Urban Planner: July 4, 2009

By Alison Horn

Urban Planner is Torontoist’s daily guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].

Photo of Kathleen Reichelt performing in This Car Is Dead, courtesy of The Garage Collective.

THEATRE: The Garage Collective presents a two-part performance and installation, This Car is Dead” and Ceci n’est pas une Auto. Collective members Kathleen Reichelt and David Bateman are responsible for putting together this poetic performance and cabaret, which explores the themes of death in the car industry, iconic figures, power in relationships, and gender politics. Tonight is your only chance to check out the show at The Garage, an aptly named four-hundred-square-foot garage turned independent artspace. The Garage (back alley of Bathurst and College Streets), 10 p.m., $5 or PWYC.
FAMILY: The National Film Board is launching its series of summer animation workshops and screenings. Every Saturday until August 29, families can enjoy a variety of workshops about animation techniques, such as 3D clay, pixellation, and paper cut-outs. Today’s program, “The Day I Became a Superhero,” will offer young ones the perfect outlet for their imagination and creativity. The schedule includes the “Can’t Sit Still” (ages 3–5) and “Animate This!” (ages 6–13) workshops, along with a free family animation screening. NFB Mediatheque (150 John Street), 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., $5 per workshop (accompanying adults are free).
WORDS: The Scream Literary Festival presents “Chapters 11: The Bankruptcy Walking Tour,” to explore the graves of yesteryear’s independent bookstores. During this two-hour stroll, participants—who are asked to wear all black as a sign of respect for the dead—will delve into one hundred years of local literary retail history. At stops along the way, such as David Mirvish Books, The Book Cellar, and Longhouse Bookstore, eulogies will be read and memories will be shared. Starting at Victory Café (581 Markham Street), 1 p.m., FREE.
ART: Janis Cole’s video installation, Remember Their Names, opens today. You have until August 8 to check out the piece, which pays tribute to the sixty-five women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown East side between 1978 and 2001. The police investigation, which was painfully slow and initially dismissed the missing women, resulted in the discovery that many of them—the majority of whom were marginalized individuals—had been murdered. The case quickly became Canada’s largest serial-killing investigation with the name of the killer rising to the forefront of media and public attention. Cole uses photographs, audio, and video artifacts, such as missing persons’ posters, interviews, and recorded tipline phone calls to bring the focus back to the victims and how the case was addressed. Trinity Square Video (401 Richmond Street West, Suite 376), 2–5 p.m., FREE.
LOVE: Improv In Toronto, the same folks who are responsible for various shenanigans around town, including the Subway Dance Party, No Pants 2K9, and an Eaton Centre version of Where’s Waldo are spreadin’ the love with Free Hugs Day. Today’s event is part of a larger movement, International Free Hugs Day, celebrated worldwide on the first Saturday of July. Come out today to get (and give) a hug that would make Gustav Klimt and Michelle Obama proud. Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West), 3 p.m., FREE.