Tomorrow it all begins again. We're very excited to be hosting our first open rehearsal of this project – 8pm at the Ernest Balmer Studio in the Distillery District. If you would like to attend, please drop us a line via the contacts page on our website – (click here) – please note, this is not a performance, merely a chance to share some of the ideas and scenes we've been working on, and invite responses and discussion from friends & supporters.
Cheers!
– The Empty Room
Friday 18 May 2012
Gracious thanks!
To our wonderful supporters:
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is due to the generosity of people like yourselves that this project is able to happen, and will continue to happen into the future. A big shout out to Gordon Frank, Rosemary Reilly, Sarah Nesbitt, Marnie Fiddis, Glen Simpson, Amar Wala, Aleks Blumentals, the Marta Resource Centre for Women, Magda Olchawska, 'Let-Me-Fall', Kelsey Johnson, Courtney Simpson, Taryn Jorgensen, Jesse Nerenberg, Alexandria Novokowsky, Loretta Semple, Kamini Murthy & Adam West! (Along with all those anonymous contributors out there – you know who you are!)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is due to the generosity of people like yourselves that this project is able to happen, and will continue to happen into the future. A big shout out to Gordon Frank, Rosemary Reilly, Sarah Nesbitt, Marnie Fiddis, Glen Simpson, Amar Wala, Aleks Blumentals, the Marta Resource Centre for Women, Magda Olchawska, 'Let-Me-Fall', Kelsey Johnson, Courtney Simpson, Taryn Jorgensen, Jesse Nerenberg, Alexandria Novokowsky, Loretta Semple, Kamini Murthy & Adam West! (Along with all those anonymous contributors out there – you know who you are!)
Wednesday 25 April 2012
A big thank you
Thanks to everyone who came out to our Launch Party on Saturday night, especially to the wonderful artists and musicians who made the evening such a pleasure to be a part of.
A big shout out to The Rivoli for having us there – look forward to more events at this awesome venue, we're excited to start planning our next adventure with them!
Those who came will have heard about our current Indiegogo campaign – we're raising funds to put our new project, Born Free*, into development. Please help us out be spreading the link or donating as little $1 to help make this project happen.
With love,
The Empty Room
A big shout out to The Rivoli for having us there – look forward to more events at this awesome venue, we're excited to start planning our next adventure with them!
Those who came will have heard about our current Indiegogo campaign – we're raising funds to put our new project, Born Free*, into development. Please help us out be spreading the link or donating as little $1 to help make this project happen.
With love,
The Empty Room
Monday 2 April 2012
Launch Party at The Rivoli!
It's confirmed: the Official Launch Party for Born Free* will be on Saturday April 21st 2012 at The Rivoli – 334 Queen St. West, Toronto.
Come on down for an evening of Comedy, Music, Magic, and Revelry – hosted by none other than the legendary Nick Hamilton. Featuring comedy from Sex T-Rex & Jessica Beaulieu; music from Jamie Mac Band, The Night Knights, Meghan Greeley, & Shaun Benson; magic from James "The Illushionist" Hawksley; and topped off with the cherry that is Jonah Greenbaum-Shinder, who will spin the coolest of grooves to dance the night away to.
And if that's not enough, watch this space – we have even more acts to be announced soon!
– The Empty Room
Come on down for an evening of Comedy, Music, Magic, and Revelry – hosted by none other than the legendary Nick Hamilton. Featuring comedy from Sex T-Rex & Jessica Beaulieu; music from Jamie Mac Band, The Night Knights, Meghan Greeley, & Shaun Benson; magic from James "The Illushionist" Hawksley; and topped off with the cherry that is Jonah Greenbaum-Shinder, who will spin the coolest of grooves to dance the night away to.
And if that's not enough, watch this space – we have even more acts to be announced soon!
– The Empty Room
Sunday 25 March 2012
In Memorandum
Last week, we suffered a great tragedy; our dear friend and colleague, Sarmad Iskandar, passed away suddenly on Friday March 16th 2012. Sarmad will be greatly missed by all of us, he was an incredibly talented Actor and Musician, and he was our friend.
Our thoughts go out to his family, their loss is utterly incomprehensible.
Rest in peace my friend, we will miss you for the rest of our lives.
With love,
– The Empty Room
Our thoughts go out to his family, their loss is utterly incomprehensible.
Rest in peace my friend, we will miss you for the rest of our lives.
With love,
– The Empty Room
Thursday 15 March 2012
A response to Kony 2012
In the wake of what has been one of the most successful viral campaigns in history, and its ensuing criticism, I would like to offer my response.
While I still believe that awareness is hugely important when it comes to human rights issues, I do not believe we benefit from the solutions proffered by movements such as Kony 2012. It is not, as with many things, a case of catch the bad guy. This is far too simplistic an approach. I defy any advocate of military action who thinks that more violence will serve us as a people. Violence begets more violence, and we should not stand for it.
The biggest obstacle we face when campaigning against human trafficking and modern day slavery – including the abduction of children to be used as soldiers – is the fact that we, as a society, feed the demand for such actions. It is our commercialism, our consumerism, and our voracious appetite for over-sexualized and objectified women that feeds this demand. The fuel in our cars, the rare metals in our consumer electronics and the modern, unrealistic conceptions of beauty that we buy into day after day are the things that cause these wars over oil and precious natural resources, and force women to be exploited and paraded around as commodities in front of a rabble of willing customers.
Yes, there are a number of people who profit from this. They are the hungry dogs salivating before a juicy bone – but it is us who are the ones wielding that bone.
This is what we need to spread awareness about: not just the fact that this is happening at all, but the fact that we are the ones causing the demand for it. Let the dogs go hungry I say.
– The Empty Room
While I still believe that awareness is hugely important when it comes to human rights issues, I do not believe we benefit from the solutions proffered by movements such as Kony 2012. It is not, as with many things, a case of catch the bad guy. This is far too simplistic an approach. I defy any advocate of military action who thinks that more violence will serve us as a people. Violence begets more violence, and we should not stand for it.
The biggest obstacle we face when campaigning against human trafficking and modern day slavery – including the abduction of children to be used as soldiers – is the fact that we, as a society, feed the demand for such actions. It is our commercialism, our consumerism, and our voracious appetite for over-sexualized and objectified women that feeds this demand. The fuel in our cars, the rare metals in our consumer electronics and the modern, unrealistic conceptions of beauty that we buy into day after day are the things that cause these wars over oil and precious natural resources, and force women to be exploited and paraded around as commodities in front of a rabble of willing customers.
Yes, there are a number of people who profit from this. They are the hungry dogs salivating before a juicy bone – but it is us who are the ones wielding that bone.
This is what we need to spread awareness about: not just the fact that this is happening at all, but the fact that we are the ones causing the demand for it. Let the dogs go hungry I say.
– The Empty Room
Tuesday 13 March 2012
5% in 48 hours!
Thank you so much for all your support so far, we have reached 5% of our goal in just 48 hours! Please keep spreading, emailing, posting the video wherever you can, we cannot do this without you. Keep checking back for more perks – some awesome ones to be released soon!
Love to all,
– The Empty Room
Love to all,
– The Empty Room
Monday 12 March 2012
Born Free* – The Movement Has Launched
Slavery did not die with abolition, there are more slaves today than any other time in history – and it's even happening right here in Canada.
Slavery is here. It is right in your back-yard. It is there in your grocery store and your laundrette. It is in the wiring of your laptop, your smart-phone and your portable ultra-sleek tablet computer. It's in every newspaper, trash can, and in every cup of designer coffee. An estimated 27,000,000 people worldwide are victims of modern day slavery. It's time we woke up and made a change.
This project is about doing just that.
Born Free* is a collective of performing artists trying to spread awareness about the issue of modern day slavery. Using the tools of our trade – Music, Theatre, Dance, Spoken Word – we are creating a multi-disciplinary performance piece that tells the stories of those affected by this industry, how this issue impacts us in the 'first world', and why it is still happening so long after it was supposedly abolished two centuries ago.
Wednesday 15 February 2012
How many slaves work for you?
How many slaves work for you? Find out by taking a short quiz on Slavery Footprint. The results may startle you. My number was 29 – it really made me think about the choices we all make in everyday life that have such an effect on those working further down the chain of supply.
The Empty Room.
The Empty Room.
Thursday 9 February 2012
Born Free*
Coming soon from The Empty Room:
We are proud to announce that work has begun on our newest project, a collective creation piece aimed at raising awareness about the problem of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
Born Free* (*Subject to Status, Conditions Apply) is a collaboration of emerging theatre and dance artists in Toronto that will be work-shopped this coming spring. Stay tuned for more updates, sneak-peeks, and information about how you can participate in combating this cruel and illegal trade.
empty-room.com
We are proud to announce that work has begun on our newest project, a collective creation piece aimed at raising awareness about the problem of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
Born Free* (*Subject to Status, Conditions Apply) is a collaboration of emerging theatre and dance artists in Toronto that will be work-shopped this coming spring. Stay tuned for more updates, sneak-peeks, and information about how you can participate in combating this cruel and illegal trade.
empty-room.com
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Slavery: The Facts?
Okay, as you know, we've adopted a cause at The Empty Room this year. We are delving into the dark world of human trafficking & enslavement in an attempt to shed some light on this huge issue.
Sound simple? I wish it were.
When it comes to knowing about human rights on this planet of ours, we are living in the dark ages. Just take a look at this research done by some of the world's leading experts about human rights: "Some 12.3 million people are enslaved worldwide..." – this comes from a report by the International Labour Organization entitled "A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour."(1) Seems pretty succinct doesn't it? 12.3 is a definite number, it must be somewhat accurate, right?
Take a look at these statistics then: Siddharth Kara (an expert on the modern slave trade & acclaimed author) estimated there would be 29.9 million slaved by the end of 2009 (2). Twelve point three versus twenty nine point nine million? That's a discrepancy of over seventeen million. And that's just the start of it, "According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), estimates vary from 4 to 27 million."(5)
What? Four to twenty seven million? Who comes up with these numbers? So, let me get this straight, the world's experts – the people who seemingly know more about this problem than anyone else – cannot agree on a number with less than a 25.9 million-person margin of error. That's the equivalent of over two-thirds the population of Canada (4) – in errors. That, to me, spells a big problem.
What is known is that since the legal abolition of slavery, the number of enslaved people has not decreased; it has, in fact, gone up. There are more slaves today than at any other point in human history. (3)
Why is there so little said about this in the media? Why is there such poor information about this? It’s no wonder this issue is so easily swept under the rug when the public simply isn’t informed about it. What can we do then? Simply put, we must spread the word, support the few organizations who do make a difference, and put pressure on politicians – starting with our local MPs – to help turn the tide on this $31.6 billion dollar illegal industry (1).
–The Empty Room
www.empty-room.com
info@empty-room.com
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sources / Bibliography
1) BBC News Website – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4534393.stm
2) Kara, Siddharth (October 2008). Sex Trafficking – Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231139601.
3) By E. Benjamin Skinner Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 (2010-01-18). "sex trafficking in South Africa: World Cup slavery fear". Time.com.
4) Statistics Canada – http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ig-gi/pop-ca-eng.htm
Sound simple? I wish it were.
When it comes to knowing about human rights on this planet of ours, we are living in the dark ages. Just take a look at this research done by some of the world's leading experts about human rights: "Some 12.3 million people are enslaved worldwide..." – this comes from a report by the International Labour Organization entitled "A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour."(1) Seems pretty succinct doesn't it? 12.3 is a definite number, it must be somewhat accurate, right?
Take a look at these statistics then: Siddharth Kara (an expert on the modern slave trade & acclaimed author) estimated there would be 29.9 million slaved by the end of 2009 (2). Twelve point three versus twenty nine point nine million? That's a discrepancy of over seventeen million. And that's just the start of it, "According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), estimates vary from 4 to 27 million."(5)
What? Four to twenty seven million? Who comes up with these numbers? So, let me get this straight, the world's experts – the people who seemingly know more about this problem than anyone else – cannot agree on a number with less than a 25.9 million-person margin of error. That's the equivalent of over two-thirds the population of Canada (4) – in errors. That, to me, spells a big problem.
What is known is that since the legal abolition of slavery, the number of enslaved people has not decreased; it has, in fact, gone up. There are more slaves today than at any other point in human history. (3)
Why is there so little said about this in the media? Why is there such poor information about this? It’s no wonder this issue is so easily swept under the rug when the public simply isn’t informed about it. What can we do then? Simply put, we must spread the word, support the few organizations who do make a difference, and put pressure on politicians – starting with our local MPs – to help turn the tide on this $31.6 billion dollar illegal industry (1).
–The Empty Room
www.empty-room.com
info@empty-room.com
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sources / Bibliography
1) BBC News Website – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4534393.stm
2) Kara, Siddharth (October 2008). Sex Trafficking – Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231139601.
3) By E. Benjamin Skinner Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 (2010-01-18). "sex trafficking in South Africa: World Cup slavery fear". Time.com.
4) Statistics Canada – http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ig-gi/pop-ca-eng.htm
5) Polaris Project (Detailing US State Department's TIP Report) http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=human%20trafficking%20stats%20per%20year&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEUQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cicatelli.org%2FtitleX%2Fdownloadable%2FHuman%2520Trafficking%2520Statistics.pdf&ei=PnIbT5Y_r7fRAejI6JoL&usg=AFQjCNGsLd5RP5StE4Vcu6y-0kER3YM8lA&sig2=6oLYBSBOlemrZZV957MqYA&cad=rja
Saturday 21 January 2012
You know how it is.
Some things just get you down. You know how it is: you hear a stray piece of news or a tossed around remark that just grates you, chips away at something deep down. A headline. A Statistic. An insensitive joke. "No..." you'll say to yourself, "...that isn't funny, that shouldn't 'just happen,' it is a big deal." But you don't. You just sit there, shrug it off, smile through gritted teeth. "I'm not a hostile person, why argue? What's the point? I'm not going to solve anything here anyway, especially not with these people." We've all been there, pissed off, helpless, judgmental. I've been there too. We want to act in principle, but we don't. How can this last? How long will it last? At what point do we become so desensitized to all injustice that we are incapable of acting? Has this happened already? I hope not.
In the coming weeks we will be exploring some issues of injustice that are much closer to home than most of us realize. Things are happening right in our own backyards. This is a call to action.
http://www.empty-room.com
In the coming weeks we will be exploring some issues of injustice that are much closer to home than most of us realize. Things are happening right in our own backyards. This is a call to action.
http://www.empty-room.com
Saturday 14 January 2012
In the name of business...
This is a radio documentary first aired in November 2007 – just one more case of exploitation in our oh-so-modern world.
This American Life: The Competition
This American Life: The Competition
Thursday 12 January 2012
Homegrown slavery...
Human trafficking affects us here, too.
Why is there so little known about this?
Why is there so little being done?
Why is there so little known about this?
Why is there so little being done?
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Our New Year's Resolution...
To hell with the old resolutions, this year it's time for change. I recently did some research on an issue I have been hearing a lot about recently – modern day slavery. It turns out this is a bigger problem than it ever has been – and it's not just in far off continents, it's happening right here in Canada, right on our doorstep. Have a look at this website and tell me it's not a big issue: http://www.endmoderndayslavery.ca/
So, in the spirit of the New Year, I think it's time we did something to help – our New Year's Resolution is to find a way to help raise awareness about modern world slavery here in Canada. Watch this space.
So, in the spirit of the New Year, I think it's time we did something to help – our New Year's Resolution is to find a way to help raise awareness about modern world slavery here in Canada. Watch this space.
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