As the days get a little longer we can begin to see the light at the end of the winter tunnel. Help yourself get through whatever is left of the snowy season and get out to some of the great shows happening in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

As always, there are lots of great shows this month. Here are just a few of them that I recommend making it out to.

Bif Naked at the Market Hall in Peterborough on March 4

Beth Torbert, a.k.a. Bif Naked, made waves in the 1990s during the period when “alternative” music was all the rage. She achieved platinum and gold record status and has had a successful career in music while also surviving breast cancer at the age of 37.

Bif is performing at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough, 705-749-1146) on Wednesday, March 4th. It’s a duo performance with her husband, guitarist Steve “Snake” Allen. Opening the show is Toronto singer-songwriter Frank Moyo.

Tickets are $30 including fees. Get them at the Market Hall Box Office or online at markethall.org. The show begins at 8 p.m.

VIDEO: “Jim” – Bif Naked

Golden Shoals at a house concert in Bancroft on March 5

Check out Americana duo Golden Shoals on Thursday, March 5th at a Home Routes House Concert in Bancroft.

Guitarist Mark Kilianski and fiddle player Amy Alvey, living in Asheville, North Carolina, perform old-time style tunes with warm harmonies and layered instrumental sensibilities. The duo just changed their name this year from Hoot and Holler.

Tickets are only $20 plus fees and the show begins at 7 p.m. For tickets, head to www.homeroutes.ca/shows/bancroft/ (you’ll find out the location when you order).

VIDEO: “Old Buffalo” – Golden Shoals

Peterborough Performs: Musicians Against Homelessness at Showplace in Peterborough on March 5

On Thursday, March 5th, there will be a United Way musical fundraiser for the ages at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-7469). Peterborough Performs: Musicians Against Homelessness features a star-studded roster of 16 local musical acts performing in both the Erica Cherney Theatre and the Nexicom Studio.

Musicians include The Weber Brothers Band, The Austin Carson Band, The Three Martinis, Melissa Payne and Kate Suhr, Danny Bronson, Rick and Gailie’s Peterborough All-Star Band, Hillary Dumoulin, James Higgins, Jacques Graveline, Elyse Saunders, Tami J Wilde, Phil Stephenson, Nick Ferrio, Victoria Peace with Mike Graham, Jake Dudas, and Michael Bell.

The four-hour show, which begins at 7 p.m., is emceed by Megan Murphy and Jordan Mercier. Tickets are $50, but with the musicians donating their time and talent, all proceeds go directly to United Way-funded agencies that provide housing and shelter to the marginalized. There’ll also be a silent auction to raise even more funds.

Enjoy a night of awesome local music while supporting a worthy cause by buying tickets at Showplace Box Office or online at www.showplace.org.

VIDEO: “World of Isolation” – The Weber Brothers

Melissa Payne at the Market Hall in Peterborough on March 7

Ennismore’s Melissa Payne celebrates the release of her latest full-length record Darker Than Your Dark at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough, 705-749-1146) on Saturday, March 7th.

Produced by Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, Darker Than Your Dark features nine tracks that detail Payne’s emotive and musical evolution.

Tickets are $25 for general admission and $35 for assigned cabaret table seats. The show begins at 8 p.m. Get your tickets at the Market Hall Box Office or online at markethall.org.

VIDEO: “September Skies” – Melissa Payne

Road Waves at the Keene Centre for the Arts on March 7

Check out the high-energy and eclectic show of rock jam band Road Waves at the Keene Centre for the Arts (12 1st St., Keene) on Saturday, March 7th.

From Niagara region, Road Waves bring their own approach and energy to funk, rock, soul, blues, jazz, and beyond. This band likes to explore genres and bring creative approaches to the stage. This should be a killer show!

The concert begins at 7 p.m.. Tickets are $15 for a regular ticket, and an additional $10 will secure you a spot on a shuttle that is making a return trip from The Only Cafe (216 Hunter St. W., Peterborough).

Tickets are available online at Eventbrite.

Other upcoming shows at Keene Centre for the Arts in March include Cellar Door (March 13), The Breezeway Band (March 14), Irish Millie and Mike MacCurdy (March 17), Austin Young (March 20), Checkmate (March 21), The Footnotes (March 27), and Ty Wilson (March 28).

VIDEO: “Hindsight” – Road Waves

A Tribe Called Red at The Venue in Peterborough on March 7

Another show in Peterborough on Saturday, March 7th is the return of A Tribe Called Red. The group will be live at The Venue (286 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-876-0008) in a show being presented by the Peterborough Folk Festival.

Their sound features the amazing merger of electronic music and indigenous samples, along with traditional dancers and stimulating film imagery. You’ll dance, you’ll sweat, you’ll have an amazing time.

The show begins at 9 p.m. Tickets are $34.50, available at peterboroughfolkfest.com.

VIDEO: “Electric Pow Wow Drum” – A Tribe Called Red

Basset, The Pairs, and Rebekeh Hawker at The Garnet in Peterborough on March 13

There’s an excellent triple bill of folk/indie/pop at The Garnet (231 Hunter St. W., Peterborough, 705-874-0107) on Friday, March 13th.

Old-time influenced duo Basset bring an eclectic sensibility to the stage. The Pairs are a talented trio of ladies with amazing harmonies and meaningful tunes. Also on the bill is songwriter Rebekeh Hawker.

Tickets are available at the door for $10. The show begins at 9 p.m.

VIDEO: “Everything I Call Home” – The Pairs

People You Meet Outside of Bars, Shirazi, Cold Eye, and Garbageface at Sadleir House in Peterborough on March 16

There will be an eclectic night of songwriting, hip hop, indie, and much more on Monday, March 16th at Sadleir House (751 George St. N., Peterborough) as People You Meet Outside of Bars, Shirazi, Cold Eye, and Garbageface take the stage.

Doors open at 7 p.m. with music starting around 8 p.m. The show is $10 or pay what you can (no one will be turned away for lack of funds).

VIDEO: “It’s Not Your Fault You Ruined My Life” – People You Meet Outside of Bars

Kim Barlow and Rae Spoon with Mohammad Sahraei at The Garnet in Peterborough on March 17

For those of you who can’t stand green beer and typical St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, but who also enjoy excellent songs written by artists who operate differently from the norm, The Garnet (231 Hunter St. W., Peterborough, 705-874-0107) has a show for you.

On Tuesday, March 17th, Yukon’s Kim Barlow and Alberta’s Rae Spoon join forces to bring their unique brands of songwriting to the stage. Rae Spoon has been nominated for Junos and a couple of Polaris Prizes, while Barlow returns to The Garnet with her often quirky yet well-crafted tunes. Joining them is newcomer Mohammad Sahraei, skilled with many traditional Persian instruments.

The eclectic trio performs arrangements of Kim and Rae’s songs for setar and banjo, guitar, keys, percussion and electronics. These new versions of indie pop songs, with traditional tunes peppered through the sets, make for a live performance that is vibrant, diverse, and beautiful.

You can reserve a spot for the show at The Garnet or pay for tickets at the door. The show begins at 8 p.m.

VIDEO: “Whitehorse” – Kim Barlow

VIDEO: “Do Whatever The Heck You Want” – Rae Spoon

Texas King at The Gordon Best in Peterborough on March 21

Rockers Texas King, who recently finished a tour supporting Big Wreck, take to the stage at the Gordon Best in Peterborough on Saturday, March 21.

Formed in 2013 by frontman and lead singer Jordan Macdonald in London, Ontario, the band has earned a reputation for their high-energy love performances. They released their debut album Circles in 2017, with the album’s lead single “Boomerang” receiving attention on Canadian radio. They released their latest single “Chandelier” last September.

The Jailbirds, The New Blue, and Fiasco (a new band from Lindsay) will also be performing.

Tickets are $15 plus fees, available at bestptbo.com/upcomingevents/texasking, or $20 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m.

VIDEO: “Chandelier” – Texas King

Rob Phillips Trio with Marsala Lukianchuk at The Black Horse in Peterborough on March 26

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to mention the weekly Thursday jazz night at The Black Horse Pub (452 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-0633).

Hosted by the Rob Phillips Trio with singer Marsala Lukianchuk and featuring a wide-swath of great jazz players, and guests, the evening is always a excellent time for jazz fans and more.

If you’ve never been, why not head to the Black Horse on Thursday, March 26th to take in some excellent performances?

VIDEO: “Caravan” performed by Marsala Lukianchuk and the Rob Phillips Trio

On Sunday, March 8th, New Stages Theatre Company brings to life the relatively unknown strange Canadian tale of Esca Brooke-Daykin in Dave Carley’s 2018 play Canadian Rajah, the story of a displaced son of a royal line who lived in Madoc, Ontario.

For this one-night-only performance, New Stages brings together the two stars of the original 2019 Toronto production, Jon De Leon and Barbara Worthy, to recreate a story of real-life political intrigue and one man’s lifelong search for legitimacy.

Originally from Peterborough and currently based in Toronto, award-winning playwright Dave Carley spent nearly 20 years developing Canadian Rajah after discovering a book by Australian historian Cassandra Pybus about a displaced descendant of the White Rajahs, a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family that founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak on the island of Borneo for almost 100 years.

After years of his own research, Dave premiered the show in January 2019 at Toronto’s Campbell House Museum to favouable reviews.

“We have so much history in Canada that we don’t tell,” Dave says in a phone interview. “We are so negligent that way. The story of Esca Brooke is another one of those bizarre stories. It was such a good story that, if it killed me, I was going to tell it.”

Esca Brooke-Daykin (1867-1953) was the first-born son of Charles Johnson Brooke, the second White Rajah of Sarawak. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo (now a part of Malaysia), the Raj of Sarawak was an independent country with ties to the Britain that existed between 1841 to 1946.

Established after a series of land concessions acquired by British soldier and adventurer James Brooke from the Sultanate of Brunei, Sarawak received recognition as an independent state from the United States in 1850 and from the United Kingdom in 1864. After James Brooke, the first White Rajah, died in 1868, his nephew Charles Brooke succeeded him.

“Sarawak was an independent country for over a hundred years,” Dave says. “It wasn’t a proper British colony. There were agreements with Britain, in regards to protection and trade, but it was definitely an independent country. The second white Rajah, Charles Brooke, liked the local women, and he married one in a Muslim ceremony. They had this child, Esca.”.

However, upon taking over the title after his uncle’s death, Rajah Charles returned to England in a twist that would change the young boy’s fate forever.

“Rajah Charles ran out of money and he did what he had to do,” Dave explains. “He went back to England and found himself a new rich wife with a big dowry and he married her. Then he returned and hid his first wife away. So he came back with his white wife, but further up the river he still maintained his first wife.”

Charles’ second wife, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, had six children, but only three sons who survived infancy. Aware that her husband had a first-born child with a local woman, the Rani (the term for the wife of a Rajah) sought to protect her own surviving first-born son’s claim to become the next Rajah. Thus, she concocted a plan to get rid of Esca.

“The second wife realized that any children she would have would technically not become Rajah, so they came up with a scheme to get rid of Esca,” Dave says. “Thankfully, they didn’t kill him — they sent him to England to be educated, where he was eventually adopted by a clergyman, Archdeacon William Daykin, who brought Esca to Ontario when he immigrated to Canada and settled in Madoc.”

Although by all accounts Esca Brooke-Daykin lived a successful and happy life in Canada, with little desire to go back and reclaim his title in faraway Sarawak, he spent the rest of his life trying to get recognition as the legitimate first-born son of Rajah Charles.

“Esca never had an urge to go back, but he spent his whole life trying to be recognized for who he was,” Dave says. “He lived a long life in Canada, and he lived a very good life. He was an executive in Hollinger Mines and had a beautiful house in Lawrence Park in Toronto, and he was fixture at his church. But he was haunted by the fact that nobody would admit who he was.”

In Canadian Rajah, Dave explores the life of Esca Brooke-Daykin through an imaginary dramatization of a confrontation between Esca and his father’s second wife, Rani Margaret Brooke. Although a meeting between the two never actually happened, the show is, in part, based on a historical meeting between the Rani and Esca’s wife, Edith Daykin.

“I had imagined what the confrontation between Esca and the Rani would be if he had gone to England to make his claim,” Dave says. “In reality, it was his wife who had gone to England and met the Rani and had the confrontation about his claim. For the rest of his life, Esca would send long letters to newspapers and the King of England and anybody he thought would listen, but nobody ever really did. The Brooke family never ever contacted him.”

For Canadian Rajah, producer Randy Read has brought together the two stars who played Esca and the Rani to life in the original Toronto production.

Toronto-based actor Jon de Leon takes the role of Esca Brooke-Daykin. An alumnus of the Stratford Festival, Jon is currently the writer, producer and star of the web series I am Not a Chef, and has appeared on both stage and screen, including roles on Star Trek: Discovery, Downsizing, Rookie Blue, and Lost Girl.

“The thing I wanted to get into the play was why did Esca care so much,” Dave says. “He had a perfect life here, but he wanted his father to recognize him. In those days, to be illegitimate was bad in a way we don’t understand anymore. In those days it would be a bar to many things, and would hurt his own children in getting married themselves. I think he really wanted to prove that he was legitimate.”

In the role of Rani Margaret Brooke is Barbara Worthy, who has been a performer with the Shaw Festival for 20 seasons. An educator at Brock University and Niagara College, Barbara brings to life a character as colourful as Esca himself.

“The Rani is a very interesting character,” Dave says of the show’s antagonist. “She wrote a couple of books in spinning her life. She eventually moved back to England and the nobility didn’t really know what to do with her. They didn’t know how to take a woman calling herself a Rani who was married to a Rajah. She had to explain her life, and one book she wrote portrayed herself as a brave explorer going to a savage land and having the time of her life — but no mention of Esca.”

In researching and writing Canadian Rajah, Dave was not only able to give the story of Esca Brooke-Daykin new interest and life, but it led him to the Esca’s descendants, including two still-living granddaughters who have memories of Esca. Through his efforts, he helped unify the family and fill in the gaps of a story that many of them didn’t know.

“I put on my website that I was doing a story on Esca Brooke, and one of his great granddaughters was googling the name one day and she contacted me,” Dave recalls. “I had no idea there were still grandchildren alive that knew him. But she told me that there were two granddaughters living in the Ottawa area, and before I knew it I was up there visiting with them.”

“I became aware of his very substantial number of descendents. Esca had four kids, and they all had kids who had kids, so it’s been amazing meeting them. Of course, they are all blown away by the story. All of them knew bits of it, but they didn’t know all of it.”

“Esca’s own kids didn’t talk much about it, and it was the grandkids that wanted to know more. Some of the descendents knew each other, but a lot of them didn’t. They are now all connected on their own Facebook group. A lot of them showed up to the original run of the play. It’s an amazing story and to see your own grandfather portrayed is an amazing thing.”

It should be noted that the New Stages presentation of Canadian Rajah is not a part of the theatre company’s popular staged reading series, but a full production. Dave will also be in attendance to take part in a question-and-answer period after the show.

This is an exciting one-night opportunity to see a Toronto theatre production on the Peterborough stage, and learn the incredible story of one of Canada’s most interesting but still relatively unknown figures. Hopefully as each audience member learns the story of Esca Brooke-Daykin, his legacy as the rightful Rajah of Sarawak will live on.

Canadian Rajah will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 8th at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St. E, Peterborough). General admission tickets are $30 ($15 for students, art workers, and the underwaged), including all fees, and are available in person at the Market Hall Box Office or by phone at 705-749-1146 (12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday) or online anytime at markethall.org.

There’s a lot of art happening in March in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here are some highlights.

Toronto-based artist Elizabeth D’Agostino is showing at the Agnes Jamieson Gallery in Minden, the new Peterborough film collective Canadian Images in Conversation is holding its inaugural screening featuring two early film works by Shelley Niro, self-described schizophrenic artist Michael Nathaniel Green has an exhibition of his sculpture at the Art Gallery of Bancroft, and the First Friday Peterborough art crawl is happening in downtown Peterborough on March 6th.

Peterborough’s Artspace is presenting an exhibition by Shellie Zhang with Maria Patricia Abuel, the Art Gallery of Peterborough is hosting an artist talk with Francisco-Fernando Granados on March 7th, a solo exhibition of works by Michael Adamson takes place at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg, and Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth is presenting an exhibition with the intriguing title “1920-2020 Spirits on Water: Ships, Sails and Rum Running on Lake Ontario”.

There’s also the Watercolour8 show and sale, featuring work by eight women watercolourists at Singing Horse Gallery, the 10th annual Peterborough Fibre Arts Festival & Sale on March 14th, and an artist talk by Pete Smith at Visual Arts Centre of Clarington on March 29th.

Our regular artsNOW writer, Shannon Taylor, is on hiatus.

‘Paradigm of Wonder’ by Elizabeth D’Agostino at Agnes Jamieson Gallery in Minden

The Agnes Jamieson Gallery is presenting ‘Paradigm of Wonder’, an exhibition of works by Toronto-based artist Elizabeth D’Agostino, beginning on Tuesday, March 3rd.

D’Agostino works in print media, sculpture, and installation. Her current research draws from the histories of observational and scientific illustrations of Canadian wildlife and botanical illustrations, while developing an understanding of the management of living things and their interactions with humans.

An opening reception will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 7th, with the exhibition running until Saturday, April 18th.

The Agnes Jamieson Gallery is located in the Minden Hills Cultural Centre at 176 Bobcaygeon Road in Minden. For more information, call 705-286-3763 or visit mindenhills.ca/agnes-jamieson-art-gallery/.

Canadian Images in Conversation presents the early film works of Shelley Niro at Peterborough’s Market Hall on March 3

In partnership with Artspace and ReFrame Film Festival, Canadian Images in Conversation is presenting its inaugural screening: “The Early Works of Shelley Niro”, featuring the films It Starts With a Whisper and Honey Moccasin, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3rd at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough).

Both films will be screened on 16mm film and will be followed by an artist talk with Shelley Niro, moderated by Artspace’s Jon Lockyer.

It Starts With A Whisper (1993) follows 18year-old Shanna Sabbath who is taken by her three aunts on a mythic journey to Niagara Falls. Honey Moccasin (1998) is set on the fictional Grand Pine Indian Reservation and follows the investigator/storyteller Honey Moccasin, closeted drag queen/powwow clothing thief Zachery John, and the rivalry between two bars on the reservation.

The screening and artist talk, which are free and open to everyone, is made possible with the support of the following departments and organizations at Trent University: the Trent Central Student Association, the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, Cultural Studies Graduate Program, Gender and Women’s Studies, English, Public Texts and Traill College.

Canadian Images in Conversation is a new Peterborough-based collective of filmmakers, artists, curators, and educators born from the legacy of the first entirely Canadian-focused film festival, the Canadian Images Film Festival.

The festival, which ran from 1978 to 1984, was originally a student and faculty-run initiative at Trent University, and programmed more than 150 hours of Canadian feature, experimental, and documentary films in its first year. By its final year, as many as 20,000 people experienced the festival.

Canadian Images in Conversation aims to fill the void of Canadian-specific film exhibition in Peterborough by showcasing Canadian films and filmmakers through a bi-monthly screening series and post-screening discussions with filmmakers.

‘The Invisible Offering’ by Michael Nathaniel Green at the Art Gallery of Bancroft

After closing for February, the Art Gallery of Bancroft is reopening in March with ‘The Invisible Offering’, an exhibition of sculpture by Peterborough artist Michael Nathaniel Green, beginning on Wednesday, March 4th.

Born in Trenton in 1975, Green holds a Diploma of Fine Arts from Georgian College in Barrie, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Lethbridge, and received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from Ohio State University.

Green, who has schizophrenia, experienced his first psychosis in 2008 at the age of 32 and abandoned art for around 10 years. Since moving to Peterborough, he has participated in the local arts scene.

“As an artist it has given me a first-hand experience that there is so much more to reality than what we can take in through our five senses,” Green says of his schizophrenia. “The surreal and uncanny have a foundation in our reality that is more relevant than ever.”

“The title of this show, ‘The Invisible Offering’, is paying homage to the mysteries of unearthing the unseen and the invisible. I value that which is hidden from ordinary view, questions from quantum physics like does one’s ephemeral thoughts or consciousness affect matter or are objects more potentialities than solid objects, interest me as a sculptor.”

“Using abstraction and organic minimalism in my sculpture, I point to the ever-changing qualities of reality weaving between the familiar and the unfamiliar. I am drawn to the sensual, ephemeral and ambiguous use of everyday materials in unconventional ways.”

An opening reception will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6th, with the exhibition continuing until Saturday, March 28th.

And make sure to visit the gallery during April, when regular artNOW writer Shannon Taylor will be showing her exhibition ‘Remembered, Imagined: mixed media’ (with an opening reception at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 3rd).

The Art Gallery of Bancroft is located at 10 Flint Avenue in Bancroft. Winter hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday. For more information, visit www.artgallerybancroft.ca.

First Friday Peterborough in downtown Peterborough on March 6

The popular First Friday Art Crawl returns to downtown Peterborough on the evening of March 6th.

As always, artists open their studios to the public, with galleries, art organizations, and other creative venues hosting special events.

While the event is still being finalized, here are a few highlights:

• Acme Art and Sailboat Company (129-1/2 Hunter St. W., 3rd floor) will be showing ‘tangents’ featuring Gwyneth Fischer, Steven Leak, and Elaine Windsor, with new works by Joe Stable on display in the Copper Closet.
• Atelier Ludmila Gallery (129 1/2 Hunter St. W., 2nd floor) will be showing ‘Multiple Expanse’, an exhibition of work by Carolyn Code.
• The gang at Madderhouse Textile Studios (located upstairs at Watson & Lou, 383 Water St.) will be launching their brand new “Oatmeal Capital of the World” merchandise.

For more details on First Friday, including a map and updates, visit firstfridayptbo.com and follow First Friday Peterborough on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

‘Abundance’ by Shellie Zhang with ‘Bulaklak’ by Maria Patricia Abuel at Artspace in Peterborough

In March and April, Artspace is hosting ‘Abundance’, an exhibition curated by Tiffany Schofield that brings together work by Toronto-based artists Shellie Zhang and Maria Patricia Abuel.

A Beijing-born multidisciplinary artist, Zhang’s new project ‘Abundance’ features sculpture, photographs, and installation-based works. The exhibition combines visual cues from imagery of plentiful fruit in produce advertisements and cultural rituals as a metaphor for the dreams and labour that extends across oceans and generations. ‘Abundance’ is a cyclical reflection on two actions: the artist’s relatives bringing her pieces of cut fruit in her youth, and her leaving fruit offerings at their graves.

‘Abundance’ is accompanied by ‘Bulaklak’, a performance for the camera by Maria Patricia Abuel, a Toronto-born-and-raised Filipina multidisciplinary artist. In ‘Bulaklak’, Abuel enacts a ritual of preparing and devouring 100 mango flowers, a fruit which grounds her in familial and cultural histories. ‘Bulaklak’ is a personal meditation on matriarchal roles and sacrifices, in which the artist honours and reclaims the traditions she’s inherited.

An opening reception takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, March 6th (coinciding with the First Friday Peterborough art crawl), and will be followed by a curator and artist talk at noon on Saturday, March 7th. The exhibition continues until Saturday, April 18th.

Artspace is located at 378 Aylmer Street in downtown Peterborough and offers barrier-free access (to all but Gallery 2) and free admission during regular open hours: Tuesday to Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Parking is available in the municipal lot on Hunter Street between Aylmer and George. For more information, call 705-748-3883 or visit artspace-arc.org.

Art Gallery of Peterborough hosts an artist talk with Francisco-Fernando Granados on March 7

The Art Gallery of Peterborough is hosting a conversation between artist Francisco-Fernando Granados and Spencer J. Harrison at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 7th.

Work by Granados is currently on display at the gallery’s ‘duet’ exhibition, which pairs together modernist and contemporary abstraction by Granados and the late Jack Bush, presented in partnership with the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa.

Referencing the ongoing reciprocal relationship between the past and the present, the work of Granados and Bush create a conversation between contemporary digital and site-specific pieces and paintings and prints from the mid-twentieth century. The juxtaposition incites the viewer to consider the ongoing influences of the past upon the present and the connection between the two.

‘duet’, along with the two other current exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Peterborough (‘locked in a way’ by Matthew Hayes and Victoria Mohr-Blakeney and ‘217’ by Sasha Opeiko) runs until Sunday, March 29th.

The Art Gallery of Peterborough is located at 250 Crescent Street in downtown Peterborough and is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. It offers free admission, barrier-free access, and a gallery shop. Parking is available in the Del Crary lot. For more information, call 705-743-9179 or visit agp.on.ca.

Solo exhibition by Michael Adamson at the Art Gallery of Northumberland

The Art Gallery of Northumberland is presenting a solo exhibition by Toronto artist Michael Adamson from Saturday, March 7th to Saturday, May 2nd.

Adamson studied at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ryerson University in Toronto, the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, and at the University of Kassel in Germany. His academic career has spanned various media including photography, video, and painting, giving him a platform to develop his own rich visual language enhanced by his understanding of art history and its relationship with contemporary painting.

“I am interested in teasing out the connections between seemingly disparate artists, such as the cave painters of Lasceaux and contemporary muralists like Katerina Grosse, or impressionist Claude Monet and serial abstractionist Pia Fries, in an attempt, not to level out painting, but to encourage cross fertilizations which, hopefully, will reinvigorate community and the appetites for the kind of nourishment found in good painting,” Adamson says.

Adamson creates a balance between conceptualism and expressionism, abstraction, and landscape, making each painting difficult to categorize. His work has been widely exhibited including in Toronto, London, Tokyo, and New York, and he is one of the most in-demand artists for private commissions, with works in collections in Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the U.S., and the U.K.

An opening reception takes place on Saturday, March 7th.

The Art Gallery of Northumberland is located at on the third floor of the west wing of Victoria Hall (55 King St. W., Cobourg). Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is closed on Mondays. For more information, visit www.artgalleryofnorthumberland.com.

‘1920-2020 Spirits on Water’ at Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth

Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth is presenting an exhibit called ‘1920-2020 Spirits on Water: Ships, Sails and Rum Running on Lake Ontario’ beginning on Saturday, March 7th.

An opening reception takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 7th.

The exhibit, sponsored by Allen Insurance Group, runs until Sunday, March 29th.

Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth is located at 35 Church Street in downtown Warkworth. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit ahcentre.ca.

Watercolour8 show and sale at Singing Horse Gallery

The Singing Horse Gallery is hosting “Watercolour8”, a show and sale featuring the work of eight talented watercolourists from the Peterborough area.

The group of women — Linda Anderson, Susan Brook, Dorothy McCord, Donrey McIntosh, Lynda Quinlan, Stephanie Raffey, Margaret Sharpe, and Mary Tighe — has been painting together for several years under the tutelage of Joan Zageris, a Peterborough watercolourist who has been painting for more than 30 years.

The show and sale opens from 2 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 12th and runs until Thursday, March 26th.

The Singing Horse Gallery is located at 686 Crown Drive in Peterborough (in Alypsis Inc, beside MediGas). Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday (closed on the weekend).

Peterborough Fibre Arts Festival & Sale on March 14

The Peterborough Weavers and Spinners Guild is presenting the 10th annual Peterborough Fibre Arts Festival & Sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14th at Peterborough Sport & Wellness Centre (775 Brealey Dr., Peterborough).

The festival features demonstrations (including a “sheep to shawl” demonstration), hands-on activities, as well as items for purchase including craft items, unique gifts, yarn, fibre, and supplies.

Participating vendors include Artisanthropy, Artisans Centre Peterborough, All Sew Allison, All Dyed Up! Fibres, Chris Barker fabric art, Adele’s Locks of Love, The Olive Sparrow, Santosha Fibreworks and Farm, A River of Yarn, Kimat Designs, 3 Dog Knits, Chip & Sparrow, Embroiderers’ Guild of Peterborough, EaKoworks Fashions, and more.

The admission fee is $5, with children 12 and under free when accompanied by an adult.

Visual Arts Centre of Clarington hosts an artist talk by Pete Smith on March 29

The Visual Arts Centre of Clarington (VAC) is hosting “Approaches to Landscape”, a talk by Bowmanville artist, critic, and curator Pete Smith, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 29th.

Smith’s solo exhibition “Stein’s Law” — currently on display at VAC until Sunday, March 29th — features a series of recent paintings that explore notions of climate change, pollution, urbanization, domesticity, and light and darkness. The exhibit’s title, which refers to American economist Herbert Stein’s theory “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop”, poses questions about sustainability in our current economic models.

In his tour and talk, Smith will discuss his approach to painting landscape, why he has shifted his focus to scenes that are often overlooked, and what he hopes to achieve through his practice.

VAC is located at 143 Simpson Avenue in Bowmanville. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Tuesday to Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Friday to Sunday. Admission to exhibits and artist talks is free. For more information, visit www.vac.ca.

Every Thursday, we publish live music events at pubs, clubs, and restaurants in Peterborough and the Kawarthas based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, February 27 to Wednesday, March 4.

If you’re a pub, club, or restaurant owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our nightlifeNOW editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com. For concerts and live music events at other venues, check out our Concerts & Live Music page.