Shoptalk

• Nadine Sparks, owner of Unity Hair & Esthetics, will showcase looks at the event.
• SUBMITTED

The Braid Couture Art Show
Feb 15, 8pm
Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street
braidcoutureshow.com
$35-$45

From ombré hair to pastel colours, hair trends come and go. But braids, from cornrows to the French variety, have long been a hairstyle staple across cultures.

Tara Lynn Taylor is organizer of the Braid Couture Art Show, happening this Saturday at the Bus Stop Theatre, and she wants to broaden everyone's understanding of braiding and textured haircare. "It's for us," she says of the event, "but it's also for non-Black people, so they can see we have our own versatility, we don't need to look like them."

She hopes the event will shed light on the intricate details of textured hair, such as the importance of understanding porosity and density. "There's a science to it," says Taylor. "My products are designed in a way that takes the guesswork out of it."

Taylor is also the owner of Carmalina Naturals, a Halifax-based company that sells natural-haircare products. Along with P3 Hair and Beauty Supplies, she'll be selling natural haircare products in the venue lobby.

Hair stylist and creator of Braids By Tasha, Natasha Stephenson, will be braiding on Saturday night along with with her 12-year-old daughter, Na'siya. Stephenson believes the event will encourage people to get educated about different types of hair and hairstyles.

Stephenson says she'd like the Cosmetology Association of Nova Scotia to place more emphasis on braiding. "It's not only Black folk that can braid," she says. "There's white people, there's Asian people that may want to learn or already know how to do it. Taylor even points out that white parents of bi-racial children may benefit from better understanding how to care for their kids' hair.

This show will also showcase local fashion designers, such as clothing by Hilary Taylor Sears, Hologram Designs and purses and bags by Jaziel Ugbebor. There will also be theatrical, musical and dance performances.

• LOCAL by Local Girl designer Anita Joh sporting some of her wearable art.
• tylerpengelly

LOCAL By Local Girl
To Feb 8
Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street

W hat does "local" mean, anyway? NSCAD student Anita Joh's artistic persona (and "conceptual brand") LOCAL by Local Girl is an attempt to dig into that question through a series of pop-ups, installations and social-media engagements. The brand includes everyday functional objects, from wearable art pieces like t-shirts and bags to printed matter and book arts.

An institutional setting is new for Joh, however. That makes her grad exhibit, running until Saturday at the Anna Leonowens Gallery, a new experience: "I'm bringing it to the gallery space, which creates a different context," she says. "Everything else has been me popping up in an urban space that I found myself." (Explaining the streetwear vibes that permeate Joh's work.)

The exhibit involves taking gallery posters and invitations, turning them into art pieces themselves. The result? A deeply instagrammable aesthetic that's slick as lipgloss, with Joh sharing a micro-collection that carries an Off-White energy and features mini handbags that read like an edgier take on trendy French designer Jacquemus' micro-accessory.

It is, alongside being a breakdown on what local connections means, a reminder that high fashion and high art have always been RSVPing yes to the same party.

Originally from Vancouver, Joh has lived in Halifax for four years. She associates home with experience, people, community and connections. "You can be local to many places at once, it is okay to bend and adapt that definition to whatever works for you. We all want a sense of belonging and a home but that doesn't have to be geographical or physical, it can be found emotionally and mentally through people," she says.

• Classic games on classic carpet at the Best Western Chocolate Lake.

P inball wizards (and would-be wizards) are invited to Propeller Brewing Company's Propeller Arcade Room (2015 Gottingen Street) beginning at 4pm on Friday, January 31, for the arcade's first birthday party, featuring balloons, $5 beers, $10 t-shirts and lots of ball-flipping action.

Since opening last January with a modest collection of pinball and video games both vintage and new, the Arcade Room has blown Propeller up into one of the city's most eclectic pinball destinations, with brewery employee and pinball mastermind Ian Matheson squeezing in new machines "wherever he can find a few more square feet," says Propeller's Evelyn Hornbeck. It's also become a hub for Halifax Pinball League tournaments, and surprisingly raucous crowds of spectators.

Propeller's party caps off not just a big year for its arcade, but for pinball in general in Halifax, which now boasts eight destinations on pinballmap.com, the pinball scene's digital bible. Five belong to Silverball Games, which started four years ago with an arcade at the Best Western Chocolate Lake (250 St. Margarets Bay Road). Last December, Silverball opened the Pubcade, inside The Pint Public House (1575 Argyle Street).

According to Silverball's owner, Allison Amirault, the scene has become big enough and diverse enough that pinball cliques have begun to form. Older fans of vintage machines hit up the Sunnyside Mall Arcade (Sunnyside Mall, 1595 Bedford Highway), featuring classics from the '70s, '80s and '90s, whereas younger players make their way to the Pubcade, with newer offerings, from Iron Man to Game of Thrones to perennial favourite Jurassic Park. “Everyone loves Jurassic Park,” Amirault says.

“It’s pretty exciting to see games that are popular and new internationally, and have them here in Halifax,” says Hornbeck. (You can battle raptors at Propeller, too.)


As for Friday’s celebrations, “There will also be some surprises, but we can’t share them just now,” says Hornbeck. “It’s really just celebrating the space, because it’s been incredibly exciting to see how much people have loved it this past year, and how so many other spaces have opened. It’s amazing how people are into in this kind of fun.”

• Lauren Marshall credits her Real Fake Meats staff for supporting the switch from plastic to paper packaging.
• ian selig

  As a plant-based butchery, Gottingen Street's Real Fake Meats is far from a typical butcher shop. But if there's one tradition co-founder Lauren Marshall believes is worth preserving, it's wrapping her products in old-fashioned butcher-shop paper, not plastic.

It hasn't always been that way: when the shop opened one year ago this month, most of its products were vacuum-sealed in plastic, ready to grab-and-go. But all that hard-to-recycle single-use plastic never sat right with Marshall. "I had guilt knowing over the last year I could make this change, and it was just kind of weighing on me," she says. So, recently, Marshall started selling her plant-based products in more traditional, sustainable packaging.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, with the umami smell of simmering seitan in the air, Marshall's team was busy scooping Mozza Balls, heaps of Sun Parma and thick globs of Cream Cheeze into glass bottles. Other employees were plating decadent logs of cranberry-rolled "Goatless" Cheeze alongside juicy slabs of veggie steak, fat veggie sausages and thin slices of veggie ham. These were all destined for the display case, to be weighed and wrapped up for customers, or tucked away into paper boxes first thing the following morning.

Real Fake Meats isn't the only new local business becoming more mindful of its contribution to the single-use plastics problem. Neighbouring restaurant, Springhouse, recently started offering a $0.30 discount for customers who bring their own containers. A few months ago, Luminate Wellness Market opened its doors in Bedford, offering plastic-free produce and a "refillery" bulk section, where customers can, and are encouraged to bring or buy reusable containers.

Finally, in 2018 The Tare Shop on Cornwallis Street became Atlantic Canada's first package-free grocer. "Over the last two to three years, we've seen new businesses crop up that are going completely plastic free," says Marla MacLeod, director of programs at the Ecology Action Centre. "In general, there is just more awareness of just how much plastic waste we create."

MacLeod says that recent changes in public policy will set the bar higher for those who have yet to catch up. Last October, the Nova Scotia Legislature adopted the Plastic Bags Reduction Act, a pending province-wide ban on some single-use plastic bags that is set to come into effect this October. There is also recognition of the plastics problem at the municipal level, with the city's Beyond 3 Rs Program, which launched late last year. That program seeks to highlight businesses doing their part to reduce their plastics footprint.

But reducing plastic creates new challenges. While Real Fake Meats' refrigerators are now largely free of plastic packaging, the to-go freezer is still packed with towers of vacuum-sealed products. Unfortunately, says Marshall, it "makes the product kind of better," sealing in moisture and flavour while protecting it from freezer burn, and extending its shelf life without added preservatives.

Marshall also admits to a bit of concern that making the customer's experience less convenient—such as waiting for an employee to wrap up a purchase rather than just grabbing and going—could lead to a dip in sales.

Regardless, Marshall is pleased with the change, and while she's glad to see plastic reduction becoming a priority of government, she says her real inspiration for cutting down plastic waste comes from her employees.

"We'll always have meetings and speak with our staff and ask them what they think," she says. When she mentioned making a change, and felt her staff was behind her, "That was where I felt the influence [the] most, from the people that I spend the most time with."

• Carolina AndradE

Name: William Kim
Spotted: Corner of Tower Road and South Street
Wearing: Coat, Burberry; Sweater, H&M; Hat, Calvin Klein; Belt, Off White; Pants, Calvin Klein and Shoes, Raf Simons

What inspires your wardrobe? Japanese street fashion. I started showing interest in Japanese fashion culture after going to Tokyo and seeing all these different types of styles. From traditional Japanese dresses to futuristic styles, it is impossible not to acknowledge that Japanese people have an incredible sense of style. But, at the end of the day, I don't have a specific style; I like to wear what I want.

What is your favourite brand right now? I'm currently in love with Acne Studios. I love how their clothes look minimal with innovative designs.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your closet right now? My Liful Minimal Garments hoodie. It's an oversized sherpa hoodie that's warm and cozy—perfect clothing for the fall-winter time.

Favourite local shops? Elsie's Used Clothing. I like how Elsie's has a variety of clothes—from formal clothes to street fashion—and it's not overly priced for good quality clothing.

• Samuel Turpin

Rage Room Halifax
2820 Isleville Street
rageroomhalifax.ca

WHAT HE DOES
Terry LeBlanc has become desensitized to the sound of breaking glass. "I love seeing people genuinely happy!" he shouts over the sound of a computer monitor in the next room being obliterated by a golf club. Perhaps it's odd to associate happiness with a place where people vent their rage, but LeBlanc, co-owner of Rage Room Halifax, says people consistently leave with a smile on their face. At Rage Room, the tiresome warnings you've heard throughout childhood—"be careful with that" or "please don't touch that"—are disregarded. Instead, when clients emerge, cheeks flushed and slightly out of breath, LeBlanc simply asks, "So, what was your favourite thing to break?" 

WHO HE IS
Before Rage Room, LeBlanc co-owned a glass business on Isleville Street. When it closed, he knew he wanted to keep the space and start something new. "The area is growing," he says. "I didn't want to leave." A horror-themed escape room came to mind, but LeBlanc wanted something that would attract a broader audience. He googled "smash a room," discovered the concept of rage rooms and the deal was sealed. "I think I spent all night watching videos of people breaking stuff," LeBlanc says. Compared to his glass business, he says Rage Room has much higher levels of customer satisfaction. "People never smile when they get a bill for a new window," he says. "But the percentage of people who walk out of here disappointed is very low." Along with managing Rage Room, LeBlanc is a chef at Mount Saint Vincent University. Eventually, he would like to add a food element to Rage Room, effectively merging his trade and business together.

WHERE HE WORKS
LeBlanc and his mother, Donna LeBlanc, opened Rage Room in May 2018. To transform the space, LeBlanc installed cameras, lined the concrete walls with boards and purchased safety suits. He also made sure that each room was supplied with a Bluetooth speaker for clients who wanted to play their own music. LeBlanc buys items from Mission Mart, Auction Hut and Rick's Riches Thrift Store to stock his endless supply of "smashables"—the objects that are destroyed. After clients leave, LeBlanc cleans the room and recycles all electronic waste and glass. Occasionally, people ask to repurpose the debris into art. As a result, LeBlanc has several miniature Zen gardens assembled from scraps of metal and shards of glass on display at the front desk. On top of providing people with a place to purge their energy, Rage Room has unexpectedly become a way for LeBlanc to support local non-profits, keep waste out of landfills, and even inspire the odd local artist. 

• Samuel Turpin

WHY IT WORKS
People seek out Rage Room for all sorts of reasons, and LeBlanc welcomes them all. "We're entertainment first," LeBlanc says. "It's all about having a good time. If you happen to de-stress while you're here, then that's great too." He has seen people bring in stuff their exes left behind. He watched a family convince their 81-year-old grandmother to take a crack at breaking something. Another time, when LeBlanc asked a client how their day was going, the individual simply said, "Well, I'm supposed to be at the altar in five minutes." Rage Room Halifax provides a safe, controlled environment for people who are in need of catharsis, an adrenaline rush or just a good laugh. No matter who you are or where you're at in life, LeBlanc believes everyone needs to cut loose from time to time.

• Charity Doucette beads for hours.
• COREY ISENOR

Shimmering opals, oceanic blues, cream white pearls; that's Charity. Fresh sweetgrass, shapely moose antler, textured birchbark; that's Mi'kma'ki.

Charity Doucette, of Potlotek First Nation, combines the dazzle of trendy jewellery with the meaningful beauty of Indigenous beadwork to create show-stopping pieces that represent a restored pride in her heritage. "Know your worth—because that was the thing I struggled with," Doucette says, via FaceTime. "But, now I can see my worth."

In February, after years of selling to friends and family, Doucette created @beads_bychar, an Instagram account that showcases and sells her Mi'kmaq beadwork jewellery. In eight short months, the 20-year-old amassed over 1,000 followers. Her designs have been worn by Indigenous and non-Indigenous folk all over Canada and the US. 

What sets her apart from her contemporaries is how she incorporates symbols of Mi'kmaq culture—like hand-harvested and braided sweetgrass, real moose antler and artificial sinew—in a way that reflects her personal expression of beauty.  Though her beads aren't locally made, they're bought from an Indigenous entrepreneur in Eskasoni. Doucette ensures every aspect of her creations are locally sourced and supportive of her community.

"I like to take from the earth because Native people protect the earth," she explains. "I put that touch into my work because that's what I find is important, and that's what our people look towards." 

Doucette's eyes sparkle brighter than her shiniest jewels as she reveals handfuls of braided sweetgrass and thumb-sized gems. It's hard to imagine she was once embarrassed to call Potlotek home.

"I always had such an ugly concept of my culture," she says. "We were always centred out as the 'white kids.' We got bullied because we were 'white' and not as dark as other Natives." She learned to defend her mixed identity on and off reserve—especially at her predominantly white school.

"I never wanted to say I was from the reserve."

In 2008, Doucette's mother, Jeannie Marshall, took her kids to live at a hotel until Potlotek's habitually unsafe water was clean enough to boil and drink again.

"We don't even make our dogs drink our water," Doucette says. 

One day, all Indigenous students from Potlotek were called into the school gym. Doucette remembers the humiliation as she and her peers were rounded up and told they were allowed showers at school if they brought their own soap. 

"It was so embarrassing," Doucette says. She recalls shamefully explaining to classmates the reason for her absence. "They're really grossed out by you because you live somewhere where you can't even drink or do anything with your water."

Water conditions at Potlotek improved, but that didn't stop kids at school from targeting Doucette and her friend. "They were always on her back," she says. "'Oh, is the water making your skin that brown?' they would say. 'Shouldn't Charity be darkening up too?'"

These experiences, Charity says, soiled her Mi'kmaq pride. Then she was introduced to beadwork.

As a child, Doucette found comfort in drawing; a talent her mother recognized—and hoped to preserve—in her late grandfather, who was a chief. When Doucette was 13 years old, the Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Summer Games were hosted at Potlotek. For her worried mother, the games meant boys from all over Mi'kma'ki would be eyeing her teenage daughter. Marshall called her close friend, Marcia Johnson, and asked her to teach her daughter how to bead. A hobby supposed to distract Doucette from boys soon became an obsession.

"When I started beading, I saw the beautiful things in my culture, my reserve and traditions, instead of looking at the bad things that happen," she says.

Today, Doucette is more proud of her heritage than ever before. The young entrepreneur is currently studying hairdressing at Elevate Beauty Institute of Cosmetology in New Minas, and dreams of opening her own full-service, Indigenous owned-and-operated salon.

"I want to be able to have a safe place for people to go," she says.

Doucette hopes her beadwork inspires other Indigenous women to find pride in their traditions and pursue them. 

"Traditions that we've always held onto are still beautiful," she says, "even though our living conditions aren't."