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Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside – Forum & discussion led by the desmedia collective in Vancouver

November 26, 2011 Leave a comment
Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside

Nov 26, 2011 | 2pm
FREE

Audain Gallery

The Audain Gallery will be hosting a panel discussion by the desmedia collective. desmedia will host Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside, a public forum where DTES artists and residents will be invited to discuss the successes and challenges of, and possible futures for, cultural collectives in the community.

About desmedia

desmedia (downtown eastside media), a collective of artists committed to working on engaged collaborative arts projects with other residents and members of the DTES, began running drop-in workshops in May 2000. Describing their project as a “living archive”, desmedia challenged the “dominant media’s over-arching image of the DTES”, and facilitated the production of painting, video, photography, and text. Exploring ways of documenting life, histories, and the vitality and creativity of the area, the workshops provided an opportunity for the possibilities of self expression, reflection and self representation.

Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside
Panel discussion by the desmedia collective

On the occasion of this exhibition, desmedia will reassemble their complete archive in the Audain Gallery, including a workstation, shelving, videotapes, paintings, and related ephemera, and discuss potential collective models and the dissolution or morphing of desmedia (and their archive) into another form. desmedia will host Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside, a public forum where DTES artists and residents will be invited to discuss the successes and challenges of, and possible futures for, cultural collectives in the community. Although present in the gallery, the desmedia archive will not be available for public access, only on display.

Speakers included:

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre

Gallery Gachet

Vancouver Moving Theatre/Heart of the City Festival

Lower Mainland Painting Co.

Red Gate

AHA Media

Enterprising Women Making Art

Lifeskills Film & Video

Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts

W2 Community Media Arts

DTES Artists Space Coalition

Points/questions for Panel participant’s response

How do you work collectively, what methodology/structure/practice and
guidelines?

What is the collaborative practices you do?

How do you engage your art practice as a collective with the DTES and
DTES residents? What support can you offer to participants living with
barriers to their practice; marginalized artists, homelessness, and
health issues?

What are the best practices/strategies that you have found in working
collectively in the DTES?

What are the challenges, difficult issues you have faced in carrying
out your work? What support/services are you accessing in the
community to further your skills in this regard?

If you have developed an ‘archive’ or body of work, how do you deal
with the issues of ownership, copyright, presentation/distribution,
and access? What if the participants change their minds a few years
down the line and want to change the way material is used that they
participated in producing or that includes them/their representation?

How can we work together to build alliances, to overcome fractures in
the community and to build on our strengths? How can long-term
resident’s voices, histories, and practices be included and what
weight do they carry in relationship to new projects and spaces?

What would you propose we do to work on creating a sustainable art
collective that is focused on providing support and opportunities for
DTES residents and members of the community, as well as being open to
people dropping in?

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Grand Reopening of Carnegie Centre and the 125th birthday of Vancouver on Oct 14, 2001 in Vancouver Downtrown Eastside (DTES)

October 14, 2011 Leave a comment

R I B B O N
C U T T I N G
FRONT STEPS
9:00 AM

CARNEGIE SCAVENGER HUNT

How well do you know Carnegie past
and present? Test yourself with the
Carnegie Scavenger Hunt. Scavenger
Hunt sheets are available
throughout the building. You can find
the answers to the Scavenger Hunt
questions in the Carnegie Centre,
either in one of the historical photographs
displayed throughout the
building, or in the building itself.
Stumped? Want to find out how you
did? Come and check your answers
in the Library.

1st FLOOR
10:00 – Noon Button making with Beth
Davies – Make your very own Carnegie keepsake –
create a Carnegie button from images designed by
Carnegie patrons. (Table by Library)
4:00 ‐ 4:30 PM Artist talk on Summer City Street
mural – Richard Tetrault will talk about his 1978
mural which has graced the 1st floor of the Centre
since the early 80’s. He has restored the mural on
the occasion of this reopening celebration. Special
gift for attendees! (Games Room)

T H E A T R E
1:30 – 2:30 Storytelling with Randy Tait – First Nations Storytelling with Nisga’a artist, dancer, and storyteller Randy Tait
2:30 – 3:00 Aboriginal Drumming – Buffalo Spirit Drum with Sam George
3:00 – 4:00 Official Ceremony – Join us for celebratory words, a medley of peace songs by the Carnegie Village Choir, a
staged reading of Sandy Cameron’s poem “One Hundred Years of Struggle” and refreshments, including party cake.
6:00 – 7:00 Fire, Wind & Ice – Actors and performers from the Carnegie Theatre workshop present a repeat performance
on Fire, and & Ice. On June 13th, 1886, 125 years ago, sparks from a clear cut fire in False Creek leapt into an inferno that
destroyed the new city of Vancouver. See what happens in a story of the Great Fire.

7:30 – 9:30 Documentaries
• CBC Special on the opening of Carnegie Community Centre (1980) 15 min
• Carnegie Stories by Librarian Nancy Stubbs for Vancouver Stories 125 (2011) 3 min 24 sec
• Summer Afternoon (1956) 25 min Two boys exploring Chinatown and the waterfront in the 1950’s.
• Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story (2003) 51 min Story about Japanese Canadian baseball
team that played at Oppenheimer Park before WWII.

D I N I N G R O O M 2nd Floor
Acoustic Music Showcase with:
11:30 Stan Hudac
12:00 Nancy Delyzer
12:30 Kat Norris
1:00 Brian Brinsmead
2:00 Dalannah Gail Bowen
2:30 Earle Peach & Gathering Place Choir
4:30 Sean Gunn
5:00 John Cote
5:30 Ricky Lavallee

2 – 4 Portrait Drawing with Felicity
Don. Join in as an artist or a model!
2nd Floor All Day Carnegie Images
Slide show will be playing on the TV Screen

A S S O C I A T I O N O F F I C E
2nd Floor
11:00 – 3:00 Displays of past campaigns,
photo albums, publications and stories about
the history of the Carnegie Community
Centre Association and the Carnegie
Community Action Project.

C L A S S R O O M I I 3rd Floor
9:30 – 11:30 First Nations Journey class – Come and learn about the history of First
Nations people in this neighbourhood from Capilano University instructor Gary Johnston.

A R T G A L L E R Y 3rd Floor
12:30 – 1:30 Artist Talk – Meet local artist Ron Horsefall, Ron J. Ward and
Diane Wood at a reception for their group exhibit, Bone, Beads and Dolls, a
display of art dolls, beadwork, and traditional and contemporary Native regalia.
2:00 – 3:00 Historical Postcards (TBD) with Dick Billingsley
4:00 – 6:00 “Chindi Revolution – what the anarchist cook book left
out” with Karenza – In Hindi dialect chindi means scraps or rags. Rags is thetrade name for clothing. Have a chat with Karenza about her clothing work and her upcoming show at W2.

L E A R N I N G C E N T R E 3rd Floor
1:00 – 3:00 Open House and Presentation – The Learning
Centre will be open to visitors who are interested in finding out
about education programs. At 1:30, students, volunteers, and
staff will read their stories on two themes: “I came to
Vancouver …” and “I grew up in Vancouver …”

Carnegie Street Band In and around
the building starting at 4pm in the Theatre.

COMPLIMENTARY
LUNCH
Noon to 2
2nd Floor Concession

Opening of W2 Media Cafe in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Wed Sept 21, 2011

September 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Sid Tan of W2TV writes:

September 21, 2011 is a memorable day. A diverse gathering celebrated the official opening of W2 Media Cafe and the Concrete Park music and break dance sessions.

Many thanks for entertainment to The Hastings Set who provided the music and the Hip Hop and B-Boys breakdancers. Also many thanks to the W2 volunteers, board and staff.

Mayor Gregor Robertson cut the ribbon. Also in attendance were  Councillors Ellen Woodsworth, Heather Deal and Andrea Reimer, developer Ian Gillespie and architect Gregory Henriqez. First Nation welcome by ethnobotanist/media artist Cease Wyss while Magnus Thyvold represented the W2 board while Irwin Oostindie was MC.

Below is a video by Sid Tan

Below are videos and photos from AHA MEDIA

W2TV: Solidarity Notes Choir – Women’s Housing March and GentriFUCation Tour

September 18, 2011 Leave a comment

5th ANNUAL WOMEN’S HOUSING MARCH
***************************************

Sat. Sep 17 @ 1:30 pm
Starts at Cordova and Columbia, just west of Main St.
Unceded Coast Salish Territories

On Saturday Sep 17 at 1:30 pm, join the Downtown Eastside Women Centre Power of Women Group* in the 5th Annual March for Women’s Housing and March Against Poverty.

We invite groups to bring their banners and anything else for our festive march and ‘GentriFucation Tour’. All genders are welcome and celebrated. Please bring your drums and regalia. This march is child-friendly and there will be a rest-vehicle for elders. Spread the word!

This year, we celebrate the recent victory that has forced the provincial government to commit funding to a 24-hour low barrier shelter for women as a result of our collective efforts. We also continue to march for:
– Social Housing, Childcare, and Healthcare for all!
– No more Evictions and No more Gentrification in the Downtown Eastside!
– Stop Criminalizing the Poor!

Email: project@dewc.ca or Phone: 778 885 0040

Video by Sid Tan of W2TV

AHA MEDIA filmed at W2 Soul Gardens Long Table Chinese Dinner in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)

August 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Time: August 1, 2011 at 7pm to August 5, 2011 at 9pm
Location: W2 Media Cafe
Street: 111 W hastings
City/Town: Vancouver
Event Type: dinner
Organized By: W2 Woodwards

Event Description

W2 Media Cafe, 7pm daily
Founding DTES communities shared gardens, ingredients and stories, now taste the recipes and flavours from Vancouver’s early settlers on the Unceded Territories of the Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Musqeam Nation. Guests chef Mark Smith (Toronto) works with artists Cease Wyss, Indigo, Anne Marie Slater, Wayde Compton and Lani Russwurm to craft nightly menus centred around a single heritage.

Tickets  $1–20 by donation/sliding scale.
European, Aug 1

Coast Salish, Aug 2
African, Aug 3
Chinese Aug 4
Japanese, Aug 5

Tickets available at: w2longtables.eventbrite.com/