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Part of La Commune: Paris 1871 / Vancouver 2011
Co-presented with Simon Fraser University Department of History, English and French
March 18-May 28 2011
Written in the gaps and interstices between the Paris Commune of 1871 and contemporary resistance movements in Vancouver, circa 2011—between poetry and “the political,” the individual and the collective, idealism and…another disappointment, revolution and…more of the same—written, too, and performed between the flickering back and white cells of Peter Watkins’ 1999 film La Commune (Paris 1871)—this poetic collaboration seeks to reimagine the “eternal and indestructible” principles of the Commune, at the same time as it sights along the distance between “now” and “then,” “here” and “there.”
“Without the sense of private property that ascended with European culture, we evolved concepts of property that recognized the interdependence of communities, families and nations and favoured the guardianship of the earth, as opposed to its conquest. There was a sense of ownership, but not one that pre-empted the rights and privileges of others or the rights of the earth and the life that it sustained”
—Loretta Todd
“The principles of the Commune are eternal and indestructible; they will present themselves again and again until the working class is liberated”
—Karl Marx
Stephen Collis / Mercedes Eng / Ray Hsu / Reg Johanson / Donato Mancini / Kim Minkus / Cecily Nicholson
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.
Cecily Nicholson is a Vancouver and Surrey-based organizer. She has worked with women of the downtown eastside community of Vancouver for the past decade and is currently the Coordinator of Funds with the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. Cecily has collaborated most recently as a member of the VIVO Media Arts collective, Press Release poetry collective and No One is Illegal, Vancouver collective. Triage, a book of poetry, is forthcoming from Talonbooks in Spring 2011.