He’s certainly not alone. With a crumbling world economy, growing city debt and increasingly visible street poverty, it’s no surprise many Vancouver residents are reconsidering their support for the two-week, $6 billion event.

But despite extensive criticism, the Olympic machine keeps on rolling. To remind us all of the inevitable 2010 Games (or perhaps convince us this whole shebang is really worthwhile) the folks at VANOC have launched a seven-week cultural festival.

The 2009 Cultural Olympiad officially began February 1 with a Chinese New Year celebration.

Yes, the 2009 Cultural Olympiad is upon us, which boasts over 400 events spanning from February 1 to March 21. Many Canadian musicians have been scheduled to appear (including Chad VanGaalen, Hawksley Workman, Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, Joel Plaskett and of course Sarah McLachlan) as well as a wide variety of art, dance and theatre exhibitions.

A few of these events are happening within the borders of the Downtown Eastside. For example, the Chinese New Year Parade marched through East Pender street February 1 (complete with Olympiad-brand signage). In addition, a pair of performances—Japan’s Awaji Puppet Theatre and Hannah Moscovitch’s East of Berlin

—will grace the stage of the Firehall Arts Centre, located at the corner of Cordova and Gore.

VANOC estimates the pricetag on the Cultural Olympiad is about $2.5 million. While that is only a small portion of the aforementioned $6 billon currently being spent on Olympic infrastructure, athletic venues and marketing, it’s still enough capital to provide overnight shelter for 163 people for a full year, according to a study conducted at SFU last year.

Although the greater city of Vancouver is well represented throughout the Olympiad, very few of these artists were chosen from the Downtown Eastside, and even less effort is being put into sustaining a long-term artistic community in the neighbourhood.

Although I am generally a supporter of all things artsy, this year’s Cultural Olympiad has me wondering whether it’s worth it.

Ed. note: For more detailed commentary about the Cultural Olympiad and other issues related to the 2010 games, see Megaphone Magazine’s Olympics Issue, out today. Photo courtesy of Antony Pranata.

Community Walls/Community Voices spans 500 feet of Commercial Drive

Tetrault is a painter, printmaker and muralist who has worked in the Downtown Eastside for more than thirty years. Like me, he digs public art. Unlike me, he is an incredibly skilled artist and has painted on some prominent buildings in places like Traxcala Mexico, Oakland California, and Tucuman Argentina.

(Coincidentally, he also contributed to an enormous mural in my hometown).

While having painted on a couple different continents, Tetrault is best known for community works in the heart of Vancouver. Several local community centres, schools and unowned stretches of concrete now tell stories about the city’s history, thanks in part to this devoted public artist.

On his website, Tetrault explains his affinity for outdoor art: “Public murals directly influence the physical texture of the street. My mural projects are a reflection of city streets and life, as well as of the creative spirit of the community.”

To put it simply, he’s super passionate about what he does.

And it shows. Currently, Tetrault is working on no less than four mural projects around the Downtown Eastside, including two massive collaborative pieces at Russian Hall and Britannia Community Centre.

All four projects are scheduled to hit the concrete this summer.

Photo courtesy of richard-tetrault.ca.

McIntosh invites a small audience to reconsider Vancouver's history in Lives Were Around Me

What is theatre without a stage?

Well, in the case of David McIntosh’s latest creation Lives Were Around Me, it’s a one-of-a-kind guided exploration of history and storytelling in Vancouver’s historic city centre.

Every Tuesday until the end of February, three audience members at a time are invited to reconsider their understanding of the Downtown Eastside and beyond.

The show is hosted by Battery Opera, inspired by James Kelman‘s novel Translated Accounts, and performed by Adrienne Wong, Paul Ternes, Aleister Murphy, and (of course) the city itself. I asked McIntosh a few questions about his sold-out show.

Here is what he had to say:

What do you think Lives Were Around Me is about?

The artist is the last person you should ask that question.

I can tell you [Lives Were Around Me] is framed as a guided tour. That’s what it is. It’s an invitation to come on a tour (of a kind) through specific areas of the city.

This guided tour is a truly innovative idea; I’ve personally never heard anything like it. What inspired you put this together?

The piece comes out of several obsessions of mine. One of the obsessions is about history and how we create history for ourselves, in the present. We re-frame fragments from the past in a way that justifies our present existence. I’ve always been interested in that. It’s present through any kind of history.

So that’s one thing.

As well, I’m often interested in exploring agendas behind narratives. Whenever somebody tells you a story there’s a translation of an event. You only get a fragment of the experience.

This piece in particular started when I read a book called Translated Accounts. It’s a series of unrelated (or possibly related) accounts or reports that had been collected and translated. [Scottish novelist James Kelman] usually writes in a dialect, but this one is not. Through these translations of these events he ends up creating an obscure kind of grammar.

The narrative in it is very hard to follow. There is no relation from one chapter to another. It’s really hard to figure out what the event is, so what comes to the forefront is the agenda of the person telling the story.

I was fascinated by that in this book.

Then it just so happened I popped into the police museum, and I was struck by a similar sense of agenda. It permeated through the entire space. All the displays were attempts at justification of themselves and what they did.

Right away I saw a similarity there.

That block is at the centre of the city. And the whole creation of the city is an attempt to force narrative (through government, churches, art organizations and so on). They all enforce and create narrative while lives hang in the balance.

Of course none of our lives actually fit into systems or histories. So there’s discord there.

Artistically, those were my ideas. What I wanted to do was create of layering those things and invite people to consider how they make sense of where they are and how they got here.

My agenda is to invite you to question how narratives are created, how evidence is framed and how history is also framed.

Is it a consistent show, or more improvised?

It’s a consistent show every Tuesday night and leaves hourly from 6 until 10 pm. But it’s not always the same. There’s different performers and the audience changes everything. How they react and how they move (or choose not to move) has an impact.

When moving through the Downtown Eastside, is it ever difficult for people to take in?

The Downtown Eastside is not difficult, but it’s sometimes challenging for an audience. I find this especially if they’re from Vancouver, they often bring in a lot of assumptions.

People interject (as they will) but it’s not disruptive.

Have any audience members ever reacted poorly?

Poorly? I don’t know.

I think the piece is very emotional, so I think people often have a very emotional reaction. One of the things we ask is to sign a waiver. The piece takes place out in the world. I am not in control of whether you step off the street in front of a car, or get assaulted or trip over a grate and break your ankle.

You agree to step into the world. That world is downtown Vancouver.

When you consider the idea of being in the Downtown Eastside and you have a lot of assumptions about the neighbourhood and how people view you, I find that’s really fascinating.

It’s always good to actually be there and see what it really is like.

Is there ever an issue of voyeurism?

That is an issue that people bring with them.

The piece invites them to consider whether they’re being a voyeur.

How do you feel about theatre and the creative community within the Downtown Eastside?

Well, I’m not an arts advocate. I find the word community really repulsive [in that context]. We’re surrounded by individual people. ‘Arts community’ has a lot of condescension in it. I’m not interested in representing groups of people. I’m interested in art and my experience. And inviting people to explore that.

I live very close to the Downtown Eastside and I’ve always worked in the Downtown Eastside, so for me there’s a personal narrative of those blocks. I have a specific narrative for that area so I don’t feel the need to represent it in a different way, if that makes sense.

I’m doing the piece there because of it’s centrality. I’m not trying to explain the Downtown Eastside. I’m not trying to represent any part of the city or a part of the social spectrum.

Are tickets still available?

No, it’s completely sold out.

We might do it again next year. We’ll see.

Between heavy-handed editors, corporate publishers, and uncertain distribution (not to mention a less-than-booming economy) sharing the printed word has become an uphill battle for even the most affluent authors.

But while media monoliths like Time Warner continue to disseminate People Magazine by the truckload—reaching a weekly circulation of 3.75 million—on the opposite end of the spectrum there are zines. Often armed with some paper, a stapler, and a public photocopier, zine makers (affectionately known as zinesters) publish tales from the fringes, often reaching the eyes of less than 100 viewers.

Yes, zines have contributed to unique small-scale conversations in the Downtown Eastside and around the world without the help of glossy stock, colour ink or even a functioning typewriter in some cases. And while the zine phenomenon isn’t exactly cutting-edge in 2009, it is new to the Vancouver Public Library catalogue.

More than 500 local and international zines are now available at the Vancouver Public Library.

The downtown branch of the VPL has recently launched a collection of zines. These non-profit DIY publications host a range of topics, from bicycle maintenance and single motherhood to dealing with sexual abuse.

According to Caroline Crowe of the VPL, these zines “tap into segments of the population who generally feel disenfranchised from the library or from traditional media.” A recent Megaphone article goes on to say Crowe hopes people who feel socially and economically marginalized will be able to find material in zines not otherwise available to them. The collection could even inspire other underrepresented people, such as the Downtown Eastside community, to express themselves.

I checked out the VPL zines for myself, and sure enough found a number of zines relating to Canada’s poorest postal code. While glossier fare like Between the Cracks profiled the best in East Van street art, other zines like Anna’s Story illustrate very personal stories of poverty and police intervention.

Anna is a small girl in the poorest part of East Vancouver, who plants some tomato seeds in an abandoned lot. Although the makeshift garden becomes a spot where people come together to make art and music, a policeman comes with a bulldozer to ‘clear out the mess.’ In the end, Anna stands up to the bulldozer and saves the community garden.

While Anna’s Story is compelling and alternative, it is also quite childish.

I found the problem with this particular zine—and many other similar zines—was it presented a grave oversimplification of the relationship between poor residents and police forces. I’ve since learned zines do not by nature provide engaging and artful material, they are merely alternative in publication and distribution.

However, if you’re interested in browsing the VPL’s newly acquired zine collection, they are on the first floor of the central branch, right between graphic novels and the payphones.

At the corner of Columbia and East Cordova Street, the electric blue community gallery hosts a wide range of alternative art, from feminist performance to bicycle decorations.

But the heritage building provides much more than a set of white walls to hang artwork. First and foremost, Gallery Gachet is a creative community devoted to addressing mental health issues in the Downtown Eastside and throughout Vancouver.

Named after Vincent Van Gough’s homeopathic doctor, Gallery Gachet offers workshops and other supportive programming to those who are marginalized from society due to mental illness, trauma and abuse.

From woodworking and sculpture to video editing and digital photography, these workshops aim to give agency to some of society’s most vulnerable members.

It’s initiatives like this that truly make me smile.

The social ills that seem to haunt the Downtown Eastside are complex and multifaceted, so it takes a diverse set of social programs to provide the best help for everyone. While some may argue more policing is usually the best solution, I’m more tempted to believe in preventative measures—even if it means taking away a few more hard-earned tax dollars.

Although art may not directly solve issues of poverty, violence, or addiction, I think these workshops have the capacity to stimulate minds and enact positive life changes. Gallery Gachet peels away at one of the layers that cause greater social ills, and for that it should be commended.

Tonight, Gachet is hosting a pay-what-you-can drawing class beginning at 6:30 p.m. The drop-in workshop requires no previous experience and provides all necessary materials.

Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday between 12 and 6 p.m.

Gachet gets paid

Today city council will vote on a $60,200 arts grant, of which Gallery Gachet will likely be a partial recipient. According to a long-winded city report (which I admit I have not yet fully read), a big chunk of this grant will launch a brand new project called NEXT Generation Arts Leadership.

What is NEXT Generation Arts Leadership, do you ask?

Here’s what the report has to say:

The NEXT Generation pilot program assists small and mid-sized arts organizations that have moved out of start-up and that now envision a longer term strategic course of action to accomplish growth. The aim of the program is to integrate improved leadership capabilities, to increase organizational balance, and gain a community of arts leadership practice. An initial cohort of six arts organizations will participate in a facilitated development process shaped around the individual leadership, organization and shared challenges of the group.

So, in other words, the grant money will help stabilize six small and mid-range arts organizations with as much as $20,000 to help with development and infrastructure. Gallery Gachet is one of those lucky six. Great, right?

Well, not exactly. From what I’ve read, it’s good—but it’s not great.

According to a Georgia Straight article back in October, Vancouver has been clumsy with its arts grants in the past. Many circles of the arts community are upset because of all the “paperwork and bureaucratic oversight . . . is gumming up the works.”

In Vancouver, all art grants are administered by the city’s office of cultural affairs, rather than an autonomous arts council. Despite having more artists per capita than any other Canadian city, Vancouver is the only major Canadian city not to have an arms-length arts council, says Heather Redfern, executive director of the Eastside Cultural Centre in the same Straight article.

So what does this all mean for social projects like Gallery Gachet? Truthfully, I am unsure. My next plan of attack is to have a conversation with Gachet’s director Irwin Oostindie. However, in the meantime, I’m going to try my hand at sketching to relieve some mental tension.

Photo courtesy of Uncleweed.

A: You hand them a guitar and amp.

At least this is the solution supported by the Hastings Street Media Lab, which is hosting its third annual Hastings Street Indie Recording Sessions on February 6. The youth-focused battle of the bands will offer kids between ages 13 and 19 a chance to rock out and win prizes.

My first reaction? How fun is that!

This is a wonderful opportunity for at-risk kids to express themselves creatively and to hone some impressive musical skills. In a neighbourhood with more crack dealers than swing sets, the Indie Sessions is a positive way for teens to spend their Friday night.

In the words of prolific indie rockers Sonic Youth, it’s a Kool Thing.

But the competition is just one aspect of a larger campaign started by Bob Gilson and the Hastings Street Media Lab. Vancouver Youth Radio is yet another success story that offers high-schoolers the chance to submit tunes, produce, and even host their own radio shows and documentaries. Programs range from Paul’s “Head Bangin” to Max’s “Crossing Cultures” to Arielle’s “Indie Pop.”

After a short listen I found the station plays anything from David Bowie to Fall Out Boy.

The Disgruntled Toddlers were the first winners of the Hastings St. Indie Recording Sessions in 2006.

It’s easy to see both the Hastings Street Indie Recording Sessions and Vancouver Youth Radio have touched the lives of many young people living in Canada’s poorest postal code.

When the Indie Sessions launched in November 2006, six bands performed to a live audiences and three judges. According to the Georgia Straight, Danny Jones of Scratch Records, David Engleman of Rocky Mountain Sound, and Bing Jensen formerly of the band Brain Damage, unanimously chose the Disgruntled Toddlers of Britannia Secondary School.

The all-girl band, featuring an eccentric mix of guitar, drums and a trombone, picked up a recording contract for 500 copies of a two-song CD release. This year, the grand prize is a full day of professional studio time, with the help of an experienced engineer. Runners-up have a chance to win Vancouver Canucks tickets or one of five computers.

Proceeds from the event will fund arts programming at three Eastside High schools and two local community centres. If you’re planning to check out the show, it begins at 4:30 on Friday February 6 at the Ray-Com Co-op Centre, found at 920 East Hastings Street. Tickets are $5.

Prospective performers can apply by emailing a musical submission to indierecording@vancouveryouthradio.com.

Photo courtesy of Mistressazzy.

The political message was simple: “f*** Stephen Harper.”

(I’m not kidding—this phrase was shouted into the microphone repeatedly).

But during more tactful moments, these local musicians sought to warn the federal government that Insite saves lives on the streets of Vancouver. The slogan “play music not politics” adorned dozens of surrounding placards and banners. Organized by the Portland Hotel Society (PHS), the afternoon event also featured free burgers, stilt walkers, and sheets upon sheets of cold December rain.

And, with the help of musical guest Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash, along with truncated speeches from several local politicians, Black Mountain played to a crowd of a couple thousand avid fans. (If you want to read a more detailed recap, I wrote a full story for Megaphone Magazine a few weeks ago).

At first I thought being involved with such an event was perhaps a controversial move—especially for a band that is beginning to receive some serious mainstream attention. After touring North America with the likes of Coldplay way back in 2005, the indie media darlings recently received a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for the infectious hooks featured on the track “Stormy High.”

On such a divisive issue, it seems the band has a lot to lose.

But after chatting with bassist Matt Camirand, I learned Black Mountain isn’t shy about it’s political affiliations. As it turns out, many members of the band have actually worked with PHS and Insite for as long as a decade.

Camirand and his bandmates have witnessed the Downtown Eastside’s urgent need for a safe injection facility first-hand. Instead of merely offering superficial support for the program, Black Mountain have chosen to roll up their sleeves and get involved.