Long-table meals and thought-provoking subjects, as Indian Summer Festival offers three-part Tiffin Talk series, July 7
Topics include the meaning of comfort food, music’s role in community empowerment, and cultural appropriation in fashion

Tonye Aganaba. Photo by Liz Roza photography
Indian Summer Festival presents Tiffin Talk: A Taste of Nostalgia on July 7 from 12 pm to 2 pm; Tiffin Talk: Music As Resistance from 3 pm to 5 pm; and Tiffin Talk: The Line Between from 6 pm to 8 pm at Jharokha Garden at Performance Works on Granville Island in a copresentation with SFU’s David Lam Centre
A HIGHLIGHT OF the annual Indian Summer Festival, the Tiffin Talk series is back for 2024, with three distinct sessions. Each gathering features a 45-minute dialogue with guest speakers followed by a long-table meal served in traditional individual Indian-style tiffins, a kind of lunch box that’s typically a vertical, stackable stainless-steel container.
Kicking things off is Tiffin Talk: A Taste of Nostalgia from 12 pm to 2 pm. Shiva Reddy, host of the four-part Telus docu-series Not Your Butter Chicken, leads the conversation with Asha Wheeldon, the chef-founder of Kula Kitchen, a vegan African-food venture, and Trixie Ling, who heads Flavours of Hope, a program that helps immigrant women start their own culinary business. They’ll be discussing the meaning of comfort food and the ways it can evoke memories and instill a sense of heritage and identity.
Tiffin Talk: Music As Resistance follows from 3 pm to 5 pm. Moderated by Black African queer nonbinary multidisciplinary artist Tonye Aganaba, the event features Tiffany Ayalik, who’s one half of the sibling duo PIQSIQ, a traditional Inuit throat-singing act, and choral artist Hussein Janmohamed. Touching on the intersection of art and activism, the three will discuss music’s role in decolonization and community empowerment.
Finally, Tiffin Talk: The Line Between runs from 6 pm to 8 pm. It will be moderated by Manjot Bains, who is the former cofounder of ANARA, a modern textiles brand, and former editor-in-chief of Jugni Style, an arts and culture magazine. Joining Bains are speakers Tafui, a Jamaican artist and designer who splits her time between Vancouver and Ottawa, and Bernarda Antony of The Batik Library, who works to preserve Indonesian culture through batik workshops and clothing design. The discussion will look at the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation, as well as methods through which artisans can protect their traditional styles even as Indigenous textiles and international fabrics make their way into mainstream fashion.
The Indian Summer Festival continues until July 14.
Gail Johnson is cofounder and associate editor of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
The 18th annual edition of the wide-ranging event builds thriving community by emphasizing historical and cultural diversity
Dutch accordionist Erica Roozendaal explores themes of abuse and childhood instability in her heartfelt solo performance
All-ages show by Cause & Effect Circus incorporates high-level skills, inventive lighting, and fun sound effects
Howard Dai’s Dream Machine pulls inspiration from Taiwanese game shows, while Paige Louter’s Nod acknowledges chronic fatigue
1 Santosh Santosh 2 Go touches on the model minority myth with hilarity and heart
Alt-rock band Meltt, D.O.A. frontman Joe Keithley, and singer-songwriter Ché Aimee Dorval are among the Burrard Stage highlights
In renowned one-man show I Wish I Was a Mountain, the award-winning British poet leans on rhythm of deep musical influences
Three concerts at RockRidge Canyon resort in Princeton highlight chamber works prepared by the artists during a week-long intensive
Presented with Boca del Lupo, the accessible production by the U.K.’s Seven Circles encourages interactive learning
The violinist’s Fantasy Vignettes interweaves Baroque music, costume changes, and sewing machines
On the BMO Mainstage, director Dean Paul Gibson puts an ’80s spin on this resonant tale of young love
Centred around portals, this year’s just-announced lineup includes several visual-art exhibitions, Vancouver International Jazz Festival concerts, and more
HATCH, Clementine, One Day This Kid, and Beyond the Salish are among the 47 Canadian shorts screening this year
The Zawose Queens, The Milk Cartons Kids, and more to hit the Main Stage at ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park
In Hair Hair Everywhere, Shabnam debates whether or not she should shave
Moroccan and Spanish choreographers join the international contingent of event that runs at Firehall Arts Centre and SFU Woodward’s
All is not as it seems as two of Shakespeare’s most tumultuous couples navigate secret love and mistaken identities
At Progress Lab 1422, a pair of tracks feature multidisciplinary works by Howard Dai, Paige Louter, Cameron Peal, and more
Tickets on sale today for a Simran Sachar–Justine A. Chambers choreographic collab, comedian Kiran Deol, and Indian classical music star Alam Khan
Offerings at The Cultch span coming-of-age stories, puppetry, musical theatre, and more
In Have You Heard Judi Singh?, Vancouver director interweaves archival footage, re-created moments, and mesmerizing music in tribute to late Punjabi-Black artist
Montreal filmmaker Denis Côté started out making a portrait of a shy BDSM worker and ended up capturing a generation’s encounter with the endless recursions of social media
In NFB documentary, Lyana Patrick chronicles the environmental harm caused by the Kenney Dam
Another 30 concerts will take place at Performance Works, Ocean Artworks, and the Revue Stage from June 20 to July 1
Among the theatre offerings in store are Same Same Different, I Wish I Was a Mountain, and The Libravian
Tanzania’s Zawose Queens and Congo’s Les Mamans du Congo x Rrobin rub shoulders with Canadian names like Elisapie and Ocie Elliott at ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park, July 18 to 20
Former director of SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement will program around theme of Borderless Solidarities for July event
Offerings include Downtown Jazz concerts on June 21 and 22, Bentall Centre happy-hour shows from June 23 to 27, and a day-long July 1 celebration
Mareya Shot Keetha Goal: Make the Shot won a spot as best B.C. feature, plus much more as Surrey-based event hands out cash and development support
Subscription packs on sale today for Stanley Park stage series that runs June 27 to August 16