Last November, Sister Fa took the Freedom to Create Main Prize in 2011 for her devoted work to raising awareness on the traumatic and harmful consequences of female genital mutilation. The Freedom to Create Prize celebrates the courage and creativity of artists, and the positive influence of their work to
Continue readingAuthor: Amanda McCuaig
Art Threat: Sue Coe’s slaughterhouse stories
“Art only happens when the viewer says it happens.” – Sue Coe Sue Coe grew up next door to a slaughter house, where she the rattling chains and screaming of animals led to kill went on through the night. As it was ignored by others it slowly became her obsession.
Continue readingArt Threat: Music Monday: Factory Floor – Free download of new song by folk artist Chris Ronald
Listening to Chris Ronald’s “Factory Floor” makes me think of brown eyed girls working in clothing factories in third-world countries. The easy folk music reaches from a time when factory work was regular for north Americans to present day when such labour has been sent overseas, granting us the privilage to be an information economy […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Litter made lovely: Washed Up – New photographs by Alejandro Durán
Alejandro Durán’s photographs are so intriguing they almost make me think that littering is a great idea. That is, until I realize that the beauty in waste has only been found through his selective eye and thoughtful arrangements. The colourful waste items of Durán’s project, Washed Up, addresses the issue of pollution that has made […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Engaged devotion and care – The terrariums of Paula Hayes
It might be because I just started paying attention, but it seems to me that terrariums are on the rise. These delicate glass globes filled with tiny gardens are like nature sent to earth from space. As we become more aware of our impact on the environment, it’s almost as through we have taken a […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Us and Them – Dialogue meets theatre in this look at how we create "the other" and build bridges
Footage flickers from the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots. It looks like everyone is angry and no one knows why. Green and blue jersey wearing rioters cover the backdrop of the stage of the Cultch as six actors lurch, kick, destroy, and vent frustration that we all suspect has very little to do with hockey. It […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme
On a recent visit home I stopped to visit my Aunt. Her partner of 23 years, my other aunt, had passed away suddenly in January and it was the first time since I received the heart breaking news that I had been able to make it home. While commiserating together I learned that my aunts […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Ambiguous portrait of the well known Wiebo Ludwig – Friday Film Pick: Wiebo’s War
When we left the theatre after seeing Wiebo’s War at VIFF (The Vancouver International Film Festival) the main thing on our lips was “that man is incredibly well spoken,” followed by “that is a seriously difficult situation”. Wiebo Ludwig is a stranger to few who live in BC and Alberta. The articulate bearded man was […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Art in Exile – Iranian born Shirin Nashat speaks to art as voice
I recently came across this beautiful and moving talk by Shirin Nashat, an Iranian born artist who has lived most of her life in exile from her native country.
“Art is our weapon,” she says in the talk. “Culture is a form of resista…
Art Threat: Vancouver seeks Viaduct variations – re:Connect competition looks to obtain citizen input
It’s the site of what is arguably Vancouver’s most notable event, a bitter battle between the Non-Partisan Association and an alliance of Strathcona activists and Chinatown business people – the Georgia Street Viaduct. Built as a first phase of a planned interurban freeway system, this minute stretch of freeway reaches like a tree root from […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Heaven and Earth, VIFF’s Environmental Film Series – Tend to your green thumb at the Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver’s largest film festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival, is set to begin today. With 300+ films showing over 16 days, and hundreds of volunteers coming together to make it happen, it’s no surprise that this time of year becomes the “what are you seeing at VIFF?” time of year. If you’re looking to spend […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Whistle while you wait
Skattered throughout Vancouver, bus stop shelters have been turned from ad space to sheet music. Adorno and Nose, as the piece is called, is a collection of ten songs composed and illustrated by Barry Doupe and James Whitman. Each poster contains a different song, notated as standard sheet music, the verse, and a drawn graphic. […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Underworlds Takes Views of the Chemical Coast – New photography by Isabelle Hayeur
Montreal photographer Isabelle Hayeur first trained her camera on waterfronts in 2008 to create “Underworlds”, now open at Division Gallery in Montreal. Long observing the transformations of her own local rivers, including the changes to ecosystems and the disappearance of some animal species, she was inspired to create a body of work that bore witness […]
Continue readingArt Threat: $16.8 million in arts funding goes to BC Arts Council
Last Thursday, July 7, BC’s Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Ida Chong, announced $16.8 million in funding for the arts, to be administered through the BC Arts Council. This amount is the second-highest level received by the BC Arts Council in its history. In the announcement, Minister Chong apologized for the long delay […]
Continue readingArt Threat: A Conservative government: What now?
Last week I wrote an editorial exploring the role of the arts in creating healthy and prosperous countries. With the government of Canada making major shifts across the board last night, becoming a Conservative majority government (I refuse to call it the “Harper Government”) many artists and arts organizations are writhing at the thought of […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Liberate Tate urges dialogue over public/private arts funding
Last Wednesday, April 20, the activist group known as Liberate Tate staged another protest performance at Tate Britain. Set on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf o Mexico over 87 days last year, the group poured an oil-like substance over […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Kon’s blossoming art
Konstantin Dimopolous’s blue trees are in bloom in Port Moody! Well, they were last week at least. Luckily, Kate Barron from Vancouver Biennale got pictures of these bright blue and passive pink beauties. Kon’s electric blue trees are a reminder that plants are the world’s lungs, a vital organ that too often goes unloved. But […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Nope! The Harper Government’s failure to support the arts has got our goat
Victoria, BC, artist Bob Preston is taking this election seriously. Like many people, he sees this as an opportunity to get rid of Stephen Harper before he does “more damage to this country.” Inspired by iconic poster image of Obama created by street artist Shepard Fairey, Preston has made an image that is at once […]
Continue readingArt Threat: The arts are vital to our prosperity
By supporting the individuals inherently inclined to create, we foster a culture in which innovative thinking is encouraged. Through their unusual vision we can draw our own alternatives in science, business and yes, even politics.
Continue readingArt Threat: Dialogue in bite sized pieces – Speak in Images embarks on a national participatory photo project
This is you receiving an invitation. An invitation to participate in a project just recently born in Vancouver called Speak in Images / Parler en Images. An invitation to speak up in a tiny but effective way about what issues matter to you in the Canadian federal election in a time when we are being […]
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