love, intimacy and (com)passion, in a geopolitical context
A monthly series of video, film, performance and ceremony events
Project curator/artist-in-residence Jayce Salloum
Cultural Resurgence: From This Point in Time and Space
Curated by Irwin Oostindie + Ronnie Dean Harris
Featuring/works by Jean Barman, Kattie Collidge, Chief Dan George + Leonard George, Hope (Status Crew), Ronnie Dean Harris, Diana Leung + Kamala Todd, Irwin Oostindie, DJ Guilty Pleasures, Alejandro Yoshizawa
At: VIVO Media Arts Centre
2625 Kaslo Street, Vancouver
(near Broadway, walking distance from Renfrew Skytrain Station)
Free admission or stream it live
at thirstDays.vivomediaarts.com
Video documentation
Photo documentation
What does it mean to be on Coast Salish Territory within the parameters of a gated community on unceded land? Coast Salish culture has long been seen as indistinguishable from other Indigenous cultures. This misconception with its power of neglect and erasure has long been an effect of the legacy and ignorance of Eurocentrism. Through sound, media, and performance works drawing from pre-contact, colonization, and a current thriving contemporary life, we seek to reverse and subvert these trends while creating a welcoming, remixed and celebratory forum that highlights the resilience and resurgence existing in cultural production by and for Coast Salish people.
~ Irwin Oostindie + Ronnie Dean Harris
Image: Still from All Our Father’s Relations by Alejandro Yoshizawa
Upcoming programs curated by David Khang + Phanuel Antwi, Urban Subjects, Ali Lohan + tba, Raymond Boisjoly + Jordan Wilson, Ayumi Goto + Tannis Monkman Nielsen, Dima Alansari + Cathy Busby, Henry Tsang + Diyan Achjadi, Elisa Ferrari + Stacey Ho. Past programs curated by T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss + Aaron Rice, Ashok Mathur + Jeneen Frei Njootli, Denise Ryner + Tonel. Writer in residence: Tarah Hogue
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Irwin Oostindie is a Dutch settler artist and curator who has led local and international media and culture projects for three decades. A prolific independent curator, festival producer, and staff programmer he has worked in the grassroots, as well as with municipal and First Nation governments. As a settler cultural worker, he advocates for genuine reconciliation and redress, promoting cultural policy to stop the erasure of Coast Salish culture in Vancouver, and is co-editing an anthology of archeology and culture. He is enrolled at SFU in graduate studies, and has conducted research in innercity cultural and economic development and cultural heritage of Whey-ah-Wichen.
Ronnie Dean Harris (AKA Ostwelve) is Kwikwetlem, Sto:lo, and St’át’imc with two decades experience travelling the world as a hiphop artist, film and TV actor, and cultural leader. He brings a cutting edge knowledge of popular culture, issues, and multimedia strategies of responding. He is active with writing for TV, composing and performing music, acting and storytelling. As a musician under the name Ostwelve, Ron has performed in numerous festivals and has opened for acts such as Guru, K’naan, Asbtract Rude and Snoop Dogg to name a few. Ron has also performed with the red diva projects ensemble project “The Road Forward” and performed at various PuSh Festivals.
Jayce Salloum is a Vancouver-based photographer and video artist known for installation works that sensitively investigate historical, social and cultural contexts of place. The grandson of Lebanese immigrants, Salloum studied in the United States and began his artistic career in 1975. The central themes played out in his work include questions of exile, ethnic representation and notions of identity. In 2014, Salloum won a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. https://twitter.com/JayceSalloum