Weekly Heads Up On the Arts Scene - #33

This being a weekly, highly-filtered, occasionally biased, look at the art scene in Vancouver.

Not only is there a lot of good art to see this weekend, but a lot of it is really though-provoking, so make sure you wear a hat out in the sun! Don't want you missing out on these exhibits.

1. "Lost & Found" opens with a reception tomorrow night (July 21st) at the Access Artist Run Centre (206 Carrall St.). "Lost & Found" is a show by Haruko Okano , Wayde Compton and Judy Chartrand that has been designed in collaboration with the Powell Street Festival.

"Coupled with artist presentations at the 30th annual Powell Street Festival (August 5/6, 2006) in nearby Oppenheimer Park, this exhibition will showcase the works created through the Lost and Found artist-in-residencies. This project is conceived as collaborative, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary, and participating artists have expressed a willingness to experiment in terms of their creative processes. Works may include, but are certainly not limited to, sculptural, text-based, performance-based or ceramic works, and some of the artists may include aspects of community involvement in their pieces.

There is also a discussion with the artists on August 6th at 2 PM which I am writing in my calendar right now.

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Access Artist Run Centre Vancouver
206 Carrall Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-689-2907
info@vaarc.ca
vaarc.ca

2. "Emergency Biennale" - "A suitcase from Vancouver to Grozny" is taking place now until August 19th at the Centre A Gallery (2 West Hastings St.). It is an ambitious and heady exhibit that strives to connect artists and viewers to Chechnya by creating art that would fit in a suitcase. That suitcase is now travelling the world on the same circuit as more established Biennales and will eventually find it's way to Grozny.

"Intended to reintroduce Chechnya to an international audience while reacting to the phenomenal proliferation of international biennales, "Emergency Biennale in Chechnya" was conceived in a geopolitical context which has become so complex that it seemed urgent and necessary to mobilize the artists. The concept involved a call to artists from all over the world to create works to fit in a suitcase. For each stop, new artists are invited to join."

Image courtesy Elina Kalnina.
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Centre A
Vancouver Internation Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
2 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-683-8326
centrea.org

3. I've mentioned the "Territory" exhibit at the Presentation House Gallery and the Artspeak Gallery already, but there are two related events coming up that look good.

Tonight at 7 PM, the VIFF is screening some of films that form part of this exhibit. Admission is free

On Saturday (July 22nd), Michael Barnholden will lead a walk around Vancouver. "If you don't riot, you can't complain" will take viewers through a different Vancouver.

"This walk will include sites of the anti-Asiatic Riot of 1907 from Hastings and Westminster (now Main) through Chinatown's Market, Shanghai and Canton Alleys, then through Nihon Bachi or "Little Yokohama" along Powell Street; the Free Speech riots of 1912 when police attacked Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World) in the Powell Street grounds; and Maple Tree Square, site of the infamous 1971 Police Riot also known as the Gastown Riot."

I love walking tours so I will be checking that out for sure. Meet at the Artspeak Gallery (233 Carrall St.) at 2 PM.

Image courtesy Gonzalo Lebrija, Aranjuez, 2003 still from dvd installation.

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Presentation House Gallery
333 Chesterfield Avenue
North Vancouver, BC
604.986.1351
presentationhousegall.com

Artspeak Gallery
233 Carrall Street
Vancouver, B.C.
artspeak.ca