Three special events highlight the Secret Tree Festival of Art and Sustainability from Feb. 17 to 20 on Denman Island.
The Minden Duo is the creative partnership of Carla Hallett and Robert Minden.
What began as a playful exploration of found sounds grew into an inspired collaboration exploring an illusive world of song and invented instruments.
With a relentless pursuit of the sonic possibilities of found objects and children’s toys, their recordings and live performance mix Minden’s storytelling and Hallett’s experimental vocals with uncommon acoustic instruments (musical saws, waterphones, toy piano, theremin, found sounds).
Sometimes described as “the house band at the restaurant at the end of the universe” (Gary Norris, Canadian Press), their music suggests a curious acoustic soundscape like folk music from an invented world.
The duo has accomplished several unique recording projects, including music scores for CBC radio dramas The Song Spinner, Big Ocean and Dr. (David) Doolittle; film scores for Gail Noonan’s animations Lost & Found and Honey; and two intriguing CDs — Are You Now, with its sensual mix of Hallett’s songs and Minden’s instruments (“wonderfully strange,” Alexander Varty, Georgia Straight), and Like Light Off Water, a unique collaboration with Canadian poet Daphne Marlatt.
They will perform Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Denman Island Community Hall.
Concert tickets for Songs & Silence with Robert Minden and Carla Hallett cost $17 for adults in advance, $20 at the door, and $5 for students with ID.
They can be purchased in advance at the Denman General Store (250-335-2293) and Abraxas Books on Denman (250-335-2731), or online through Paypal from artsdenman.com.
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Through collage, painting and text, you can work with Karen Wallace on themes of how to embrace, reframe, revision and inhabit change in healthy, life-confirming ways.
Art for Change: a workshop with Karen Wallace happens Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Denman Island Arts Centre.
Wallace is known for her enthusiastic and dynamic teaching style. Her workshops are rich, playful and creative.
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Tattooing, Skin Art and Design is a workshop with Andria Matta on Feb. 20, 2 2 to 4 p.m. at the Arts Centre.
Registration forms, a complete festival lineup and more details can be found at artsdenman.com or by calling the artistic director at 250-335-1262.
— Arts
Denman