Sara Khan: a new type of artist

Emerging visual artist Sara Khan is currently pursuing her residency at the Burrard Arts Foundation where she has been able to create new types of material strategies, perspectives and creations. Khan’s exhibition, Sanda Rd Key Dhund, which translates to ‘Mists of Sanda Rd,’ referring to an area in Lahore, Pakistan, is currently on display at the…

Carving a bold musical space

Music is engaging storytelling for Anishinaabek MC and singer-songwriter Leonard Sumner, who performs a mix of roots, country, and hip-hop. Sumner brings to the Chan Centre on March 5 his people’s tradition of storytelling by speaking truth to his experience, and encouraging others to do the same. “It’s super important to see Anishinaabek people telling…

A rough road towards equality, democracy and freedom in Africa

Gregory Maqoma’s Via Kanana opens with one word projected onto a white screen: corrupt. The Soweto-born choreographer brings together the traditional township dance of pantsula with contemporary counterparts to create a performance that emulates both struggle and hope. Under South Africa’s apartheid regime, black rural populations were displaced to the townships that surround big cities. In these…

The Nonexistent: a story of courage and complex global migration

The Nonexistent, directed by Yves Simard, is focused on telling a story many people may know all too well: displacement. The story of a young girl forced to forge a new path as she leaves her country reveals the complexity of migration and exile through acrobatics, dance, movement and stunning scenery. The English version of…

Bringing a new perspective to art

Panchal Mansaram (P. Mansaram) is an artist of his generation. The diasporic artist created new perspectives, taken from his local every-day life and mixed with his global experiences, and was inspired to create art by everything around him taking anything small and creating something admirable out of it. “I love the life and joy in…

Identities celebrated

The frank theatre and The Cultch present Be-Longing, a production that blends film, theatre, and new media to explore themes ranging from queer identity to immigration and diaspora, as well as the complicated feelings, places, and experiences underlying them. According to co-creator Fay Nass, exploring the lives of four queer immigrants is meant to embrace the…

An untold Inuk story in the making

Last December, Lindsay McIntyre, a filmmaker of Inuk and Scottish descent won the Women In the Director’s Chair’s (WIDC) Feature Film Award. Estimated at $250,000 in services and rentals, the prize will support the making of her first feature film The Words We Can’t Speak, expected for 2024. “It’s a story about identity and belonging,…

Ruby Singh – A sound innovator on Turtle Island

Ruby Singh expresses himself through music, visual art and poetry, while also advocating for social justice issues using his artistic endeavors as the medium. His upcoming show, Vox.Infold, put on by the PuSh Festival, will be performed at the Lobe Studio from Jan. 20–30. Singh has presented his work across Turtle Island and around the…

Black Lives Matter on stage –a tribute and a prayer

Based on the real-life murder of Trayvon Martin that launched the Black Lives Matter movement, Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers is an exciting and emotional theatre show that tells the story of a black teenager and his experience in the afterlife. Written and performed by Makambe K Simamba, the play will premiere in Vancouver from…

Creating: collectively and internationally

Just a little collaboration can give artists the juice needed for their creative process, encourages Alia Hijaab, an artist with Flavourcel. Solo work can be taxing for artists and Flavourcel seeks to make art less stressful, more playful, and more experimental. “Art feels sometimes like an unchosen path, something I was always meant to do,”…

Book Uncle and Me – Diversity, Connections, and Community

Uma Krishnaswami’s children’s book, Book Uncle and Me, explores the importance of children finding their voice in a community and the bond books can form with their readers. Through her book, Krishnaswami creates characters from various backgrounds and portrays how there are no barriers to friendships. “Book Uncle and Me is at another level,” says…

How far can paying off debt go?

Director Tunç Şahin wants the hunted to become the hunter in his film Two Types of People. The movie, presented by the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival (VTFF) on Dec. 8. follows three characters and their will to survive a system that puts them into heavy debt. Şahin and producer Ersan Çongar reveal that their film reflects…

SNOWFLAKE – An intergenerational Christmas story

Mitch and Murray Productions presents the premiere of SNOWFLAKE, a play written by Olivier Award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett. From Dec. 10 to 23, 2021, audiences can attend the live performance in person at the Red Gate Revue Stage on Granville Island. The play, which features performer Aaron Craven, follows Andy and his daughter Maya through their…