What you missed in the newsletter: Exhibitionists heads to Ottawa

Hello! You're reading the CBC Arts newsletter, and if you like what you see, stick around! Sign up here, and every Sunday we'll send you a fresh email packed with art, culture and a metric truckload of eye candy, hand-picked by our small and mighty team. Here's what we've been talking about this week.

Hi, art lovers!

Um, can we shoot at the National Arts Centre every week?

CBC Arts: Exhibitionists is back for a fifth (!!!) season on Friday, and for the taping, our host Amanda Parris took a trip to Ottawa where she got to film in so many stunning locations, we're tempted to burn that paper backdrop we've been using for a bajillion episodes now.

I'm joking. We'd probably recycle it. (And seriously, we still need it.)

But there's more to the episode than those schmancy location shoots. The team timed the trip to cover the NAC's Indigenous Theatre, which launched its first season this week. For this video, we got to know their artistic director, Kevin Loring. Set in his hometown (Lytton, B.C.), it's a behind-the-scenes look at a production called Battle of the Birds that he staged with members of the community. (Find the full episode on CBC Gem Sept. 20.)

And that's just one of the premieres we're celebrating! Big Things Small Towns is a new web series about something just about every Albertan does at some point in their life. And no, it's not about moving to Toronto. Instead, drive from Vegreville to Medicine Hat (and several places in between), as filmmaker Tamarra Canu visits the province's gigantic roadside attractions.

You've got to see this

A sight for dinosaur eyes - It's the first big thing in a small town, Drumheller's "world's largest dinosaur," and we're crawling inside the fibreglass belly of the beast. Plus, Tamarra learns how one local maker builds dinosaurs … that are even more fearsome than this one.

"Like" if you can relate - You've changed since 2016. We all have. And the way Douglas Coupland sees it, technology has fundamentally rewired our identities. That's one of the drivers behind his new show at MOCA Toronto (co-curated with Shumon Basar and Hans Ulrich Obrist). Welcome to the Age of You, kids! The curators walked us through some of the meme-ish posters that define the exhibition.

Filmmaking advice from Canada's finest - This time last week, I was plugging a bunch of TIFF panels that were produced by our team and the Directors Guild of Canada. Well, here's a little of what you may have missed! Directors Semi Chellas (Mad Men, American Woman), Joey Klein (Castle in the Ground), Albert Shin (Clifton Hill) and Amy Jo Johnson (Tammy's Always Dying) talk about navigating the industry.

Follow this artist 

Dena Seiferling (@pickleandfrancois) - Dena's a Calgary artist who popped up on CBC Arts: Exhibitionists back in 2018, and I was so thrilled to get an email from her this week because — fun news — she's illustrated the latest storybook by Cary Fagan! Look for King Mouse Sept. 24.

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Until next week!

XOXO, CBC Arts