This year’s edition of the 416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival boasts an intriguing new component alongside the usual roster of experimental music performances. On Saturday (November 5) from 1 to 5 pm, the Tranzac hosts the inaugural Toronto Experimental Music Wikipedia Jam, which will attempt to fill in some of the gaps in the online encyclopedia’s history of weirdo Canadian music by bringing together a team of volunteers to work on updating and editing the site.
“The inspiration for the format of the event came from the AGO’s Women In Art Wikipedia jams,” explains organizer Joe Strutt. “I had looked for [Canadian experimental music legends] CCMC on Wikipedia one day, and was really surprised that they weren’t there, which is really what set it off.”
Editing or creating a Wikipedia page from scratch can be intimidating for those who’ve never done it before, but bringing together a larger group of people to work together makes it more accessible. Those with technical skills can help long-time members of the music community translate their knowledge into articles, while others can contribute copy editing skills or bring in old magazines and books to use as resources.
“Part of it is sharing stuff that’s out there,” says Strutt. “I’ve never seen a copy of Coda magazine, but I know that for 50 years it was the go-to source. Having something like that on hand would be great. Part of the longer-term vision would be finding ways to preserve some of the stuff that’s out there and not yet online, digitizing pictures, or even just getting things like album covers on Discogs.”
The 416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival runs November 2 to 5 at the Tranzac. To participate in the Wikipedia Jam, start by filling out the form here.
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com | @benjaminboles
