The best arts and culture of the year, plus links to make the season bright.
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Hi, Art!

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Hi, Art!

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Hi, art lovers!

 
Child-like gouache painting of a winter cottage illuminated from within to reveal two people and a brown dog gathered around a Christmas tree. The windows are in the shape of the CBC logo. Outside it's snowing. A large coniferous tree is decorated with lights and a cartoonish deer stands outside the house.

(Malika Pannek)

 
The holidays are finally here, folks, so I’ll keep this brief. Today’s top priority is maximum R&R, after all. (As soon as I hit “send” on this email, I’ll be watching the best TV special ever made.) So crank the Christmas tunes — CBC Music has more than a dozen playlists to choose from — and enjoy some links from across the CBC, starting with … 

Holiday movies for every mood — and (free!) movies to watch when you’re sick of festive fare. What were the best movies of 2023, though? (Eli Glasner at CBC News thinks these films were tops.) How about the best Canadian books of 2023? (Fiction, nonfiction, YA: find all those lists and more in one place.) What about the best (and worst) of all things pop culture? Here’s Front Burner’s year-end recap. Over on Commotion, they’ve declared 2023 the year of mid. And be that as it may, there were still plenty of things we liked this year. Skip to the “You’ve got to see this” section to read more about CBC Arts’ favourite things.
 

And because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Photo of a room in a dollhouse that's been decorated for a party, complete with balloons, streamers and a table dressed with desserts and punch. On the floor, a pair of pink sunglasses reveals the miniature scale of the scene.

Susan Canaday Henry

Need a little inspiration for your New Year’s Eve decor — emphasis on little? Watch for Susan Canaday Henry on Season 3 of Best in Miniature. It arrives on CBC Gem on Dec. 26. 
 
Photo of a hand holding up a miniature model of the Madonna Inn, a Tudor-style building that's been painted pink and white. The real Inn appears in the background.

Jen Arnold

Ten artists from around the world will be competing for the show’s $10,000 prize — including Jen Arnold from Winnipeg. Check out her replica of the famed Madonna Inn! 
 
Miniature diorama of a music venue door. The brick is painted black and the doors and sign -- which reads

Elliott Langford

More retro kitsch in miniature scale! This diorama was built by another Season 3 artist, Elliott Langford.
 
Photo of a miniature diorama of the Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood living room set.

Lance Cardinal

Watch for Lance Cardinal, too! If you’re from the Edmonton area — or just spend any time online — you’ve probably seen his work before. An artist, set designer, entrepreneur and TV personality, Lance is the definition of a multi-hyphenate talent, and he built this tiny version of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood set a few years back.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Composite illustration of figures from 2023 pop culture: the stars of movies including Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon; characters from TV series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Succession and Moving; performers from plans including Casey and Diana and the Master Plan; assorted objects including a 12-sided die, an architectural model and a medical diagram.
Ben Shannon

These are a few of our favourite things

 
Barbie, Scott Pilgrim — and the entire Stratford Festival. CBC Arts staff and contributors share the best things they saw all year.
 
Photo collage of movie stills and colourful rectangles. Text reads in yellow:
CBC Arts

The 13 best queer films of 2023

 
In the last 12 months, Hollywood has given us everything from Dicks: The Musical to Bottoms. So without further ado, here’s a countdown of the year’s greatest LGBTQ cinema.
 
Medium shot of actor Sandra Oh, photographed on a light blue background. Sandra, a woman of Korean heritage, wears her dark hair long and wavy. She is dressed in a pale blue collared shirt and looks directly at the camera with a neutral expression, her mouth slightly open.

Emily Shur

 

Anne with an Oh

 
Growing up, Sandra Oh didn’t see a part for herself in Anne of Green Gables. The star opens up about voicing the classic book and the changing landscape of Canadian film.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Chris W. Kim

@chriswkim
Line drawing of an overgrown field. A chair, wagon and bucket -- all toppled over -- are strewn on the grass. A lone figure stands in the centre of the scene.

Chris W. Kim

This drawing appears on the cover of Chris’s graphic novel, Adherent — which happens to be among CBC Books’ picks for the best Canadian comics of 2023.
 

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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time!

 
XOXO CBC Arts
XOXO CBC Arts
 
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