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It’s all about the tough stuff, or Huff stuff, for playwright and performer Cliff Cardinal. Solvent abuse, sexual abuse and suicide are featured in his second play Huff, a story about what he feels young First Nations are going through. But Cardinal wants to let the audience have their own interpretation. “I think that First…
The mural of an elderly Asian woman standing beside a car, with crows behind her, on the corner of Hastings and Jackson in Vancouver, is one of Vanessa Lowe’s well-known works. In her latest project A Tree Grows in Chinatown, Lowe uses text and old family photographs to tell a story of her mother’s earlier…
As for any culture, creating a new reality from a more traditional, and sometimes stereotyped, community brings challenges and opportunities. Three Muslim Canadians, Khalil Jessa, Taslim Jaffer and Özlem Sensoy, are finding creative ways to express the complexity of their identites. Khalil Jessa, founder of Salaam Swipe, wants people to meet. A native of South…
“Maybe we’re not totally screwed” – that’s the cutline on the movie poster for Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World, a documentary showing at three sold out screenings during the 34th Vancouver International Film Festival. The cutline reflects what director Charles Wilkinson took away from making his latest documentary: a sense of optimism.…
In some parts of the world, 10-year-old girls are being married off. In other parts, during times of political instability, musical, cultural and historical elements are brought together as a way of storytelling. I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced and The Dream of Shahrazad are two films screening at this year’s Vancouver International Film…
B.C. Place is at full capacity – 52, 193 spectators – and there’s an overwhelming colour theme: a sea of red, white and blue visible from every corner of the stadium. Yet in one of the upper-bowl sections, a small but energetic crowd of green-clad, drumming fans are making their voices heard. Welcome to the…
Café Calabria, Vancouver’s oldest Italian coffee shop, and Fratelli, a long-established local Italian bakery, are gearing up for Italian Day on Commercial Drive, which will involve revelling in good food, coffee and family. A highlight of Italian Heritage Month, the Italian Day street festival takes place on June 14 and will celebrate the contributions made…
Known for their folk dancing, love of music, food and hospitality, local Slovenians have found their home away from home at the Slovenian Society of Vancouver. As one of almost 30 countries participating at this year’s European Festival in Burnaby, Slovenia, represented by the Slovenian Society, will share their heritage with visitors in a variety…
Noticing the lack of positive energy being represented on stage or in literature, Drew Hayden Taylor, rather than complain or whine, decided to deal with contemporary Native issues in a more positive way. Taylor’s God and the Indian, showing at the Firehall Arts Centre (May 20–30), is a story about Johnny, a Cree woman in…
International Dance Day, celebrated every year on April 29, has been going on for over 30 years. This year, the celebration comes to Richmond. Richmond’s first annual International Dance Day event presents a group of around 70 performers showcasing their cultures, stories, and unique dance styles – from the expressive hand gestures of Indian classical…
As times change, so does the experience of newcomers integrating into Canadian life. Farid Rohani, chair of the Laurier Institution, a foundation dedicated to understanding Canadian diversity, shares his point of view. “We were very much welcomed by those that appear to not be welcoming,” says Rohani about his neighbours in an upper-middle class area…
Adventure and revolutions are catalysts for new beginnings. With the upcoming 17th annual Metropolis conference on immigration and settlement, a few Canadians born in different countries – from such diverse regions as the Philippines to Iran and central Europe – share stories of overcoming barriers and finding belonging and acceptance. While the events for coming…
Mehrad Rahbar has always been tuned in to events around him – the Iran revolution in 1979, the 1989 Montreal massacre of 14 female students and the Arab Spring that spread across the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011. He considers himself a human rights activist and is involved in various Iranian-Canadian organizations…
