Punchclock Showcase No. 2: Shawn Brant Is No Criminal!

Update: The Punchclock Art Show raised a total of $4750 in support of the Mohawks of Tyendinaga and Shawn Brant! Thanks to all the organizers, artists, and musicians who made it happen. All the money raised will be directed towards legals costs and costs associated with keeping the quarry reclamation strong.

Two Days of Art and Music in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty and the Tyendinaga Legal Defense Fund

Whippersnapper Gallery, 587A College Street, Toronto

Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17, 2008

Gallery open for viewing daily at 11 am
Friday Night Music: doors at 9 pm (19 +)
Saturday Night Music: doors at 8 pm (All ages)

Admission: free during the day; evening shows $5 - $15 sliding scale

The Punchclock Collective invites Toronto to Showcase No.2, a music and art extravaganza held over two days in May at the Whippersnapper Gallery.

Shawn Brant Is No Criminal! presents works by emerging, outsider, and established artists in diverse media, interpreting themes of anti-colonial resistance, indigenous sovereignty, and silencing through sentencing. Artists whose work will be featured in the showcase include David Morrisseau,Branko, Nidal El-Khairy, Angela Steritt, Riel Manywounds, Luis Jacob, Schuster Gindin, Alana Svilainis, Gord Hill, Tania Willard, Ibrahim Shalaby, Gabrielle L'hirondelle, Fancy Gordon Zero, Christopher Cubitt-Cooke, and an array of infamous Punchclockers, including Michael Comeau, Rockey Dobey, Shannon Muegge, Agata Mrozowski and Stefan Pilipa.

Showcase No. 2 will also feature two evening performances by three generations of Toronto's most solid musicians. Friday's opening night show will feature performances by an eclectic mic of the best independent musicians in Toronto- ANAGRAM, Nif-D, and $100. Saturday's All Ages show presents The Phonemes, Bob Wiseman, and Richard Laviolette, followed by DJs and dancing late into the night.

Money raised will go to the legal defense fund of Mohawk Activist Shawn Brant and to the quarry reclamation site . Like seven other First Nations leaders across Ontario who have opposed non-native mining on indigenous land, Brant is currently being held in jail. Singled out for taking part in rail blockades during a national day of action last June, he is facing up to twelve years of incarceration and a multi-million dollar civil suit laid against him by CN Rail. "Shawn Brant is part of the current Canada-wide struggle to expose unsettled land claims, and native poverty, which have been misplaced on the desks of power, and buried in a century of colonial haggling," says Shannon Muegge. "He's also our friend, and has supported and inspired us over the past decade."

This weekend long event will also feature live hair cutting by donation, live portrait drawings, also by donation, live screen printing on your clothes, again, by donation and this workshop:

Workshop: Saturday May 16th, 5pm - 7pm, Whippersnapper Gallery
Tyendinaga: Criminalizing the Struggle for Self-Determination
Presented by members of the Tyendinaga Support Committee

An in-depth look at recent developments in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory to understand what indigenous nations fighting for their land, and the right to self determination, are facing when they take a stand.

Participants will gain an understanding of the history and struggle of Tyendinaga Mohawks and the insane legal implications for community leaders. We will discuss the web of injustice maintained by federal heel-dragging in a land claim proccess, resource extraction legislation that allows the land to be gutted and stripped in the mean time, and an OPP dominated media circuit feeding the public the same old racist messaging.

Join us for this discussion and to learn about ongoing support initiatives and ways to get involved.

LIVE ROCK SHOWS

MAY 16 (DOORS AT 9 PM)

ANAGRAM ("Best band in Toronto." - our brains, 2008)
Nif - D (Dazzling Wonder)
$100 (Country Stalls)

MAY 17 (DOORS AT 8 PM)- THIS SHOW IS ALL AGES AND BRING YOUR KIDS -

THE PHONEMES (Pain Perdu)
BOB WISEMAN (The Dynamic and Dignified)
RICHARD LAVIOLETTE (Croons Like a Loon)
+ 1 BAND PENDING

The Punchclock Collective is a trans-disciplinary democratic organization of cultural workers, political activists and trades people operating out of two hives functioning as collective metal and screen-printing studios. Their mandates are economic sustainability and artistic direct action. Punchclock Showcase No.1, held last December, featured poster art from the Print Shop, and acts like Final Fantasy, Castle Music and Kids On TV.