Zahra Siddiqui is one of Toronto’s multi-talented visual artist’s and photographer. One of the amazing things about Zahra’s art is that she is self-taught. With the encouragement of close friends, Zahra began her journey and soon found her voice in her art. Zahra also shares how her first solo exhibition came about and the impact it has left. Ep. 14 – Visual artist and photographer, Zahra Siddiqui Photos by Jodianne Beckford For more photos of visit jodiannebeckford.com ZAHRA SIDDIQUI SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: ZahraSiddiqui The Invisible Majority: ZahraSiddiqui Website: ZahraSiddiqui Twitter: ZahraSiddiqui VIDEO FILMED & EDITED BY: O’SHANE HOWARD Vimeo: O’shaneHoward Instagram: O’shaneHoward Website: O’shaneHoward Facebook: O’shaneHoward PODCAST INTRO/OUTRO…
Author: Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne, also known as "KB The Boss" or simply "KB", is a Toronto-based host/on-air personality, arts & entertainment journalist, TV/film producer, and communications and content strategist. As a commentator and freelancer, he has appeared nationally as a correspondent on CBC News Network and host on CBC Music. He has also appeared locally on CTV, CBC Radio, CityNews, Newstalk 1010, and ByBlacks.com, and in the United States on Fox’s Black digital TV network, Fox Soul. He has covered some of Canada’s top red-carpet events, from the Toronto International Film Festival to the Canadian Screen Awards, and has interviewed everyone from Kevin Hart and "Fast and the Furious" star Tyrese Gibson to Ziggy Marley, Ava DuVernay, Dascha Polanco, Lilly Singh, and Howie Mandel. His years of work as an entertainment journalist led to him being named a Golden Globe® Awards voter and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved critic and being quoted as a critic in national ad campaigns for Black films and TV shows, both in Canada and the United States. Pivoting into the world of film and television, Kevin co-founded the film, TV, digital content, and live experiences company, SHIFTER Entertainment, alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah. Through SHIFTER he has produced a number of projects, including the Bell Fibe TV1 unscripted reality series A Date In The Life, serving as showrunner, executive producer, writer and co-director. Now, with a number of pilot and feature film scripts written and projects in development, KB is poised to continue to be a champion for Black entertainment and culture alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah.
Today the Ottawa Citizen published an opinion piece by our editor, Kevin Bourne, on the violence at Bluesfest. In this piece he stated that artists and parents bear some responsibility for the behaviour: “…artists need to take responsibility. You can’t have artists talking about molly and Percocets, then act like they have no responsibility when young people are intoxicated at their shows. Young people are impressionable. Case in point: when I was a teenager I went through a brief gin and juice phase. Third, parents need to take responsibility. There are some concerts you shouldn’t be bringing your kids to.…
I woke up the morning that 4:44 was released to find my timelines flooded. Everything, and I mean everything, was 4:44. That is the kind of clout that Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, possesses. Now, we’re not talking about the Lil Uzis and Lil Yachtys of the world. When Mr. Carter speaks, the world listens. My friend was messaging me frantically all morning asking if I had heard the album. He knew I was a fan of true lyricists and Jay-Z certainly was one of them. I told him I was trying to sign up for Tidal as we spoke. Success. I made the…
Facebook never ceases to generate buzz and every once in a while its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, generates buzz of his own. This week the business media was buzzing as Facebook closed last week at an at time high of $159.97 per share. This meant a big jump in net worth for the Facebook founder. John Bonazzo of observer.com reported on this story: Facebook’s stock has risen nearly 40 percent since the start of 2017—it closed at a record high of $159.97 on Friday. The social network is also expected to announce strong second-quarter earnings at the end of July. All of this…
So the 2017 edition of RBC Bluesfest is in the books and it was a great show. The mix of artists was on point- 50 Cent, Toby Keith, Anderson. Paak, Muse, Migos- and as usual, there was something for everyone. As we said in our preview, the local talent at this year’s festival was deep and showed how far Ottawa’s music scene has come along. One thing was clear after attending multiple shows over the 10-day festival- not all performers are created equal. The top performers were Toby Keith, Anderson. Paak, Muse, P!nk and Tegan and Sara, and The Souljazz Orchestra.…
Full disclaimer. I am a huge fan of Jazz, Reggae, Soul and Afro Beats. So in a way, the following review might be somewhat biased. Now, if there’s a show I am glad I attended, it’s definitely this one. The Souljazz Orchestra was by far my favorite performance of the entire festival. If only for their styles and the message they choose to share, I would even say that the Souljazz Orchestra is my favorite Ottawa music group period. Music as a whole is a universal art. There are so many genres and sub-genres out there that it makes it…
Last night, watching Muse gave me a little bit of a taste of what it must have been like to see Queen when Freddie Mercury was alive. Some might say that’s too bold of a comparison but I think Muse has a lot of similarities. Queen combined musical theatre performance and songwriting with modern rock. Muse combined classical music with rock and blues. Both are famous for their stage performances and production, if not most important though, both fronted by incredible vocalists. Matthew Bellamy has the best live singing voice I may have ever heard. The band’s total execution in…
To say Anderson. Paak & The Free Nationals was the best performance at Bluesfest without seeing all the acts sounds presumptuous but within one minute of the set I was pretty sure it had to be. Anderson and the band instantly blew everyone I had seen out of the water. It didn’t even seem like they were in the same league. It was like the whole week was opening bands and they were the headliner. I came into the show with fairly high expectations. I’ve been a big Anderson .Paak fan since the release of his sophomore album Malibu. He’s…
Maurice Moore is one of the hottest acts coming out of Canada’s capital today. After joining R&B singer Kehlani’s Tsunami Mob last year, and releasing tracks ranging from 11,000 to one million plays on Soundcloud, his hard work is paying off. Moore started off with the upbeat tracks Awesome and Just 2, one of my favourite songs of the night. It’s a groovy and fun song that features Moore’s rap skills. Artists like Drake are blurring the lines between R&B and hip-hop and Maurice Moore continues that trend and does it well. Rapping on a fun R&B song is good…
Aside from 50 Cent, the other show I was looking forward to the most at Bluesfest was Migos. I’m an old school hip-hop fan, a purist, so it took me a while to come around, but I’ve actually become a fan. They’ve originated a style of their own and the dynamic between Quavo, Offset and Takeoff is interesting to watch, whether they’re being interviewed or freestyling. And really, they’re just cool. I’ve heard people say that this new crop of rappers from the south aren’t really rappers; they’re rock stars. Migos fit that description. Their following and unique sense of…
“In order to be irreplaceable, once must be different.” -Coco Chanel
Admittedly, I’m not in Fetty Wap’s general demographic. This became evident when I reached the show and was surrounded by a sea of high school aged or younger kids. That being said, it was a fun show. I went in without having an expectation for the performance and was pleasantly surprised by a few things. Fetty Wap is an extremely charismatic stage presence. It didn’t hurt that he had a whole crew with him on stage that helped bring up the energy of the performance. Even when the crowd’s energy went down a bit, all he had to do was…
