Levin Ifko

Calling all queer musicians, writers, artists, performers, and anyone who would like to try something new in front of an audience…….this is the open mic for you! Come try your hand at performing that improvised modulated synth piece, or support a friend while they read poems about their first gay heartbreak. Either way, make sure to enjoy a drink and snack from @pansyclubyyc ‘s cafe pop-up! ***PLEASE NOTE*** Our March open mic is on FRIDAY the 27th. After this, we’ll resume our regular schedule on Saturdays. As well, we’ve changed the date of the May open mic to Saturday May 30th! Thank you, love you, and see you there! <3

Really excited to share my first piece of writing about local trans history as part of the Calgary Gay History Project. One of my great passions in this lifetime is letting people know, despite what they might assume based on provincial politics, just how queer the prairies have always been. Politics, and political attacks on trans people do not define us—we do. There is A LOT of important trans history being made here, and I’m looking forward sharing more of my research on this very soon. Thank you Kevin @yycgayhistory for all your support thusfar. You can read my full piece on the Calgary Gay History Project blog (and sign up for the mailing list while you’re at it!) Also, a big thank you to @skippingstoneca who was a big support for me as a trans youth, even before the organisation was founded in 2017.

I made this mini little textile piece with all the leftover blue fabrics I had from new work I made in 2024 🧢🦋 @stridegallery and @yolklesspress translated it into a risograph print, which you can buy as part of Stride Gallery’s 2025 Riso Fundraiser! Check out the fundraiser at the gallery (or online!) On now until March 14th, 2025 🖼️

🧡 Akimblog Review: Levin Ifko reviews Nelly-Ève Rajotte @ Contemporary Calgary 🧡 Levin Ifko @levinifko , our writer in Calgary, reviews Nelly-Ève Rajotte @nellyeverajotte at Contemporary Calgary @contemporarycalgary . Nelly-Ève Rajotte is a Montreal-based media artist who often engages with non-human methods of scanning landscapes and interacting with nature, utilizing technologies such as biosensors to create her immersive work. In Trees communicate with each other at 220 hertz, she uses LiDAR scanning to map and generate a digital representation of a forest. Presented as a video work in the darkened gallery space, the forest is depicted through thousands of dotted particles that read like a gridded mesh, warping to contour a fallen tree or pulsing gently to animate a forest floor that sinks and wriggles, almost as if to mimic the rise and fall of breath. Colourful particles not only form the forest itself, but they also capture warm light hitting the palms of leaves and branches. Sometimes, I even think I can see a blue glow in the distance, representing light from a skyline that was never rendered. Read the full story on Akimblog at akimbo.ca/akimblog. Link in bio. 📸 Images: 1-4) Nelly-Ève Rajotte, Trees communicate with each other at 220 hertz, 2024, installation view at Contemporary Calgary. Photos by Blaine Campbell. #Akimbo #AkimboArt #Akimblog #AkimblogReview #ContemporaryCalgary #VideoInstallation #Nelly-ÈveRajotte #LevinIfko

We're back with our next round of wintery open mics! ❄️✨️ The chill is in the air, so let's keep each other warm 🔥 Pansy Club's queer open mic nights are a space for you to express yourself freely and without judgements - love, joy, heartbreak, anger, sadness. We all feel it together 💓 All forms of expression are very encouraged: bring an instrument, sing a song (karaoke included!), put on a presentation or speech, do stand-up comedy, recite spoken word, show off your drag! 🎭🎨🎶🪕 Upcoming queer open mics: 🍂 November 22 🌟 December 20 🧊 January 24 💝 February 28 Doors open at 6pm for sign up and to grab something tasty from the Pansy Club cafe pop-up. Open mic runs from 7-10pm, so stop by anytime! 📍at @bellscafe.yyc 1515 34 Avenue SW Bell's Cafe is a partially accessible space, with an accessible front entrance and partially accessible bathrooms. Masks will be available at the door #yycqueer #yycopenmic #queeropenmic #yycartscene #yycmusic

Our final new exhibition that launched this September, is 𝗢𝗱𝗱 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗪𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻. Featuring the work of Alberta-based artists Mantis Mei, Teresa Tam, and Pamela Vickerson, this exhibition highlights the objects we find meaning in as vessels of comfort, humour, and connection. This travelling exhibition was curated by Levin Ifko @levinifko for TREX Southwest. With the mentorship and guidance from TREX Southwest’s former Program Manager and Curator, Ash Slemming @do.the.art.thing 𝗢𝗱𝗱 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗪𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻, is touring in the TREX Southwest region of the province until August 2026. From September 2026 to August 2027, this exhibition will visit venues at our partner regions: TREX Northeast/Central, Northwest, and Southeast. Visit our website or stay tuned to our social media for more information about this show, and where you might see our exhibitions in a public venue near you!

Hiiii. I’m excited to share this essay I wrote as part of @eskerfoundation ’s permanent collection! It’s in response to their Fall 2023 exhibitions “Care and Wear: Bodies Crafted for Harm and Healing” and “Like everything alive that we try and hold forever.” I wrote about the artworks in these shows, alongside my relationships to collecting, a love of objects, how these objects aren’t neutral, ocd, and the anxious (and hopeful?) feeling of trying to hold on. If you want to, you can read it now under the permanent collection tab on the esker’s website! :-)

This is the final weekend to see Tender to the Flame at the @eskerfoundation 🧤if you haven’t had a chance yet, the last day to see the show is October 20th, 2024. Despite being up since June, it’s gone by SO fast. It’s been a fairly chaotic several months since then, between a concussion (don’t leave hammers on ladders, kids!!!), travel, work, and lots and lots of change. But I’ve been feeling really grateful for the ways this show has given me the opportunity to (re)connect with people I love, and meet tons of new people too. ALSO: The Esker is taking drop off of additions to the Trans Community Quilt until the end of October! I’m hoping that this can be an ongoing project, so if you’ve been wanting to add something but can’t right now, there will definitely be other opportunities to do so. (If you are a gallery or other org located anywhere in AB, who might interested in doing another iteration of this workshop with me, please reach out to me via DM or email) . . . (swipe to see a sweet guy discourage me from working on my computer 💻🐈‍⬛)

Some photos from 𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚, showing at the @eskerfoundation in the Project Space until October 20, 2024. 📸: Blaine Campbell. The Fall 2024 exhibitions reception, and the opening of 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙨, 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙧, curated by Su-Ying Lee (@su_ying.lee )will take place on September 20, 2024 from 6-9pm at the Esker Foundation. I’d love to see you there! In the next couple weeks, I’ll be sharing about the public programming for 𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚, which will take shape as a local trans & non-binary community project. Stay tuned for more info! . . . . . #yycarts #TenderToTheFlame #queerarts @albertauarts #textiles #transarts #eskerfoundation

officially retiring from art to be With the Cows (just kidding please hire me)

Here’s the promo photo from my current show, Tender To The Flame, on at the @eskerfoundation Project Space from now until October 20, 2024! 🧤 I feel so excited and proud of this piece, and so grateful to @eskerfoundation for the opportunity to show this work - as well as to create it in the first place (being gifted a production budget as an artist is uncommon, and a huge game-changer). There is so much I could say about this piece, but i wanted to mention that it was really directly inspired by Zena Sharman’s research and writing in “The Care We Dream Of: Liberatory & Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health” (2021). This is such an incredible culmination of writing and interviews - I can’t recommend it enough!!! Lastly, hearing the response to this show has been so lovely. Thank you to everyone who has gone to see it and shared their thoughts. I feel so eternally grateful for the community of people I’ve been surrounded by lately 🩵 #yycartist #esker #transartists #queerart #artist #fibre

My first solo exhibition, 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦, is up in the Project Space at @eskerfoundation ! 🩵 Open now until October 20, 2024. This project feels very near and dear to me. At it’s core, I wanted to honour the queer and trans people in my life, and the ways that we care for one another. I want to extend a huge thank you to everybody at the Esker Foundation, especially Shauna Thompson who invited me into the space, Doug Haslam, who assisted with my install, and who were both so incredibly generous and supportive throughout the process. As well, thank you to my friends Lex, Andy, and Ursula for helping out during this install process, and to Skye and Oliver, for allowing me to use their image as part of the work. I’ll be sharing more about this body of work throughout the next few months! #eskerfoundation #yycarts #fibreartist #artist #wip @albertauarts