Stir Cheat Sheet: 7 Metro Vancouver events to catch at BC Culture Days 2022
A collective mural, dance that interweaves textile art, and an outdoor art tour focused on decolonization are some of this year’s highlights
From Gigaemi Kukwits: The Travelling Line. Thunderbird and Whale Crest, 2021, 60x40”. Image courtesy of the artist and Ceremonial | Art
BC Culture Days takes place at various venues across B.C. and online from September 23 to October 16
COLOUR, CREATIVITY, AND COMMUNITY: These are catchwords of BC Culture Days. The three-week-long fest is part of a nationwide celebration of the arts that got its start in 2010 through the Canadian Arts Summit. Inspired by Québec’s Journées de la culture weekend, the event aims to provide barrier-free opportunities for people to explore and enjoy the arts.
Flamenco, Bollywood, reggae, poetry, pottery, printmaking, art tours, exhibitions, and improv theatre are just some of the genres on offer all across B.C. Here’s a closer look at a mere handful of highlights within Metro Vancouver.
Pedram Penhan.
"A Path to Survival" Collective Mural Project
At Waterfront Theatre for the duration of BC Culture Days
Pedram Penhan is one of BC Culture Days’ Ambassadors, and they’re organizing the creation of a collective and permanent mural at Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island. A family-friendly and community-based work, the mural entitled A Path to Survivor features imagery of local wildlife and aims to deepen people’s understanding of nature and their actions impact it. An accompanying short documentary of the same name will be released at BC Culture Days on October 12.
Penhan is a self-taught, multidisciplinary queer artist hailing from Tehran, who immigrated to Canada in 2015 at age 23 via multiple other countries after fleeing Iran. They use painting, photography, sculpture, collage, and drag as mediums of self-expression and to raise awareness of the climate crisis while challenging gender, class, and racial discrimination.
Stratum. Photo by Sheng Ho
All Over the Map - Free Dance and Music Performance
At Granville Island Public Market Courtyard on September 24 from 3 to 4 pm
The New Works’ series brings three companies to the outdoor stage. Dance Theatre Uganda–Edward Sembatya offers Kyoto. One of the pillars of dances of Africa, the participatory dance and drum performance seeks to evoke “the spirit of inseparability between the ‘audience’ and the ‘performer’”, with Uganda as the focus. Her Tribal Roots will perform Living With, a multifaceted performance with dance, drumming, storytelling, and poetry that explores interconnectedness. Sarah Hin Ching U choreographs and performs in Stratum, an installation that intertwines dance and textile art. With costumes by Aynaz Parkas, the piece also features dancer Jaqueline Ritter.
Gigaemi Kukwits: The Travelling Line (pictured at top)
At West Vancouver Art Museum for the duration BC Culture Days (and running to October 8)
Now in his seventh decade as an artist, Gigaemi Kukwits creates works that combine his Indigenous heritage and the influences he has garnered from travels throughout France, the UK, Germany, Morocco, Thailand, Indonesia, the U.S., and beyond. The subjects of his paintings range from narrative to symbolic to playful. On select dates throughout the festival, West Vancouver Art Museum will offer free, in-person tours in English, Mandarin, and Farsi. The opening reception takes place on September 27 from 6 to 8 pm, with the artist in attendance alongside the museum’s curator, Hilary Letwin. On September 29 from 7 to 8 pm, Kukwits and Letwin connect for a free virtual talk co-presented with the West Vancouver Memorial Library.
Atheana Picha.
Ancestral Echoes: In Conversation with Atheana Picha
At Surrey Art Gallery on October 1 from 2 to 3 pm
Atheana Picha is a multidisciplinary artist with experience in ceramics, printmaking, wood carving, and public art who uses Coast Salish visual language throughout her practice. From Kwantlen and Tsartlip Nations, Picha will discuss the installation of her mural Echoes on the windows of the Surrey Arts Centre.
Vancouver Cantonese Opera.
Vancouver Cantonese Opera Concert
At Richmond Cultural Centre on September 25 from 1:15 to 2:30 pm
Vancouver Cantonese Opera showcases its namesake art form, which originated in Guangzhou, China and combines singing, miming, gestures, dancing, and martial arts. The in-person performance will feature classic Cantonese arias, the artists in full costumes and makeup.
The organization is also presenting numerous online performances throughout the duration of BC Culture Days. Cantonese Opera in the Cloud – The Flower Princess is a tragic love story is set in the late Ming Dynasty (mid-1600s) by playwright Tong Dik Sang; The Prop Master's Dream is an experimental fusion opera inspired by the true-life story of Wah-Kwan Gwan (1929-2000), who figured prominently in Vancouver’s Cantonese opera community.
DECOLONIZATION Outdoor Art Tour.
DECOLONIZATION Outdoor Art Tour
Outside the UBC bookstore on October 4 from 1 to 2:30 pm
In collaboration with UBC ARTIVISM, Helen & Morris Belkin Art Gallery hosts and facilitates the conversational, participation-driven Decolonization Art Tour. Visitors are encouraged to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action in advance for context.
UBC Artivism (running to October 13) is an annual festival that highlights stories of resilience and student activism through live performances, poetry, music, and more.
Cory Kinney, Sai Woo.
North Shore Art Crawl
October 14 to 16 at various venues
Now in its 12th year, North Van Art’s free event sees local artists opening up their studios or planting themselves in local businesses, galleries, and community hubs to engage with the public all across the North Shore for the weekend. For 2022, more than 150 artists will be exhibiting their work at 88 locations from Lions Bay to Deep Cove.
Artist demonstrations, hands-on activities, opening receptions, and other happenings are on the roster, with the range of media on offer including textiles, jewellery, sculpture, glass, photography and more.
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