 14 and 21, 4:30 to 7:30

Flexible Theatre presents this two-part workshop for anyone wanting to learn how to make a mask, either for decoration or for performance work.  Mask theatre, past and present, is rich in emotion, narrative, humour, tragedy, metaphor and symbolism.  Participants will mould and decorate their own masks using clay, paper mache, paints, etc.  We’ll also discuss the use of masks for performance work.  These workshops are suitable for participants 10 years old to adult.  For more information: www.flexibletheatre.ca.

$35 per person includes both 3-hour sessions (September 14 and 21), all materials, and dinner at both sessions.

Over 40 Women Meet Over 40 Women

Thursday, September 18; registration from 6:00 to 6:30, event starts at 7:00

Join us for a facilitated gathering for single lesbians over 40.  This event is slower paced than speed dating and more participatory than a typical meet and greet.  This is an opportunity for women over 40 seeking other women over 40 to mix and mingle in a relaxed, fun and interactive space.

$5-$10 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Women in the Round

Friday, September 19, doors at 7:00, show at 8:00

Joanna Chapman-Smith, Kate Reid and Sarah MacDougall are returning for another rollicking, estrogen-injected evening of powerhouse women in folk music. Please join them for a night of acoustic songs and story-telling, and help send them off on their cross-Canada tour.

$8-$15 sliding scale

A Night of Indie Movies and Poetry

Saturday, September 20, 7:00

Join us for the Canadian premier of The Room is the Sea, a mystical, indie-rock musical filmed in Portland, Oregon. Hosted by Drunken Sailors 1 and 2, the night also features short films from Michael V. Smith and Jennica Harper; short poetry readings by Jennica Harper, Liz Bachinsky, Jen Currin and Christine Leclerc.

$5 suggested donation

Family Sunday:  Devising the Mask Workshop, Part 2

Sunday, September 21, 4:30 to 7:30

See September 14 above for details.

Artist Reception:  Dzee Louise

Thursday, September 25, 7:00

Join us for a celebration of Liaison, an exhibition of paintings by Dzee Louise on display at Rhizome through September 28.

Free

Canwest:  Media Bully

Friday, September 26, 7:30

Canwest is not content with controlling most of the media in Canada.  It actively uses SLAPP suits to intimidate activists with opposing perspectives.  Come and hear Mordecai Briemberg, Gordon Murray and Carel Mosiewitch discuss the Canwest lawsuit against them for producing a parody of The Vancouver Sun, satirizing its support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

By donation, no one turned away

Rhizome Anniversary Party

Saturday, September 27, 7:00

Rhizome is two years old!  Come celebrate two years of activism and community-building, good food, creativity and friendship.  There will be music and performances, interactive art projects, tasty things to eat and more.

$0-$100 sliding scale to help keep Rhizome going, but no one turned away for lack of funds

Family Sunday:  It’s Back to Disco, Baby!

Sunday, September 28, 4:30 to 7:00

We’ll be out on the disco floor again!  Dj little d will be mixing the old school and the new.  Bring the kids out for some disco dancing fun.

By donation, no one turned away for lack of funds

In our Meeting Room

A lot of groups use our Community Meeting Room for meetings, workshops, and small events.  This month, the following Meeting Room activities are open to the public:

Ugandan Youth Project Supply-Gathering Party

Wednesday, September 3^rd, 5:30-9:00

Two Vancouver-based youth will soon be heading off to Uganda, where they will facilitate a youth leadership development and photography project.  Come for an informal drop-in to learn more about the project, and bring donations of school/art supplies (pens, crayons, markers, paper, glue, etc.)

Free

Be Thirsty Heart Tour

Tuesday, September 16, ‘zine show from 4:00 onward; poetry circle 7:00 to 9:00

Montreal based anarcho-surrealist poet, clown and zine maker Paula Belina will be touring across Canada to hit the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair this September 13th.  Paula brings her Fun Is Free Press zine distro along with her, including a menstruation zine with d.i.y. pad making instructions, stamp carvings, political rants, vegetarian recipe zines and more.  Check out www.liberatethemarvelous.blogspot.com.

Free

Herstory Café:  Show and Tell

Wednesday, September 24, 7:00

The Herstory Cafe & the Women’s History Network of British Columbia present a Show & Tell. Bring your BC women’s history-related item and tell its story.  For more info: www.herstorycafe.ca.

Free

Thanks!  See you soon!

Rhizome

Café * Arts Venue * Community Space

Where we are:

317 East Broadway

Vancouver, BC, Coast Salish Territory

For more information:

604-872-3166

www.rhizomecafe.ca

rhizome@rhizomecafe.ca

When we’re open:

Tuesdays: 4 to 10pm

Wednesdays: 11am to 10pm

Thursdays:  11am to 10pm

Fridays:  11am to midnight

Saturdays:  10am to midnight (brunch from 10 to 3)

Sundays: 10am to 3pm (brunch from 10 to 3); and often Family Sunday events from 4:30 to 7pm-ish

We’re closed on Mondays.

A note on our name:

In the botanical sense, a rhizome is a root system that some plants (like lilies and orchids and ginger and bamboo) use to spread themselves about.  While the roots of most plants point generally downward, the rhizome is a horizontal root system that runs parallel to the surface of the ground.  The plant sends shoots up from nodes in the rhizome, creating what look like many separate plants.  These seemingly unrelated individuals are actually all connected, through a system that’s not immediately visible to the eye.