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
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
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.
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