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Radar: Broke: Photos from post-quake Haiti, Art Battle 4, They Shoot Music Videos Don't They, Jew and Improved, Steven Page, Images of the World and the Inscription of War

GALLERY | Broke: Photos from Post-Quake Haiti
Possibly the first Toronto exhibition to feature photos of post-earthquake Haiti, tonight 52 McCaul opens its doors for Nick Kozak's Broke, an entire show of images from the ravaged nation. The well-traveled Kozak has visited over 60 countries in his young life (he lists no fixed address in his bio), so it is no surprise that he found himself in Haiti just after the massive earthquake decimated the country and, he realized the only way he could help was to document what he saw. We have by now seen many images of devastation from the impoverished nation, but Kozak's street-level view and incredible skill at objectively capturing the human drama on display make this exhibition worth seeing. All proceeds from the show will be donated to relief efforts. Runs til March 14.
52 McCaul Gallery, 52 McCaul Street, Free with donation, Reception 7 pm - 11 pm tonight

ART | Art Battle 4
Toronto painters participate in a winner-take-all, gladiatorial art-to-the death battle royale tonight in the fourth instalment of Art Battle. Armed with only a pallette and their own creativity, three pairs of painters face off to see who can create the best piece in twenty minutes. The audience votes for the winning work which will be immediately auctioned off to the crowd, while the losing painter suffers the humiliation of watching her painting be destroyed before her very eyes. It's ruthless, yes -- but doesn't great art come from suffering?
The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. West, $10 patrons, $5 painters, 7:30 pm

FILM AND MUSIC | They Shoot Music Videos, Don't They
With MTV Canada unable to show music videos and MuchMusic having been reduced to little more than a vehicle to sell ringtones to tweens, you have to look elsewhere if you want to see great music put to film these days. Thankfully there's They Shoot Music Videos, Don't They, a film series curated by local director Scott Cudmore. TSMVDT brings you rare music videos and related films and tonight features work by Jonas Bonnetta, Andy Bruntel, Helmet, Video Marsh, and more. As an added bonus alt-folk balladeer and part-time sawmill operator Evening Hymns will also be performing a live set.
107 Shaw Gallery, 107 Shaw St., Free, 8:30 pm

BOOKS AND LIT | Jew and Improved
A few years ago Benjamin Errett was working his way towards a successful career in journalism, devoting much more thought to headlines than Hebrew. But then he saw God. Or more accurately, he saw a woman, fell in love with that woman, and then saw God. Jew and Improved is Errett's memoir on his conversion from lapsed Catholic to practicing Jew, and a humourous journey through Hebrew classes, first Passovers, and struggles to keep kosher. Now a managing editor at the National Post, Errett's book is much more than shtick, offering an insight not only into one man's religious conversion, but a more universal narrative about coming of age in an atheist city. The book launches tonight with an evening of interviews and game shows, and presumably delicious lox appetizers.
Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W., Free, 7 pm

MUSIC | The Art of Time Ensemble featuring Steven Page: A Singer Must Die Tour
Given his recent exit from the Barenaked Ladies and his much-publicized self-destructive run-in with New York State police, the title of Steven Page's solo record sounds a bit ominous. Let's hope naming the project A Singer Must Die is just Page's way of saying goodbye to his old life and embarking on something new. The ever-likeable Scarberian singer paired with the Art of Time Ensemble to cover a wide range of artists on the record, pushing his boundaries to the breaking point by including works by the Mountain Goats, Elvis Costello, the Weakerthans, and even Radiohead. The tour makes its Toronto stop at Koerner Hall tonight.
Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. W., $19.50 - $47.15, 8 pm

FILM | Images of the World and the Inscription of War
Harun Farocki's 1989 film Images of the World and the Inscription of War has been called one of the most influential documentaries of the past thirty years. Using aerial photography taken by the Allies, propaganda images captured by the Nazis, and photographs by concentration camp prisoner Alfred Kantor, Farocki questions the usefulness of the concept of photographic reality. At the heart of his argument is that while the Allies took detailed aerial photographs of Auschwitz in their search for German bombing targets, they utterly failed to grasp the human implications of the images. Unconventional in its execution, the film takes us into one of the central catastrophes of modern history via the labyrinthine mind of a great filmmaker.
Jackman Hall, Members and students $5.90, Non-members $10.14, 317 Dundas St. W., 7 pm

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Photo: "Nighthawks in Chinatown" by Andrea Duess, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.


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