Jan 20th 8pm and Jan 20th 2pm for Open Mic
Edmonton to join the world for a weird arts celebration
The Boreal Electroaoustic Music Society (BEAMS) will celebrate Art’s Birthday, one of the world’s most unusual celebrations of art. The event, Art’s Birthday Edmonton 2024, takes place Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. at Idylwylde Community League (8631-81 Street).
The show will feature a wide range of Edmonton sound artists and experimental musicians, many of whom have garnered international reputations for their work. Slated to play are James Parrott, Wayne DeFehr, Cave To Hades, Shawn Pinchbeck, Skrunt Skrunt, XiME, and The Alt-Wrong Orchestra.
BEAMS has hosted this annual event in Edmonton since 2010, as part of a global tribute to art, an idea conceived by French surrealist Robert Filliou in 1963. He believed that a million years ago, art did not exist until a sponge was dropped into a pail of water, and picked his own birthday, Jan. 17, to celebrate the occasion. Charmed by the absurdity of the notion, artists, predominantly in Europe, have been celebrating Art’s Birthday ever since. A comprehensive background of the event and international listings are available on artsbirthday.net .
A free open mic event hosted by the Idylwylde Community League also takes place that day at 2 p.m. Admission to Art’s Birthday is free to Idylwylde Community League members, $10 to BEAMS members, $20 to non-members, with a BEAMS membership to newcomers built into the price.
