Canada in 150 Seconds: 150-second Videos

During 2017 we engaged 150 diverse Montrealers in telling stories about Canada in a 150-second video, to mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Foundation of Greater Montreal awarded a $15,000 grant for this project.

Coordinator Eric Craven worked with several community partners including Saint Columba House, James Lyng High School, Trafalgar School for Girls, Concordia University, and Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT), supporting a variety of video options.

We brought together the video-makers for four celebratory public showcase events that are listed below. The first took place on the 150th day of the year when we hosted a multi-media reception that included participants in another project who presented 150-word literary creations.

Close to 150 videos were completed and you can view most of them on our online gallery.

Click here to view 30 videos made by Concordia University students in a course conducted by Dr. Cynthia Hammond. They beautifully tell stories about relatively unknown Canadian women artists and architects.

For more information, contact project coordinator Eric Craven at eric@atwaterlibrary.ca.

Schedule of Project Activities

Four-Part “Seeing Canada Under a Microscope” Experimental Video Art Workshop
FRIDAYs, March 31 through April 28, 2017 — 2:00 to 4:00 pm
(Note that there was no session on Friday, April 14 when the Library was closed for the Good Friday holiday.)
Visual artist Melissa Tamporello facilitated learning to use digital microscopes to tell a story. The work produced will be included in various Canada 150 presentations.

150th Day Party
TUESDAY, May 30, 2017 — 4:30 to 6:00 pm
Screening of Canada in 150 Seconds videos, 150-word writing contest prize giving and readings, and visual art display

“Canada in Slow Motion” — A four-part experimental video workshop
THURSDAYs, October 5 through 26, 2017 — 1:30 to 3:30 pm
Shireen Pasha, retired professor of the Film and Television Department of the National College of Arts in Pakistan, and Eric Craven, Digital Literacy Project coordinator and musician, engaged participants in creating slow-motion video and digitally-manipulated sound. The work produced will be included in our Canada 150 project presentations.

Story Exchange 
Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 1:00 pm
People responded to the following invitation “If you have a true story about your life in Canada that can be creatively told in a 150-second video, please come and have it filmed. We’re hoping for stories about Canadian experiences that are humorous, profound, thought-provoking, poignant, nostalgic, inspiring, embarrassing, puzzling, disturbing or outrageous! You’re encouraged to bring a small object that could help tell the story or a document or photo that can be scanned and included in your video.”

Age 3.0: Aging in the City at Concordia University
WEDNESDAY, November 1, 2017
Screening of Canada in 150 Seconds videos.

Mechanics’ Days Vernissage at the Library
THURSDAY, November 30, 2017 — 5:00 to 7:00 pm
At a big reception to launch an exhibition of work in various media by Concordia University students and participants in Library projects, we will screen videos made in the course of the Canada 150 Video project by three groups:
— a Concordia Art Education class which met at the Library during the Fall semester;
— seniors who took part in slow-motion video workshops we conducted; and
— youth who participated in our summertime documentary-making project.

Final Showcase Event at the Library
FRIDAY, December 1, 2017 — 1:00 to 3:00 pm
The screening featured short videos by Concordia University students in a Feminism & Art History course, about relatively unknown women artists and architects who were born in, or settled in, the land now known as Canada. Works by Viola-Rose Day were also screened. Yiara Magazine facilitated a “Tea and Talk” following the films.