Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival draws strength from creativity
The 17th annual event reflects the community’s resilience and artistic diversity
Larissa Healey, known artistically as Gurl23, is an urban warrior of Anishinabek descent who’s performing at the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival’s DTES Front and Centre Showcase: All Together Now! Photo by David Cooper
The 17th Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival runs October 28 to November 8.
WHEN THE TEAM behind the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival began planning the 2020 edition, nobody had ever heard of the novel coronavirus, masks weren’t considered everyday apparel, and the world couldn’t fathom the idea of going into lockdown. Always working about a year in advance, organizers had to figure out how to shift the 12-day community event online. What they didn’t need to rethink, however, was the theme. In fact, it’s now more fitting than ever.
“This Gives Us Strength” is the annual fest’s underlying message. Produced by Vancouver Moving Theatre, the festival gives a voice and a stage to Downtown Eastside-involved artists and residents. The global pandemic is but one crisis facing the neighbourhood; the fentanyl crisis is the other, while displacement and the effects of systemic racism and colonization are felt acutely here. It’s never been more important for the community to draw upon that which emboldens it.
“The theme This Gives Us Strength came out of conversations with an artist in residence we had last year,” says Terry Hunter, executive director of VMT and its cofounder, along with artistic director Savannah Walling. “When you talk to people about what is it that gives you strength, they say things like my community, the stories that I hear from my neighbours, participating in ceremony, family... People have been responding well to that theme, because, especially in these times made more difficult by COVID-19, we do need to look to those things that give us strength and hope so that we can move forward in a positive way and not be overwhelmed by the forces that we’re working against.”
Ever since the festival began 17 years ago, it has been a welcome, direly needed, and galvanizing event for a community that’s oft maligned and commonly misunderstood. The remarkably diverse event shows another side of the neighbourhood, a vibrant place that’s resilient and creative. Presented in collaboration with the Carnegie Community Centre, the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, and a host of other partners, the fest promotes professional, community, emerging, and student artists as well as art forms, cultural traditions, history, activism, and stories related to the Downtown Eastside.
The transition to online offerings (plus a handful of intimate, physically distanced live events taking place outdoors, indoors, and in window displays) has involved a steep learning curve for VMT, especially considering the fact that many of the people who are involved in the festival or who would likely attend don’t have Internet access in the comfort of their own homes. To circumvent this barrier, Heart of the City will set up two viewing rooms (Carnegie Community Centre and InterUrban Gallery) and screening outposts (at venues like the Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall), where some programming, livestream and pre-recorded events will be shown.
Hunter is hopeful that the mostly online format will extend the fest’s reach and possibly even draw people from other parts of Canada if not the globe. Despite the restrictions that the pandemic poses, the fest, as in years past, is fuelled by passion and pride.
“The community has a sense of ownership around the fest and feels the festival really reflects their values and their voice,” Hunter says. “It’s a place that the community can come to share their stories and their lived experience and their hopes and dreams for the future, and to rant and rave about social justice and also bring healing and laughter to the community. It’s kind of like an open house in a way, where people in the community get to share with each other what they’re working on. But it’s also a chance to do that with the larger community, who are invited to come and be with us and have a cup of tea and watch a show and meet people in the community.
“It has a real down-home feel,” Hunter says. “It’s all about making those connections and connecting communities and culture together so that we can have shared experiences. It’s also about breaking down the stereotypes and perceptions people outside the community have about it, all the while recognizing the major social problems the community is struggling with. And these are really amazing artists who have profound insights and things to say.”
Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival artist-in-residence Khari Wendell McClelland curated the interdisciplinary show Spotlight on the East End. Photo by David Cooper.
With more than 100 events, the festival has a dynamic lineup. Among the many highlights is An Evening with Dalannah Gail Bowen: Looking Back & the Returning Journey, featuring Blues Hall of Fame Inductee and long-time Downtown Eastside resident.
Susanne Tabata’s moving film Survivors Totem Pole will stream. It follows the community-driven journey about the creation and raising of a monument carved by Downtown Eastside resident and activist Skundaal Bernie Williams at Pigeon Park and the potlatch witnessing ceremony, which was attended by Elders, community leaders, and residents.
The DTES Front & Centre Showcase: All Together Now!, an annual tradition, is a performance by musicians, dancers, storytellers, singers, poets, writers, and spoken-word artists who live and create in the Downtown Eastside.
Spotlight on the East End, curated by and featuring festival artist-in-residence Khari Wendell McClelland of the Sojourners and Freedom Singer, will see performances by interdisciplinary musician Rup Sidhu, art-folk musician Hannah Walker, Shon Wong, and klezmer-punk accordionist Geoff Berner perform.
Heart of the City will pay tribute to the Carnegie’s 40th anniversary with special guest Libby Davies. The long-time activist and Member of Parliament for Vancouver East will also lead a workshop called How to use the Political Structure to Make Change.
There’s much more, from art talks to visual art exhibitions.
“It’s a big party in which the community celebrates who we are and what we’ve accomplished and what we’re hoping for the future,” Hunter says. “I’m very grateful to this community for providing me with the opportunity to work with them. They’ve made me see the world with fresh eyes.”
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