Kris Nelson, Encounters Curator

Magnetic Encounters are about proximity – getting the audience as close to the art as possible. We invite you to a variety of events, talks, installations, interventions and performances, all linked to the mainstage works and the people behind them. Each Encounter is made-to-measure for Kitchener-Waterloo, and either matched to a mainstage show or to the festival itself. The Encounters will introduce you to exciting artists, tease out and re-examine the themes and ideas at play in the festival and offer new meeting points.

Extra special this year, Magnetic North launches a new set of possibilities for our audience: 2010 is the first time we will present the work of international artists. We’re thrilled to bring to Kitchener-Waterloo two works from the United Kingdom that are, at their heart, about creating and investing in a community, and that will build new connections between UK and Canadian artists and audiences. London’s Subject to_change invites festival-goers to build and tend their own city with their installation home sweet home, while Spill Feasts' director Robert Pacitti of London’s Pacitti Company animates Feasts where everyone – audience and artists alike – talk about the shows, play with ideas and get to know one another over food, wine and conversation.

Please join us for what are sure to be exciting, entertaining and provocative Encounters!

home sweet home

Created by Abigail Conway and Lucy Hayhoe
Subject to_change (London, UK)

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE!

From June 12-14, home sweet home Estates will invite you to become a resident of Kitchener-Waterloo’s smallest suburb, a cardboard community of neat magnolia-lined streets and houses just waiting to be turned into homes.

On arrival, you will select a plot of land and a flat-packed cardboard house which you can personalize with crayons, construction paper and glitter. The development boasts a number of services to help you settle in – a notice board, a postal service and even a local radio station. Meet your neighbours, explore the city, and get to know the world around you.

As a resident, you can come and go as you please; on the final night there will be a Block Party where all the residents gather and you can meet your neighbours and take in the results of three days of city building! And when you leave you can take your home, home.

Come and play with home sweet home communities and make your property owning dreams a glorious cardboard reality!

Presented with the support of the British Council and sponsored by The C3 Group in association with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

June 12 - 14 | Open from 1-8pm | Block Party, June 14, 6pm | Houses range in prices, all under $10 | KW|AG

SPILL Feasts

Created and hosted by Pacitti Company
Pacitti Company/SPILL Festival (London, UK)

North American Premiere! Come and dine with us! An exciting platform devised and hosted by the UK’s renowned Robert Pacitti, director of London-based SPILL Festival and Pacitti Company, the SPILL Feasts informally bring audience members and artists together for a meal and conversation. SPILL’s feasts at Magnetic North will feature a delicious meal, wine and a chance to mingle with festival artists and delegates and more.

Presented with support from the British Council.

June 13 – 14 | 9pm | $15 – single tickets available May 1 | Waterloo Entertainment Centre

Public Art Walks

Homage recreates a town’s revolt against its
public art – would it ever happen in KW? Join local artist, Nicholas Rees as he guides two tours that explore the role of public art in Kitchener and Waterloo and reveal the cities’ noteworthy, notorious and often unheralded treasures.

Simply pre-register for the walks on KW|AG’s website, www.magneticnorthfestival.ca/encounters, or take your chances and meet us in Kitchener and Waterloo at the designated departure points and start times. Please dress appropriately for walking and weather, the walks will happen rain or shine. The walk on June 13 will follow immediately after the matinee performance of Homage.

Presented in association with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

June 12 | 11am | Free | Meet at Uptown Waterloo Public Square, Waterloo
June 13 | 3:45pm | Free | Meet at KW|AG, Kitchener

Gibberish Workshop with Mump & Smoot

Learn the language of the planet Ummo. Join clowning godfathers, John Turner and Michael Kennard and learn Ummonian, Mump & Smoot’s special language, in an on-your-feet workshop open to everyone. Limited places available, write to encounters@magneticnorthfestival.ca to reserve.

June 11 | 12:30Pm | Free | University of Waterloo

SOLD OUT

Artist talk with Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon

MICHEL LEMIEUX and VICTOR PILON are one of Canada's most influential theatre duos, world-renowned for stunning integrations of technological innovation and powerful storytelling. Come hear them speak about their work and learn how they created Norman. Afterwards, join us for a quick walk up the hill to Centre In The Square to take in Lemieux Pilon's astounding Norman: A Tribute to Norman McLaren.

June 11 | 5:00pm | Free | Tickets for Norman available for purchase | Kitchener City Hall

Theatre is Here: IMPACT Festival documentary

Not only is The MT Space one of Kitchener-Waterloo’s leading theatre companies, they’ve also launched IMPACT, an exciting addition to Canada’s network of theatre festivals. Join us for the world premiere of Theatre is Here by director Azam Fouk Aladeh of the Multicultural Cinema Club and see for yourself the making of year-one of IMPACT and the artists and producers behind this bold event.

June 13 | 4pm | Free, with post-screening talkback | Princess Cinema

Build a home sweet home in the Greatest City in the World

In both The Greatest Cities in the World and home sweet home artists are examining ideas of community and urbanity. Construct your own home sweet home with the artists from Theatre Replacement.

June 14 | 1pm | See top of page for details on how to participate in Home Sweet Home | KW|AG

Small Wooden Shoe Science Salon

Science and art collide in an informal series of conversations and lectures hosted by Small Wooden Shoe’s Jacob Zimmer. Featuring festival artists and members of Kitchener-Waterloo’s research community in a bar atmosphere, you will be enlightened and entertained in this salon dedicated to creative inquiry.

June 17 | 10pm | Free | Festival Bar

Behind The Scenes: Directing Conversation With Joey Tremblay

Join Elephant Wake’s Joey Tremblay, one of Canada’s finest director-creators, as he leads students from across the country in an animated discussion on unorthodox and personalized approaches to directing, playwriting and the creative process. This conversation will take many turns, break a few taboos and just might culminate with an audacious blueprint for the next ten years of Canadian theatre.

Space is limited, email Cassandra Piroutz, Encounters Associate at encounters@magneticnorthfestival.ca to reserve.

June 18 | 2pm | Free with RSVP| HH180, University of Waterloo

Magnetic Book Club

Hosted by the award-winning playwright Joan MacLeod, Magnetic Book Club features an evening of activities centred on her latest GG nominated play Another Home Invasion. Hear Joan read from her body of work, discuss the themes of the play and compare the experiences of reading a play and seeing it live!

Plan ahead! Pick up the play at your favourite library or book store, read it, come see the show and meet the author at Magnetic Book Club!

Supported by the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts.

June 18 | Post-show at Another Home Invasion | Magnetic Book Club is free, tickets for Another Home Invasion available for purchase | Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts

PERIMETER INSTITUTE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES: JOHN MIGHTON

June 2 | 7pm | Free | Waterloo Collegiate Institute

THE LECTURE IS FULLY BOOKED.

Below are instructions on how to obtain last minute seats or view the lecture on closed circuit television.

LOCATION AND PARKING:
The lecture will be held at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, 300 Hazel St, Waterloo. For more information on how to get to WCI please click here. Parking is available in two lots directly across from the school. Please note these lots may fill quickly, in which case additional street parking is available where permitted by law. Theatre doors open at 6:20 pm, and the lecture begins at 7:00 pm sharp.

Magnetic North continues After the shows!

Join us each night at the Festival Bar, The Museum, from 10PM on and meet fellow festival-goers and artists in a casual atmosphere!