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Sabre-rattling at the ROM

Rating: NNNNN


The force is with 2,500 Star Wars fans, public space lovers and passersby battling it out with light sabres in front of the Royal Ontario Museum’s Lee-Chin Crystal on the night of Friday, November 16.

The whole point of Newmindspace‘s Dayglo Light Sabre Battle is “to activate” the vacant area in front of the new Crystal, which has yet to capture the imagination of Torontonians since its glittery unveiling in the spring.

Says NMS’s Kevin Bracken, “There aren’t many points of attraction around this area after 9:30 pm.”

But the crowd seems to be ignoring the rules Newmindspace has set out – swing lightly, no physical contact, avoid the face and aim for the tubes. Hundreds of smashed tubes end up littering Bloor.

Coincidentally, the Crystal looks like a Jawa Sandcrawler from certain angles. All this night’s missing is the sound of the Imperial March playing in the background.

Toronto Public Space Committee campaigner Jonathan Goldsbie says, “The ROM’s been bragging that it’s creating a brand new public space on Bloor Street, but this is the first time it’s been used.”

ROM communications director Francisco Alvarez says museum programmers are still trying to get a feel for the nook.

But he adds that “one of the reasons for building that area was to have a space that could spontaneously be animated by performers and citizens.”

And for that, Yoda thanks you.

news@nowtoronto.com

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