Writing by VANDOCUMENT

Written documentation by VANDOCUMENT

 Jack Garton

Questions Posed to Geoff Berner (The Whiskey Rabbi) by Jack Garton (The Jack of Hearts)

Questions Posed to Geoff Berner (The Whiskey Rabbi) by Jack Garton (The Jack of Hearts)

What Inquiring Young Vancouver Accordion Players Who Like Whiskey and Books Want To Know

Words by Jack Garton All images courtesy the artists Jack: First of all, as a young Vancouver accordion player – or anyone for that matter involved in music or other cultural activity – I feel like asking: is there any hope for Vancouver? As venues continuously shut down around the city (Richards on Richards, Sugar […]

 Ash Tanasiychuk

OneLove @ The Cultch

OneLove @ The Cultch

ArtQuake’s two evenings of youth expression explore issues of identity through art and performance

Words by Celesse McCarthy Photos by Jensen Gifford and Ash Tanasiychuk — This year, ArtQuake, in conjunction with The Cultch, hosted OneLove – “a 2-day live arts celebration celebration honouring youth leaders who are using their art to initiate positive change in their communities.” (from artquake.ca) ArtQuake’s goal is to help youth (aged 13-25) capture […]

 Barbara Adler

Burn (Out) Resistant: Interview with Katheryn Petersen

Burn (Out) Resistant: Interview with Katheryn Petersen

Barbara Adler speaks with the Accordion Noir Festival’s general manager and co-artistic director

Words by Barbara Adler All images courtesy the artists Katheryn Petersen, known to many as accordion performer Salmon Avalanche, is also Accordion Noir Festival’s general manager and co-artistic director. On any given day leading up to this year’s festival, her duties include (but are not limited to): finagling show line ups, wrangling liquor licenses, sweet […]

 John Paton

SoundEscape @ China Cloud

SoundEscape @ China Cloud

An ethereal yet powerful atmosphere permeates three live music and dance collaborative performances

Words by John Paton For whatever reason, the China Cloud always turns out to be one of my favourite Vancouver music venues. Maybe it’s the discreet entrance-by-stairway, or the vibe of the room itself, which resembles a good friend’s oversized living room. It certainly doesn’t hurt that when I arrived they happened to be playing […]

 Robert Leveroos

Two Birds on A Wire and Hoof

Two Birds on A Wire and Hoof

An evening of birds and beasts at The Russian Hall

Words by Robert Leveroos It’s an overcast evening of spitting rain. There wasn’t time to go home so I’m quickly stuffing my face at Pizzeria Farina on Main Street. Zydeco plays overhead. A pajama’d man walks out with a balanced stack of 4 pizzas. A couple to my left discusses hitchhiking. A man outside beats […]

 Adrienne LaBelle

Collapsing Opposites @ SASStorino’s

Collapsing Opposites @ SASStorino’s

    Words by Adrienne LaBelle  It’s Saturday night, almost 9pm, and we’re at the corner of Venables and Commercial.  Walking up to the old Astorino’s building, you wouldn’t know that there is an all-ages show starting in ten minutes.  Partially, because nobody is here yet, not even the opening band.  Partially because nobody shows […]

 Ash Tanasiychuk

Unlearning Weekenders: 12 Hour Procession & Artists’ Talk

Unlearning Weekenders: 12 Hour Procession & Artists’ Talk

Artists culminate their research with a procession through Vancouver's East Side, across two bridges, to Third Beach, to teach - or unlearn - more than expected

Words by Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte Photos by Ash Tanasiychuk The proposition was, from the start, intriguing: an open invitation to participate in the planning and realization of a 12-hour performance procession through Vancouver. This procession was organized as the closing event of a year-long research project undertaken by artists Zoë Kreye and Catherine Grau. Carried out […]

 Hailey McCloskey

Powell Street Festival

Powell Street Festival

The largest Japanese Canadian festival in the country celebrates 37 years through a variety of food, dance, performance, and ceremony

Written by Hailey McCloskey Tomomi Morimoto dances with ghost stories of Japanese lore. Performing at the Firehall Arts Centre, she begins with her back facing the audience. Some of the audience is privy to the sight of a mirrored mask she holds still by the clasp of her jaw. As she moves in fractions, we […]

 Alicia McLean

Hacking the Home: creative electronics @ VIVO Media Arts

Hacking the Home: creative electronics @ VIVO Media Arts

Workshop @ VIVO Media Arts that empowers youth by re-imagining their relationship with technology

Words by Alicia McLean Photos by Sheng Ho    In 2013, we tap at touchscreens, type out text and download apps. We use electronic systems to maneuver our city by the most efficient route, following plotted pathways. We are given a false sense of accomplishment by adjusting limited settings, while software is sheathed with operable […]

 Hailey McCloskey

Leaky Heaven’s der Wink @ Russian Hall

Leaky Heaven’s der Wink @ Russian Hall

Forging spatial architecture and negotiating its psyche

Words by Hailey McCloskey Water. No wait, trees. Actually, it’s light shining through water on the ground and trees are on the walls. I sit as an island in this multilayered sea of light: I don’t have the comfort of anonymity that being an audience member often provides. This is thrilling, not only for the […]