On Demand 2022
MY ART IS ACTIVISM IV
WOODWARDS SQUAT
Always In Our Hearts
Billie & Me
IN THE BEGINNING – A CULTURAL SHARING: FROM THE WATERS
GRASS DANCES: Healing Through Practicing Culture
THE GATHERING, an interview with Richard Tetrault
Hundred Block Rock, Bud Osborn Band
HOT POT TALKS! Chinatown Futures
ZOETIC: a Performance by Theatre Terrific
MY ART IS ACTIVISM IV
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Presented in honour and on behalf of longtime Downtown Eastside documentarian and organiser Sid Chow Tan (20 May 1949 - 26 Sept. 2022), My Art is Activism IV features a selection from Sid’s extraordinary archival video collection of volunteer-produced video journalism. In this recorded talk, Sid provides an overview of his prolific activism and community-centric approach to organising and effecting change.
Presented too with deep condolences to Sid’s family, friends and countless close communities, and with gratitude and solidarity with the community television volunteers and staff who made possible the production, broadcast and archive of these videos. Recorded (7 Aug. 2022) at Island Mountain Arts during Sid’s research trip to Barkerville, BC (Secwépemc/Dakelh homelands), with support from collaborators Byron Peters and Mary Chan, and hosted by Elyssia Sasaki, Executive Director, Island Mountain Arts.
WOODWARDS SQUAT
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Twenty years ago, on September 12, 2002, housing activists and squatters opened the vacant Woodward's building for free housing. Having sat empty since 1993, the building was a symbol of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in the Downtown Eastside. The courts issued an injunction, followed the next day with an enforcement order; arrests followed and the protest continued outside. At the height of the protest, nearly 300 people were on the street, and by the middle of December, some 50 homeless protestors were moved into a hotel nearby. This amazing video record was shot and edited by Sid Chow Tan of ICTV Independent Community Television Cooperative, and is one of many videos from Sid’s archive that will keep the stories of the Downtown Eastside alive.
Always In Our Hearts
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Always In Our Hearts is inspired by the song "A Lullaby for Missing and Murdered Women" composed and performed by Dalannah Gail Bowen, with choreography by Indigenous dance artists Sophie Dow and Olivia C. Davies, videography by Vitantonio Spinelli, and produced by O.Dela Arts. Two dancers take medicine bundles to the water and offer their heart light in honour of women whose lives have been lost to violence. Following the dance film, a short interview recorded between Olivia and Dalannah is included in the program. For more information about Dalannah Gail Bowen, visit www.dalannah.com/dalannah/bio.
Billie & Me
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Billie & Me features local Blues Queen and Blues Hall of Fame singer Dalannah Gail Bowen interviewed by Donna Spencer (Director, Firehall Arts Centre), interwoven with songs relating to Billie Holiday. Performed by Ms. Bowen and keyboarder/arranger Michael Creber, a Juno Award-winning artist. Billie & Me centres songs with the deepest parallels to Dalannah’s life journey and her connection with Billie Holiday’s music and lived experiences. Recorded at the Firehall Arts Centre by Chris Randle, co-produced by the Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre.
IN THE BEGINNING – A CULTURAL SHARING: FROM THE WATERS
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Ronnie Dean Harris (Stō:lo/St'át'imc/Lil'wat/N'laka'pamux), Woodrow (Woody) Morrison (Cherokee/Haida) and Kat Norris (Lyackson), hosted by Kim Haxton (Wasauksing), share their stories of ancient history, lived experiences, cultural teachings, relationships to land and waters, and what we need for survival. Good medicine for today. All of us thank you for your stories. This recording is one of a series of five evenings, presented and recorded by the Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre during the 2020 Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. This series centred Indigenous elders, knowledge-keepers and artists from many nations sharing stories of the land.
GRASS DANCES: Healing Through Practicing Culture
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The Festival is honoured to present this video of two grass dances presented by dancers Larissa Healey (Pequis) and Peter Stillwater, along with the music of big drum singers Love Medicine. The video was recorded in 2021 by Chris Randle at the Firehall Arts Centre. For Larissa, grass dancing is healing medicine that connects to their culture and their two-spirit identity: “I make my own art music and regalia now. I learned to powwow and dance in powwow circles now. I am also connecting to myself and two-spirit identity. I am holding myself up through sweats, beading, regalia, dancing and my relationship with the creator. You have to dance for your community, not yourself.”
THE GATHERING, an interview with Richard Tetrault
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This fifteen minute recording features artist Richard Tetrault and Festival producer Terry Hunter talking about The Gathering, an 11’h x 18’w hanging mural commission that Richard painted in 2016 for the Heart of the City Festival. The powerful and dynamic banner mural hangs each year in the Carnegie Theatre during the Festival, and features painted images of inspiring people, cultures and art forms from the Downtown Eastside. The video gives background to the 2022 launch of seven new panels at this year’s Festival.
Hundred Block Rock, Bud Osborn Band
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Hundred Block Rock (3:35) was shot in 1999. Nigel Hunt was the director and videographer, and Don Flatt was the editor. The audio is from the Hundred Block Rock CD, with words by poet Bud Osborn, music by guitarist David Lester and bassist Wendy Atkinson. In the words of Bud Osborn, "I've always liked rock and roll, and it's been very important to me. I wanted to have music that would drive the poem perhaps in another way or amplify the meanings. Originally, I worked with a
couple of jazz musicians, but then I heard David Lester (guitarist for Mecca Normal) play his electric guitar. It clicked right away."
HOT POT TALKS! Chinatown Futures
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As a theme and as a space, Chinatowns have become a nexus of social tension, and simultaneously an intersection of community organizing around intergenerational issues of social justice. On Feb 16, 2022 HOT POT TALKS! live-streamed a conversation featuring LAIWAN and Kimberley Wong, exploring what “Chinatown” might hold in our imagining of futures. The “Hot Pot Talks” virtual series is hosted by David Ng and Jen Sungshine, founding members of the Vancouver Artist Labour Union Co-Operative (VALU CO-OP). This episode was presented with Vancouver Moving Theatre / Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. LAIWAN is a cultural activist, artist, writer and educator with a practice based in poetics and philosophy. Kimberley Wong | 黄壯慈 (she/they) is a queer Cantonese femme whose work mirrors the intersections of her identity. Go to the YouTube channel for more info about HOT POT TALKS!
ZOETIC: a Performance by Theatre Terrific
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ZOETIC - a lost word, seldom heard! Meaning "to live" or "life." This July, the Theatre Terrific community of artists came together in person for the first time post-pandemic. Arriving disconnected, lost and often alone, they decided that their theatre creation was to honour the journey to reconnect:
“...to ourselves, to each other and to all living beings of Mother Earth”. ZOETIC is the result of this journey. Presented and filmed at the Vancouver Fringe Festival this September 2022. The Heart of the City Festival is honoured to show the film in the On Demand series on the Festival website. Enjoy the film and celebrate reconnection with Theatre Terrific!