impressions of Winnipeg
I’ve been staying at a hostel since the conference ended and my free ride ended. I’ve been told that hotels are very cheap here, but I choose to stay at a hostel both because I can save money, but more importantly, because I wanted to meet people. Walking out of that shi-shi hotel sunday afternoon with two heavy bags, and only a vague idea of where i was going felt gorgeous.
Since then I’ve been been basically hanging out. I sat on the street for while the other day and read the newspaper. I went to a video game parlour and wasted a few dollars. Wandered around trying to find an open hotspot (with little luck). Yes, I’ve had to do a little work, but not too much. Now I’m at this placed called Mondragon. It’s the local vegan restaurant/cafe equitable/workers cooperative with a anarchist bookstore in the back, a bike shop/workshop downstairs, an indy media type thing upstairs, and with a big 7-storey artists studio building across the street.
Mondragon has great big windows, a 20-foot ceiling, and lots of space between the tables. When I came in a grandmother was sitting on a big sofa with two kiddies, reading to them.
The huge bonus was that I was able to catch an open signal (so I’ve been here for the last 6 hours and eaten two meals).
Winnipeg is fairly small -and obviously more conservative than Montreal- so apparently the scenes cannot afford to be exclusive. The lesbians are in the same extended group as the artists, the anarchists, the open source crowd, the punks, and the communists (yes there are still communists in Winnipeg!). It’s really pleasant.
There is a lot of poverty. A huge native population, with a lot of people just wandering around, asking for money, cigarettes. Refreshingly (and disturbingly) they don’t seem to be socially marginalized the same way as itinerants seem to be in Montreal. They are comfortable with the space they take up, and don’t come across as hesitant or apologetic. I think this might just have to do with how many of them there are.
Also, people don’t seem to tip here very much. It’s very much the poor cousin to Calgary right now with lots of it’s young people moving there for jobs.
I had a great, half-inebriated conversation with a local organizer and artist. I was telling her my honest impression of Winnipeg - which was that I couldn’t imagine living here - because of the lack of energy, culture, and more importantly the opinions by people and politicians towards homosexuality, single mothers, different ethnicities, etc. She responded by telling me that obviously Montreal is wonderful. (smug smile turned up on my face). “But”, she said, “Montreal is known for being wonderful, so people from all over move there and make art, and have all these open-minded ideas and it grows on itself. [pause] When art happens here, it means something. It’s not easy in the same way”.
I’m still trying to digest that, that the good things (art, exciting projects, a great local cafe) might mean more here, because they are not easy, they are not supposed to happen.
May 18th, 2005 at 12:00 am
yeah, this is just a new twist on an old parable. You know the one - a widow gives two pennies to a collection box in a church, and Jesus tells everybody that this means a lot more than the rolls of bills that the rich people were stuffing in the box. To some extent I buy it, but had I been there I would have argued the opposite: in an embarrassment of riches situation, sometimes it is paralyzing to create, being surrounded by so many talented people. Also it is harder to be heard, since there is so much to see. One fights for a space on a much narrower bandwidth due to crowding. I actually know an artist who lives in Winnipeg and has told me he would be loath to leave - the inexpensiveness of the city and lack of pressure to produce make it easier for him to create than in a larger centre. Also, in a larger community the critiques are more honest and therefore harsh - in a place less populated by creative people, who is even qualified to criticize you? As a gal from a small town originally, I can say with confidence - there are few. So crap is elevated to art status, and it becomes too comfortable to leave. Let’s just say there’s a reason why New York City is still a mecca for creative types - like minds, but also honest and valid critique, and a real sense of accomplishment when you can manage to attract attention (hopefully for the right reasons).
May 18th, 2005 at 12:48 am
damn! if you had been there on sat night I would have saved on some big-city angst ;)
May 18th, 2005 at 9:36 am
if I had been there, hopefully you would have kicked me under the table!
September 9th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
what the hell are you talking about winnipeg is an pretty open minded city. and oh yeah i remember seeing something on cbc about where in montreal they wouldn’t let blacks into bar.
montreal seems prtty racist
and speak english already or go back to france if us native people have to assemilate and speak englsih you french people should do the same.
by the my grandfather is a full blooded frenchman so im not a racist that’s just my opinion on the world
September 15th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
yeah- that was a fairly lame post of mine. but thanks for one-up-ing me with the “go back to france” comment ;-)
Re: the cbc story - from what I heard it wasn’t about not letting in blacks (a la “no blacks allowed”), it was about not letting in gangbangers because there had been problems in the neighborhood. So racist - yes, in terms of racial profiling.
take care.