Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 events at BC Culture Days that encourage self-care and connection
All-new CARE Series acknowledges the role the arts play in supporting mental health
BC Culture Days ambassadors Jacki Gunn (left) and Ashleigh Giffen.
BC Culture Days takes place across Metro Vancouver from September 19 to October 12
ACCORDING TO THE Canadian Mental Health Association, half of all British Columbians have had or will develop a mental health problem by age 40.
That amounts to more than two and a half million people. This year’s BC Culture Days festival acknowledges that figure, and others like it, with programming that focuses on the power of arts and culture activities in alleviating mental health–related symptoms. Last year’s Culture Days reached more than 700,000 people in 65 B.C. communities, making it a significant platform for delivering support.
The new CARE Series honours this year’s mental health theme with inclusive events that encourage self-care and connection—they range from storytelling and mask-making to singing and dancing, and beyond. A mental health professional will attend each event in the series to provide support to any participants who may need it.
As the start of BC Culture Days draws closer, here are five free events taking place in Metro Vancouver that embody the mental health theme.
Scott Steedman (left) and Larry Grant.
Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong book launch
October 6 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at Hycroft Manor
Musqueam Elder Larry Grant’s new book recounts his life experiences as the son of a Musqueam mother and a Chinese immigrant father. Born in Agassiz in 1936, he grew up on the Musqueam reserve with his mother and siblings—but owing to a clause in the Indian Act regarding mixed heritage, he lost his Musqueam status and did not have to attend residential school. Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong delves deeper into that history through a wider lens of reconciliation and the revival of Indigenous culture.
Grant’s book launch, hosted by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, will feature him in conversation with co-author Scott Steedman and moderator Sarah Ling, who produced an award-winning 2016 documentary about the elder’s family called All Our Father’s Relations. A book signing will cap off the night.
Jacki Gunn. Photo by Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes
A Community of Yes: Fostering Collective Joy Through Improv
September 21 from 3 pm to 5:30 pm at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
As a long-time ensemble member of The Improv Centre, theatre artist Jacki Gunn recently performed onstage with Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Colin Mochrie, and created the hit seasonal show Back to the Holidays in 2023. Through her role as a Culture Days ambassador, she’ll be hosting this CARE Series event, an all-ages improv performance with Montana Rosalle and Sarah Dawn Pledge that will draw on the theme of community connection. An hour-long workshop for folks of all skill levels will follow the show—come prepared to let go of self-judgement by cultivating silliness and saying yes.
Jay Hirabayashi. Photo by Chris Randle
Butoh Ma, Movement From Silence
September 20 from 10 am to 2 pm at KW Studios
Though Vancouver International Dance Festival cofounder Jay Hirabayashi stepped down from his role as codirector last fall after 25 years of leadership, he’s not slowing down his artistic practice in any other sense; he remains co–artistic director of Kokoro Dance Theatre Society with Barbara Bourget. During this in-depth workshop, the butoh powerhouse will teach participants about the fundamental concept of Ma, or the stillness between moments.
Ashleigh Giffen.
Teach Me About You
October 10 from 1 pm to 5 pm at the Gathering Place Community Centre
Oji-Cree multidisciplinary artist Ashleigh Giffen, who is a Culture Days ambassador this year, is facilitating this CARE Series storytelling event rooted in Indigenous talking circles. Guided by prompts, participants can use writing, poetry, or spoken word to express themselves in a culturally rooted space.
Giffen is an accomplished visual artist and writer. Her stop-motion film Pesowan, created in collaboration with Maura Tamez, exhibited at the Lake Country Art Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery. Giffen’s practice also encompasses theatre; she developed her first play, Kamwatan Nipe (Quiet Water), through the Arts Club Theatre Company’s LEAP Program for emerging young playwrights. This year, she’ll be joining the Arts Club as assistant instructor of the program.
Franz Seachel of Enabling Arts. Photo by Soni Puth
A Practice: Pranayama, Play & Poetry
September 23 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Enabling Arts
“No, this is not a yoga class. No, this is not a writing class,” says host Franz Seachel—a multidisciplinary artist and yoga instructor—of this workshop. Instead, it’s an opportunity for participants to let go of all expectations regarding productivity. Through performance warm-ups, games, movement, and meditation, folks will learn to embody their writing in a physical and creative way. Come prepared with writing materials and comfortable clothing.
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