With Firehorse and Shadow contemporary dance artist Andrea Nann traces her matrilineal heritage in a new experiential interactive web performance that illuminates a collection of bold and inspiring experiences lived and felt by four generations of Chinese Canadian women growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Against the backdrop of gender inequality and anti-Chinese racism, Firehorse and Shadow combines elements of contemporary dance, shadow puppetry, interactive web design, animation, documentary film, photography, and story-telling to explore female lineage with a focus on the dualistic yin and yang elements expressed within the bodies, lives and choices of four generations of women. Working against and alongside the hearsay of family stories and Chinese medicine cycles and charts of astrological animal signs, two performers, Nann and shadow artist Annie Katsura Rollins, weave together passages of remembering and forgetting, inviting audience members into an intimate and brave reanimation of familial memory. The Firehorse and Shadow web performance offers computer users a personalized journey using web technology to enhance their experience within this unique online event.
What Audiences Are Saying
“I’m a 56 year old Chinese Canadian woman. I have never felt so seen. Your performance was truly beautiful.” -Y.L.
“It was such a pleasure from an audience perspective to engage interactively with the cosmos experience. Of all the adaptations I’ve seen from live performance to online presentation, this has been one of the most successful.” – J.M.
“Firehorse & Shadow is a spectacular example of how an emotional and intimate story can be successfully told inside the confines of the digital space while maintaining the tenderness of an in-person performance” – J.R.
“It’s the best interactive I have seen, ever!” -J.B.
“A pallet of expression, beauty and reflection of what was…and where we are now.” -K.C.
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Hello. Last night I watched Fire Horse and Shadow again. I had a date to watch it with my friend, we arranged to watch it at the same time, texted back and forth during the performance and afterwards had a phone chat about our experiences. It was a really fun way to watch the show! We are still not finished our discussion and agreed to continue in a couple of days. However, we agreed that it was a beautiful production leaving us with many thought provoking ideas. We loved that we both had different journeys.” – K.L.
“I just wanted to send a note to tell you how profoundly moved I was by my experience of your creation Firehorse and Shadow. I felt so engaged and a part of the experience which amazed me as I usually experience dance/performance art synchronously and live. The way you and your team wove together the movement, shadows, videos, painting, spoken word, opportunities to explore the elements, yin/yang, animal signs – all of it was so thoroughly captivating and educational.” – H.A.
Critical Conversations for Asian Canadians in the Arts, Culture, and Heritage was developed by various working groups across the country during the 2nd Asian Heritage National Symposium in September 2020.
The purpose of these conversations is to create an equitable, grassroots space for Asian-Canadians to share their thoughts and feelings on current critical issues such as leadership, representation, racism, inclusion, and equity in a respectful and non-judgemental environment.
The next Critical Conversations for Asian Canadians in the Arts, Culture, and Heritage is happening in just a few days! Come join us and let your voice be heard.
May is Asian Heritage Month, and VIFF are marking the occasion with a bundle of movies from Asian-Canadian filmmakers, headed up by one of the last movies to play the VIFF Centre before we shut down last March, Johnny Ma’s bittersweet saga of a Chinese Opera troupe, To Live to Sing. Also included, Sean Devlin’s film about the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, When the Storm Fades; and Ying Wang’s award-winning documentary about a Chinese couple’s search for answers after the death of their son, The World is Bright (another resonant title for these times). More titles are being confirmed as we go to press. Among our new releases this month, look out for Washington filmmaker Quoc Bao Tran’s fun throwback to classic martial arts movies, The Paper Tigers (from May 7), Rajat Kapoor’s Indian meta-movie comedy, RK/RKay (May 14), and from this week, Vancouver filmmaker Karen Lam’s supernatural psychodrama, The Curse of Willow Song, which was named best BC Film at last year’s VIFF.
Click the image to download this PDF virtual gallery!
Taslim Samji
Taslim is a change maker that utilizes arts and culture as a vehicle to educate communities on the strengths of embracing diversity in all aspects of society. She is a multi disciplinary artist that uses various medias to explore the conversation of inclusivity and identity. She is known for her work in curating thought-provoking exhibitions showcasing the work of immigrants and female Muslim artists in response to Xenophobia and Islamophobia.
Her 2016 exhibition at the Newton Cultural Centre in Surrey looked at the commonalities that exist between Canadian female Muslim artists and Canadian values. In 2017 her work with the City of Burnaby looked at Migration as a natural phenomenon, in the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis. She is currently working on a coming-of-age memoir that looks at how gender bias is supported through cultural conditioning, the impact of colonialism on identity, and generational trauma.
“Taslim Samji has been a member of the Burnaby Art Gallery Advisory Committee since 2018. Aside from her role as an ambassador for the Burnaby Art Gallery (BAG) she serves on the Public Art Advisory Committee and the Acquisitions Committee. Taslim is a strong advocate for the inclusion of BIPOC artists in the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection and the Public Art Collection.”
– Ellen van Eijnsbergen; Burnaby Art Gallery Director/Curator
Taslim has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, with a major in Asian Studies, Marketing diploma from BCIT and studied Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Arts & Design. She has received much press over the years for her work, including several awards. In 2017 she received her first international award – Women of the Decade in Arts and Leadership presented by the Women Economic Forum in Delhi, India.
Born in Tanzania, with roots from India, she grew up in Vancouver and considers Canada her home. Taslim identifies as a global citizen.
The Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC brings together a diverse panel of Asian-Canadian performers and academics to explore, compare, and contrast various forms of Asian Musical theatre. Join us for this unique opportunity to explore these art forms with our creative panelists, who include:
Yan Zhao – Qin Qiang Singer Wenyu Fan – Yue Opera Singer Yayoi Hirano – Japanese Musical Performer Lulu Zyl – Designer
Corona has been released on all major platforms worldwide At a time when the Coronavirus was starting to make headlines, fast thinking Canadian filmmaker Mostafa Keshvari was in an elevator reading the headlines when he conceived, then wrote and shot the first acclaimed feature film to address the Coronavirus pandemic and Xenophobia that comes with it. Entitled Corona, the Coronavirus thriller was shot just before the shutdown. Mostafa wrote the script in two weeks, built the set in ten days then shot the feature in two days as the Covid-19 story was still unfolding. Filming wrapped on February 15, 2020. Corona had its world premiere at the Oscar qualifying Rhode Island international film festival on 4th of August 2020 where Mostafa won the Director’s Choice Award. Corona is being distributed by Level 33 Entertainment and is now available worldwide on all major platforms including Apple Movies, Comcast, Spectrum, GooglePlay, Microsoft, Redbox and more.
Mostafa Keshvari
Mostafa Keshvari is an award-winning Iranian-born Canadian writer, director and producer based in Vancouver with 4 Leo nominations and 60 International awards on IMDb. His films have been recognized by international media such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The TIMES, BBC World, The Hollywood Reporter, CBC, The Global news and over 100 worldwide media. Mostafa’s films have been selected at Oscar-Qualifying festivals such as Rhodes Island, USA and Yorkton film festival as well as Cannes short film corner ( 3 consecutive years ) .
As a top graduate of Vancouver film school, Mostafa made his first film I Ran (2015) which screened at Cannes film festival short corner. Since then, Mostafa’s has written directed and produced 12 shorts, 2 animation and 2 feature films. His films mainly explore relevant social issues featuring strong female leads and aim to empower the audience. Mostafa’s directorial debut Unmasked, a feature film has already won 28 IMDb awards / 14 nominations and continues to receive notable attention.
Mostafa’s latest feature film,” Corona” was globally recognized as the worlds’ first Corona movie with the theme of Coronavirus and Xenophobia. Corona is available on main VOD and streaming platforms across the US and Canada.
Mostafa is a member of the Directors and Writers Guild of Canada ( DGC|WGC), CMPA, MPPIA and the Federation of Canadian Artists. He is also an advocate of diversity and inclusion as the President of BC Minorities for film and TV Society (BCMFT ) as well as a member of DGC’s BIPOC committee member.
“I want to create colorful stories that not only entertain but empower the audience”. Mostafa Keshvari
As dedicated to showcasing Asian culture, exploring Chinese artwork and music, and strengthening cultural exchanges between China and Canada, Poly Culture North America will organize a series of online events during the Asian Heritage Month, ending with a virtual concert on May 28. The events will entertain art lovers who are staying at home during the pandemic and will also demonstrate our understanding of Canadian multiculturalism and integration. “The Oriental Voice” online event series will be held on every Friday from May 7 to May 28. Sharing the same theme of traditional Chinese music, two of the events focus on artwork and the other two concentrate on performance.
Event Outline
“The Oriental Voice” online event series will be held on every Friday from May 7 to May 28. Sharing the same theme of traditional Chinese music, two of the events focus on artwork and the other two concentrate on performance. The specific arrangements are as follows:
On May 7, a video collection of guqin performance by Li Fengyun, the vice president of the China Guqin Committee, and Wang Jianxin,
the professor at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music will be premiered on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
On May 14, a program is planned to introduce the Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng??????? archived in Hubei Provincial Museum, RongSheng Chime Bells??????and other important exhibits archived in the Poly Art Museum. Chime bells have profound significance on Chinese ancient music Culture. Among these, the Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng have 2400 years of history, and they are the largest and most precise chime bells in the pre-Qin period found in China. To allow the audience to better appreciate the ancient music spanning thousands of years, the video of the Chime Bells performance will be played at the end of program.
On May 21, a guqin expert will be invited to give an online lecture focusing on several important guqins in the past and upcoming auctions of the Beijing Poly Auction, which includes “The Song Shi Jian Yi imperial Guqin” which is an ancient string instrument made during the Song Emperor Huizong’s reign and has the imperial inscription of the Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty. It was sold at 136 million RMB at the 2010 Beijing Poly Auction’s 5-Year
Anniversary Autumn Auction. At the end of the lecture, a guqin musician will be invited to play.
On May 28, a virtual concert named “The Oriental Voice” will be held to conclude the series.
“The Oriental Voice” Virtual Concert
The virtual concert is entitled as “the Oriental Voice” demonstrating the history and diversity of traditional Chinese music and culture. Presented in both English and Chinese, the show will be premiered on May 28 through 8 major video platforms around the world: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Kwai, YangShiPin, Weibo, and WeChat Live Streaming. The most celebrated Chinese musicians and Orchestras are invited, for example, the master of Pipa Wu Yuxia, Erhu expert Song Fei, China Broadcasting National Orchestra, etc. Also, traditional instruments will be displayed in a great variety, including but not limited to Pipa, Erhu, Guqin, and the program covers different solos and ensembles of orchestral music, vocal music, opera, and dance.
The concert will be constructed with 3 chapters: “Classics”, “Nostalgia”, “Diversity”.
Chapter I – Classics: In this Chapter, we will choose traditional Chinese musical instruments that represent oriental aesthetics, such as Guqin, Xiao, Pipa, Erhu, etc. to perform, so that the audience can feel the ancient rhythms of the Orient.
Chapter II – Nostalgia: Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people. There is an old saying in China “All alone in a foreign land, I am twice as homesick on this day”. Across the globe, no matter where they are, the family reunion of Spring Festival is the most ardent expectation in Chinese people’s hearts. Therefore, we will choose some songs we usually can hear during the Spring Festival, such as “Jasmine Flower”.
Chapter III – Diversity: Although we have different culture background, we respect and celebrate multiculturalism in Canada, there are plenty of opportunities and space for the development and display of all ethnic cultures here. To illustrate the theme of “diversity”, we will invite the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra to bring an ensemble of classical guitar and traditional Chinese instrument erhu, demonstrating the power of cross-cultural integration of music. In addition, as an essential part of the Canadian community, the cultural contributions from First Nations must be included to better illustrate the theme of “diversity”. Therefore, we will invite Haida activist and artist Guujaaw and Kichwa musician Edgar Muenala to collaborate with Inner Mongolian musician Utamu to perform. As revealed in their music, “when ancient cultures meet, ancestors speak, we are all immortal as long as our stories are told.” The innovative combination between Mongolian folk song and First Nation music is so impressive that can better fit in what we are expected to express during the Asian Heritage Month: respect the diversity of minority culture & art.
Event Organizer
About Poly Culture Group/Poly Culture North America
Poly Culture Group is China’s leading art and culture company who manages the world’s largest theatre chains and operates the world’s third largest auction house. Poly Culture Group offers performance and theatre management, art business and auction, cinema investment and management. Its business also covers art education, cultural tourism, artwork, and finance.
As of January 2021, Poly Culture Group operates 70 theatres located in 62 cities across China. In 2020, Poly Culture Group established Poly Cloud Theater and released more than 230 videos of performances online, with a cumulative play volume of more than 4 million times.
Established in 2015 as the North American headquarters of Poly Culture Group, Poly Culture North America Investment Corporation Limited (Poly Culture North America) is committed to promoting Poly Culture Group’s main business sectors in the North American market, strengthening bilateral arts and cultural exchanges between China and Canada. Since its establishment, the company has successfully held 15 high-end exhibitions and more than 170 art events. it has also successfully brought seven high-quality international shows to more than 50 cities in China with a total of 208 concerts. Meanwhile, two world-class Chinese performances have been introduced to Vancouver. In October 2018, Poly Culture North America was awarded the Canada China Business Excellence Awards by the Canada China Business Council on its 40th anniversary.
Since May 1st, 2020, Poly Culture North America has launched 42 online events. The topic covers Chinese ancient calligraphy, jewelry, etc. Two digital shows were also held last year. One was the Music in the Air: A Digital Show in cooperation with Vancouver Academy of Music, and the other was the 2021 New Year Digital Show. Both shows convened outstanding musical artists from China and Canada to communicate love and hope with music to the world. And they were all well received, reaching 300,000 and 750,000 views, respectively.
To celebrate National Canadian Film Day in 2021, explorASIAN presented a virtual screening of Ali Kazimi’s 2004 film Continuous Journey. This inventive docudrama explores the exclusionary politics that kept the Indian passengers of the Komagata Maru sequestered at sea off the Port of Vancouver for over two months in 1914. To preface the film, explorASIAN presented Oceans of Stories, a brief conversation with an excellent group of panelists who will share their own refugee stories gathered through their own personal experiences, art, work and family histories. Our panelists include: Leticia Sanchez, Sangeeta Wylie, Hannah Temple, Mohammed Al-Saleh, Patricia Woroch and Saleem Spindari.
Currents by Ruby Singh
The Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver on May 23, 1914, and to honour this anniversary, local artist Ruby Singh created this video piece.
“In memory of those we have lost and those who have struggled and sacrificed so much, so we could be here now. The Komagata Maru story is a part of the long tradition of deliberate, exclusionary, racist policies of the Canadian government to keep out ethnicities with who they considered unworthy to enter.”
Courtesy of the 45th Powell St. Festival, we would like to invite everyone across the country to learn the Paueru Mashup, a taiko flashmob work that encapsulates the festival! It’s a community dance that we can all learn and perform together one day! Learn the dance and videotape yourself, then we will edit everyone into a video that will premiere at the Festival.
Itching to move your body? Learn the Paueru Mashup, a community dance drawing on elements of Radio Taiso and Tanko Bushi. Commissioned by the Powell Street Festival Society with music created by Onibana Taiko and movements by Company 605, this high-energy dance is accessible for all ages and abilities. No dance experience necessary! We’ll have skilled dance instructors walking you through the movements as you learn from the comfort of your own home.
These are iterative lessons, so we encourage you to join in for all the lessons, so you can learn a new portion of the dance each week! Each rehearsal will build upon teachings in the previous one so we recommend that you try to attend them all:
We are thrilled to share the arrival of our 25th Anniversary Festival Program. We invite you to download, browse, and share the complete guide through the links above, where you will find 50+ Asian Heritage Month virtual events and exhibitions presented by our various community partners. We hope that you will be able to join us via Zoom for our Virtual Opening Ceremony on May 1st to help celebrate the start of Asian Heritage Month in Canada and explorASIAN’s 25th Anniversary.
We would like to take a moment to thanks some of the festivals generous sponsors, without whom this festival would not be possible.
