Bellwoods

Second tinkering assignment for FILM 1001 - The CNE

Note: You have to be on-location at Kensington Market to hear this soundwalk. Kensington Market was historically one of the most multicultural neighborhoods in Toronto. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, so many Jewish immigrants moved to the Market that it became known as "the Jewish Market". This was the third centre of Jewish life in Toronto, after the East End and The Ward, where today Nathan Phillips Square stands. When they moved into the Market, Jewish immigrants created many communities, congregations, and social centres. They opened dozens of shops from groceries to butcheries, tailors and textiles, and often sold goods imported from Eastern Europe, from which many of them came. At the height of Jewish life in Kensington Market, it became home to about 60,000 Jews and served as the centre of Jewish political, religious, and economic life in the city. It was then that secular Jews came together to form the United Jewish People's Order, an organization that represents secular Jews in Canada to this day. The UJPO's Morris Winchevsky school is also home to the city's Jewish students who learn about the four thousand year Jewish civilization from a secular perspective, focused on Social Justice. In 2021 Winchevsky's teachers created this soundwalk about some of Kensington Market's Jewish history. Special thanks to the MWS educators Sharoni Sibony, Lainie Basman, Miriam Brookman, Iris Benedikt, and Tal R. for writing and narrative this soundwalk. Sound editing by MWS Education Director Lia Tarachansky.

This is a place where stories and poems mix together in a tornado of emotions.

Welcome to *Switching Queen(s): Back Alley Galaxies*, the first audio tour of **b current Performing Arts' *Wheel of the Year Walks*.** We recommend starting your journey in Node 1, in the South-West Corner of Masarayk-Cowan park. Through soundscapes of words, everyday life, music, and poetry, you will meet fictionalized and real humans in a sharing of blended time and space, transmutation between so-called human and animal species, entities, and spirits. While you move through the lands on which the neighbourhood of Parkdale stands, the Switch Collective will interrogate the challenges -- stemming from colonialism, capitalism, gentrification -- the area and its inhabitants face, and the manifest resilience bursting forth from all of the cracks. ### Credits Part of **Wheel of the Year Walks, an initiative created by b current Performing Arts.** *Switching Queen(s): Back Alley Galaxies* was created by The Switch Collective (Anna Malla, danjelani ellis, Jody Chan, Naty Tremblay, Sedina Fiati) with guest collaborator Leon Tsai Anna Malla - Direction, design, editing Kaija Siirala - Sound Design & Mixing **Featuring** Andrea Thompson - interview b solomon - poem “This Tree” Brescia Nember-Reid - song “Someday you’re gonna die” Kara Manso - graphic design Kiley May - excerpt from “Ghost Walker” Suzette Clarke - interview *Parkdale Women’s Leadership Group* & *Parkdale People’s Economy* - Miru Yogarajah, Anthony Riley, Mercedes Sharpe, Nadia Rajaram, Ko Hosoya, Stephanie Francis, Ida Smith, Sha Ally, Beryl-Ann Mark, Bernadette Rilloraza, Lobsang Dolkar - interviews and collaborative creative dreaming about Parkdale futures **In partnership with** b current Performing Arts, with special thanks to Artistic Director Sadie Berlin **with the assistance of** University of Waterloo Department of Knowledge Integration, with special thanks to Isabelle Lavallée-Gordon and Rob Gorbet **With support from** Canada Council for the Arts Masaryk Cowan Community Centre PARC - Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre Parkdale People’s Economy Parkdale Women’s Leadership Group RAW - Raging Asian Womxn Taiko Drummers SKETCH Working Arts **Previous incarnations of Switching Queen(s) have been supported by:** Summerworks Festival Canada Council for the Arts Toronto Arts Council Ontario Arts Council **Social Media handles: Instagram / Facebook** b current Performing Arts @bcurrentlive / b current Switch Collective @switch.collective.performance / The Switch Project Parkdale People’s Economy @parkdalepeopleseconomy / Parkdale People’s Economy Anna Malla @apmals / Annapurna Malla Brescia Nember-Reid @drawing.with.knives.shadows / Drawing With Knives Shadows danjelani ellis @groundwork.redux / DanJelani Ellis Jody Chan @jodyr.chan / Jody Chan Kiley May @artstarkiley / Kiley May Leon Tsai @blossom.leontsai / Leon Tsai Naty Tremblay @civilcyborg / Naty Tremblay Sedina Fiati @bwheelsheels / Sedina Fiati