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The traditional Hindu festival of colours, Holi, is well known for its iconic imagery: participants celebrate the coming of spring by cheerfully dousing one another with brightly coloured water and powder. However, many may be unaware of the festival’s deeper significance – the event fosters a message of brotherhood and unity for all participants, and…
In 越界/粵界 (transgression/cantosphere), Hong Kong Exile (HKX), an interdisciplinary art company comprised of Natalie Tin Yin Gan, Milton Lim and Remy Siu, collaborates with linguist Zoe Lam and artist Howie Tsui to examine local and international pressures on their culture. The exhibit engages with the Cantonese language and reflects on the relationship between urban planning…
The annual Coastal First Nations Dance Festival, presented by Dancers of Damelahamid in partnership with the UBC Museum of Anthropology, celebrates the stories, songs and dances of the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America. From March 3–8, the festival will showcase the First Nations communities of the Northwest Coast, through an artist…
Poem 593, written by one of the most important American female poets, Emily Dickinson, provides in itself the centre for inspiration of downtown Vancouver’s most recent, and anticipated art exhibit at the Fall Tattooing & Artist’s Gallery: “The Dark – felt beautiful.” A mystical line from Dickinson`s Poem 593, provides a framework in serving as…
Performer and musician Tina Milo, who immigrated from Valjevo, Serbia to Vancouver in 2000, started a personal research project in 2012 that would eventually become her current production: The Village. A Serbian-Canadian multimedia collaboration, The Village is a one-woman play born from a set of queries. Milo interviewed 18 close friends, many of whom work…
A passion for story and language, has Haida artist Gwaai Edenshaw using his knowledge of Haida stories to help find the hidden within ourselves at the new exhibit Godanxee’wat: Stone Ribs showing at the Bill Reid Gallery (Jan. 12 until Jul. 5). Edenshaw – who apprenticed with Bill Reid when he was 16 – also…
Black History Month celebrates the contributions of black Canadians to Canadian life, including in many different forms of art. As part of this celebration, the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) has organized a series of screenings, lectures and exhibits, including the Reading Black History Symposium. Participating artists will present some of their own work, as well…
Tet Nguyen Dan (Tet), the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, is a highly anticipated multiple day event that includes traditional Vietnamese foods, dance, and song, and celebrations galore. This year, the Vietnamese community is trying to involve more Vietnamese youth in the festivities. The celebrations come with a variety of events happening across the Lower…
The Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site wants to revitalize a part of history with a 10-minute documentary. Hardship and Hope: The Story of the Chinese Cannery Workers in Steveston is a historical overview to help explain what brought these individuals to B.C. and what they experienced here. It shines a light on living conditions in…
Shadow puppetry has been performed in China for over two millennia. However, with the rise of new forms of entertainment, some feel that the art form today is just a shadow of its former self. Lu Baogang, a fifth-generation descendant of the Lu family of shadow puppeteers and the current leader of the Beijing Shadow…
Métis leader Louis Riel envisioned bringing together the people of Canada. A Taste of Metis will attempt to make this vision a reality by the art of storytelling through dance. The Feb. 27 performance at the Roundhouse Community Centre is a collaboration of different cultural Metis performances and workshops. Compaigni V’ni Dansi, a group of…
Yayoi Hirano’s talk at the Nikkei National Museum will discuss her research and experience travelling through Japan to study the Japanese performing arts that came before Kabuki. Hirano was born and raised in Japan and studied the mime dance form at a theatre university. After graduating, Hirano continued her studies outside of Japan. Her experiences…
Vancouver is not a new city, and a series of exhibitions titled c’əsnaʔəm, the city before the city seeks to challenge this misconception about a region that has been occupied for 9,000 years. The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) is one of three sites that seek to fill in this gap of historical and cultural knowledge…
