Category Archives: Upcoming Events

100 years of South Asian-Candian Music and History + Delhi 2 Dublin info

My friend Tarun Nayar – one of the geniuses behind Delhi 2 Dublin sends me this message about 100 years of South Asian-Canadian BC history:

Hello South Asian music fans,

There
are a few very interesting things happening in the next couple of
weeks. Next week there's a whole variety pack of great talks, events,
and music to mark over 100 years of South Asian presence in Canada. In
1908, as the population of South Asians in BC grew to 5000, the
Canadian government passed the 'Continuous Journey' law to prohibit
further immigration. The events next week commemorate the long journey
it's been since then, the many twists and turns that have transformed
Canada into the amazing country it is today, and the work we have to do
in the future. More info below and at: http://www.southasianevents.blogspot.com/. An added bonus: all the events are FREE.

Also
next week, check the Delhi 2 Dublin Remix CD release party. It should
be outlandishly fun, and will pack out, so pick up your ticket ahead of
time!

Until next time,

and hope to see you soon,

Tarun

http://www.myspace.com/taruntspoon

Gung Haggis dragon boat team is busy… paddlers are reading at Heart of the City Festival and running for Vancouver Parksboard + paddling?

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Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team is BUSY this Sunday:
Paddler Stuart Mackinnon is running for Vancouver Parksboard
Paddler Dan Seto is giving a reading for Heart of the City Festival.

2008_Oct23 006 Gung Haggis paddler Stuart Mackinnon is running for Vancouver Parks Board. Here he poses with his good friend Andrea Reimer who is running for Vancouver City Council – photo Todd Wong

Dan Seto with fellow dragon boat paddlers turned authors Grace Chow and Todd Wong, for the book Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian & Aboriginal Potluck – photo Deb Martin

For
the past two Sundays, Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team continues to paddle for fun and fitness, after our last “race” at the Ft. Langley Canoe Club Cranberry Festival Regatta. We have paddled to David Lam Park, then to
Granville Island, here we have docked the boat and gone for a
refreshing drink of juice, coffee, hot chocolate or even sake.

Tomorrow
Sunday Nov. 2nd is a very busy day, so it is important that we know how
many paddlers are coming. We have moved the 1:30 practice back to
3:00 to try to accommodate paddlers activities – so please contact
Stephen Mirowski to indicate if you can attend.

Some team members are
helping Stuart Mackinnon in the morning put his pamphlets in neighborhoods, as
Stuart is running for Vancouver Parksboard for the Nov. 15th
Civic election. If you would like to help – please contact Stuart or
Julie Wong:

On Sunday, Stuart will be speaking at the all candidates Parks board meeting at the Roundhouse community centre, while paddler Dan Seto does a reading at the Chinese Benovolent Society. I might also be reading along with Dan, as I have been asked to be a last-minute stand-in for fellow writer Shirley Chan. We will be reading from the book Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.

Please check out both of these worthy events:

CHINESE CANADIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY WRITERS
Sunday November 2, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, 108 E. Pender 3rd floor

ALL CANDIDATES MEETING for Park Board Commissioners.

presented by Roundhouse Community
Arts and Recreation Society
Sunday, November 2, 2008
2:00pm to 4:00pm
(Performance Centre)

Andrea Nann and Alvin Tolentino perform Nov 1 for Project Mabuhay

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Project Mabuhay, is an annual free Eye Ear and Nose Clinic
staffed by volunteer Canadian medical personnel for the indigent in the
Philippines.

Saturday, Nov. 1st
8pm

at the Vancouver Playhouse

All the artists are volunteering their time and
talents for this worthwhile project. Andrea Nann and Alvin Tolentino have been
invited to create a dance for a 2 piano tango piece being
performed by international concert pianist Dorothy Uytengsu and
Lester Soo.

Andrea and Alvin are two of Canada's top dance choreographers. I have reviewed some of their past performances.

Here's what I have found on Cherelle Jardine's website: http://www.cherellejardine.com/

You are cordially invited
to attend a fundraising concert benefitting Dr.Hugh Parsons, and his
charity, Project Mabuhay. This medical mission is to
help the indigent people of the Philippines who are suffering from
various diseases that have little or no access to medical help by
conducting free eye and ear, nose & throat treatment clinics. The
doctors, nurses & team
and all artists have all donated their time, talent and money to pay
for their OWN expenses (including hotel, airfare and food) to help
those less fortunate.

The evening is entitled “Project Mabuhay – An Evening of Song and Dance at the Queen Elizabeth Playhouse

Classical pianists Lester Soo with his duo partner Dorothy Uytengsu,
will be performing piano duo arrangements of music by Gershwin,
Rachmaninov, & Piazolla. Several other noted artists will also be
performing including
Joey Albert; singer; Andrea Nann; Dancer from Toronto, Cherelle Jardine
; pop/rock singer with Ricky Francisco, Dr. Malcolm Hayes; flautist,
and many more…..All in aid to raise funds for purchasing medical
equipment and supplies.

So come get your dose of culture and while doing so, knowing that you
are helping those less fortunate. Tickets can only be purchased
directly from Debbie Mah for $20, $35 or $150 for the VIP catered
reception/after party. I
encourage those who need a charitable donation tax receipt to attend
the VIP reception. A tax receipt will be issued for $100 for VIP
ticket holders. Space limited to 150 people. debbymah@shaw.ca

How come it dook so long for Asians and First Nations to get the vote in BC?

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Event: Asians, First Nations and the History of the Vote in British Columbia

A Panel Discussion About the History of Exclusion and How It Has Impacted British Columbians

It's the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the colony of British Columbia. But First Nations people have only been voting for 48 years since 1960, Canadians of Japanese ancestry for 59 yeras since 1949, and Canadians of Chinese ancestry for 61 years since 1947. What took so long?

Come check out the following event and find out why.
Okay… I will try NOT to use the “R” word.

This should be an interesting panel discussion. Patricia Roy's book The Triumph of Citizenship: The Japanese and Chinese in Canada, 1941-67
was a BC Book Prize non-ficition nominee for 2008.

Larry Grant can be quite funny – he has a very witty sense of humour. He just did the First Nations greeting for the Chinese Canadian Military Museum 10th Anniversary Dinner on Friday Night – I would love to have him as a guest for the the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in 2009.

Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Location: Vancouver Public Library
Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level
350 West Georgia Street

Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Speakers:
Ms. Lily Chow (author), Ms. Masako Fukawa (writer/teacher), Mr. Larry
Grant (Musqueam First Nation), Mr. Harb Gill (Komagata Maru
Foundation), Professor Patricia Roy (University of Victoria)

Until
the mid-20th century Asians and First Nations were not allowed to vote
in British Columbia. It wasn’t until 1947 and 1949 respectively, that
citizens of Chinese and Japanese descent were granted the right to
vote, and only in 1960 was the same right granted to people of First
Nations descent.

Come hear five renowned British Columbia
academics, writers, authors, and activists discuss the significance of
the granting of the vote in British Columbia to minority groups and how
this exclusion of rights has affected British Columbia.

Orchid Ensemble shares Ghost stories from around the world with multi-media

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8pm, October 25-26

THE GHOST PROJECT

The Orchid Ensemble is one of Vancouver's most creative musical
collaborators. Over the past few years I have seen them bring their
sensitive musical stylings to projects involving dance, origami and
Chinese-Canadian history. Ghost stories are very much alive in Chinese
culture. I remember watching the moving “A Chinese Ghost Story” in the
mid-1980's, and reading about Chinese ghosts in Paul Yee's books, such Ghost Train or Dead Man's Gold & Other Stories. To compare ghosts stories and after-life stories from around the world sounds like something out of Joseph Campbell's mythology work. Cool….

Check this out:

Music/interactive media/dance
Inspired by a shared curiosity of the after-life in different cultures
Performance Centre, Roundhouse, Vancouver, BC

watch a video preview at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Dqf0TqRhs

A partnership with the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre
Tickets are $18 regular, $15 students/children/seniors
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.ca/snl/EventListings.action?orgId=27152
toll free number 1-888-222-6608
or at the door from 7pm on the days of the shows

Collaborators:
Aleksandra Dulic -animation/media arts/scenography
Kenneth Newby – media arts/ multi-instruments
Sutrisno Hartana – Javanese dancer/multi-instruments

The JUNO nominated Orchid Ensemble’s 2008 production “Ghost Project”
will transform the Roundhouse into a world where mystical creatures and
spirits from Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Europe and Canada roam across
the stage. Inspired by a shared curiosity of the after-life in
different cultures, the artists search for a common ground through the
practices of music, mask dance, media arts, shadow puppets, and
scenographic installations.

Guest performers:
Madrigal Singers of Vancouver Community College,
directed by Gerald van Wyck and conducted by Jin Zhang;
Kaori Otake – harp

Composers –Sutrisno Hartana, Kenneth Newby, Farshid Samandari, Barry Truax, Lan Tung, Jin Zhang, Ya-wen V. Wang.
Lighting designer – Kim Plough
Producer – Lan Tung

20th Anniversary of Japanese Canadian Redress celebrates with 3 day conference

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Redress for the WW2 internment of Japanese Canadians is one of Canada's most significant actions to address Canada's past racist history.

This weekend there is a conference to acknowledge the 20th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Redress. http://redressanniversary.najc.ca/redress

Highlights include panel discussions on related topics, plus music and performances by dancer Jay Hirabayashi, and poets/authors Roy Miki and Hiromi Goto.

Conference Schedule

Day 1: Friday, September 19

Host Venue: Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall, Vancouver, B.C.

Theme: Reflecting the past in the present

View Friday's Schedule

Day 2: Saturday, September 20

Venue: Nikkei Place and Alan Emmott Centre, Burnaby

Theme: In the present, imagining the future

View Saturday's Schedule

Day 2: Sunday, September 21

Venue: Nikkei Place and Alan Emmott Centre, Burnaby

View Sunday's Schedule

It was the 6 year old Canadian-born Generation Joy Kogawa that was put on a train in 1942 and sent with her 10 year old brother, Anglican priest father and mother, to the internment camps in the Kootenays. This was done in the wake of Japan's bombing of the US naval base Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, and fears of a Japanese invasion of Canada's Pacific coast. But no similar action was done against German ancestry descendants. All Japanese-Canadians on the coast were sent to internment camps, and while there they suffered the indignity of having their houses and properties confiscated and auctioned off, supposedly to help pay for their internment. The anti-Japanese racism extended years beyond WW2, as Canadian parliament enacted a dispersal policy, to restrict Japanese-Canadians from returning to the West Coast, sending them instead to work on beet farms across Canada, or to be “re-patriated” to Japan – even if they were born in Canada!

In 1988, Prime Minister Mulroney signed a redress settlement with Art Miki, and made an apology in Parliament. This redress process also set in motion a redress movement for the Chinese Head Tax, when NDP MP Margaret Mitchell brought the issue to Parliament in 1984. In 2006, Prime Minister Harper officially apologized for the Chinese Head Tax (initiated in 1885) and Chinese Exclusion Act (1923-1945), but failed to give a redress payment for all head tax certificates, whereas all Japanese-Canadians born up to 1947 were eligible for redress settlement.

I have been privileged to be involved in the struggle to save the childhood home of Joy Kogawa from demolition. Kogawa's novel Obasan brought the Japanese-Canadian internment and struggle for redress to Canadians through literature. NDP leader Ed Broadbent read a passage from Obasan in the House of Commons during the 1988 Parliamentary redress.

The internment of

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On September 22, 1988, the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement was
signed by the President of the National Association of Japanese
Canadians (NAJC) and the Prime Minister of Canada. This document
acknowledged the injustice committed by the Canadian government
against Japanese Canadians during and after World War II, and pledged
that such events will not happen again. This was a major historic
event not only for Japanese Canadians, but to all minority groups as
well, in that it set precedence for other redress settlements in
Canada.

September 22, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the Japanese Canadian
Redress Settlement. To celebrate, the NAJC and its membership
organization, the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizen
Association (GVJCCA), will be hosting a national event in Vancouver,
British Columbia. The conference will focus on both the celebration of
the Redress Settlement and reflection on the future of our global
community. Some notable participants scheduled to attend are
inter-cultural group members, various government representatives, and
those individuals who took a major role in the Redress Movement.

You are cordially invited to join us in participating in plenary,
workshops, and performances during this special three-day event. A
student rate is available. Please visit
http://redressanniversary.najc.ca/redress for more information about
the conference and details on registration.

UBC Day of the Long Boat: Gung Haggis dragon boat team gets ready for next practice 1:30 Sunday

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The UBC Day of the Longboat is the largest voyageur canoe race in North America. Take over 100 teams of university students, staff and community teams, give them one canoe orientation clinic, then put them on the water in heats of ten for a bumper car style race start. It's crazy!

10 voyageur canoes race towards a single buoy to turn right, The Gung Haggis team is in the foreground. Todd is steering. Kristine is lead stroke. photo Dave Samis.

The community team event is on Sunday Sept 28th, so this weekend we will do an orientation in the voyageur canoes. The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat paddlers first entered this race supplementing the Tacoma DBA team in 2004.

read our past adventures at the longboat race:
2007: Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team braved the white cap waves of Sunday's UBC Day of the Long Boats

2006: UBC Day of the Longboat – I paddle the distance equivalent of 16 dragon boat races in one day

2005: UBC Day of the Longboat – Full contact voyageur canoe bumper car race mayhem

2004: Day of the Longboat: voyageur canoe race

Check out the race description from the website:
http://www.rec.ubc.ca/events/page.cfm?filename=race&ActID=27&path=longboat&term=0

Race Route Description

All
team members will begin in their boat, except for their runner, who
will start in a chair on the beach. Once the starting horn is sounded,
the runner will run to and enter their boat, at which point teams will
begin to paddle.

Teams will head straight for approximately
50m until they reach the first buoy. At the first buoy, teams will make
a 90 degree right turn, then race around a rocky point and toward the
Baton Pick-up location on the shore. Once the boat reaches the shore,
one team member must exit the boat and pick-up one baton from the
beach. After that team member has re-entered the boat with the baton,
the team will head back out towards the second buoy, where they will
make a 90 degree left turn. From there, teams will head to the third
and final buoy where they will make their final 90 degree left turn
towards the finish line.

Upon reaching the shore, the team
member wearing the team's race number will jump out of the boat,
carrying their baton and run up the beach to hit the gong.

Route Map

Sunday 1:30 Gung Haggis dragon boat practice.
I think we will go back to Sunday afternoons because:
more people had challenges meeting the 10am morning time.
Weather is getting colder too.

UBC Day of the Long boat – CLINIC ORIENTATION
4pm – same as last year.

We have more men than women wanting to do long boat this year.
I
have switched the entry from MIXED to MENS. Last year we raced 8 men
with 2 women, Sarah and Kristine – I am sure that Gayle and Pash will
be up to the task.

Last year our Men's team was right behind TD
Lightning, and they were surprised when they learned we had 2 women on
the boat. We will certainly surprise them with Gayle and Pash!

UBC
Day of the Long Boat is a challenging but fun race. 2 km in a 10
person voyageur canoe, while English Bay waves bounce you up and down.
2
Races – 1st race around 9am, and 2nd race around 2pm (schedule to be
confirmed). There is waiting around between races… and lots of UBC
students as there are over 100 teams.

Here is our team roster:

Todd W.
Tzhe L.
Stephen M.
Tony L.
Dan S.
Richard M.
Joe E.

MAYBE LIST
Ernest W.
Jim B.
Hillary W.
Jonas N.

Story Telling Our Lives: Stories of Migration and Displacement – presented by No One Is Illegal and newworldtheatre.

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Storytelling + Theatre + Human Rights = something compelling?

No One Is Illegal and neworldtheatre present…

Storytelling Our Lives:
Stories of Migration and Displacement

It was neworldtheatre that presented last year's fabulous My Name is Rachel Corrie, and the political satire The Adventures of Ali and Ali and the Axes of Evil. Check out their latest collaboration with No One is Illegal. Community activist Harsha Walia sent me the following:

‘Storytelling Our Lives’ is an exciting new theatre production that
involves 5 young people of colour sharing their personal stories of
immigration and displacement in a series of deeply moving and courageous
testimonies.

Sunday, September 14, 2008
Doors at 2 PM
2:30pm – 3:30pm sharp
Chapel Arts
304 Dunlevy Avenue (corner East Cordova, 2 blocks East of Main)

Sunday, September 21, 2008
Doors at 2 PM
2:30pm – 3:30pm sharp
Chapel Arts
304 Dunlevy Avenue (corner East Cordova, 2 blocks East of Main)

Monday, September 29, 2008
Doors at 7:30
8 – 9 pm sharp
Room 1800, SFU Harbour Centre
515 W Hastings
[ These are all free events. Donations will be thankfully accepted ]

These performances are a culmination of a series of workshops as part of a
collaboration by No One is Illegal and neworldtheatre. The project and
performances hope to jointly contribute to bridging the gap between art
and activism by bringing into focus the individual faces and unique
stories of those who have gone through the migration process. This project
also draws upon the deeply rooted and central role of culture, creative
expression, and storytelling as key components of resistance movements by
providing a connection between personal narratives and global
understandings.

No One is Illegal-Vancouver is a grassroots anti-colonial migrant justice
group taking action on combating racism, colonialism, deportations,
detentions, wage-slave conditions, and security measures in the context of
the so-called “War on Terrorism.” Contact wwww.nooneisillegal.org or email
noii-van@resist.ca.

neworldtheatre is a Vancouver-based theatre company which creates,
develops, produces and tours politically and culturally charged plays that
investigate intersections between communities and peoples. Visit
http://www.neworldtheatre.com/

This project has been facilitated by Carmen Aguirre.

Silk Road Music performs at Dr. Sun Yat Gardens for Enchanted Evenings concert Friday Sept 5

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One of Vancouver's most intimate concert spaces is the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens.

One of my favorite cultural fusion musical artists is Silk Road Music's Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault.

Silk Road Music Ensemble actually performed in the 2004 CBC television performance special “Gung Haggis Fat Choy.” We shot the very first music video ever in the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens – but it featured The Paperboys, instead of Silk Road Music.

But whenever I get the chance to hear a Silk Road Music concert at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens, I try my best to attend. It is magical. It is intimate. It is interesting. It is educational. Qiu Xia and Andre have a very warm rapport with their audience. They always make their Enchanted Evenings concert at the Gardens special by inviting special guest performers to join them.

Qiu Xia and Andre have also become friends over the years, and have performed with me at many Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner events, as well as for First Night Vancouver 2005: Gung Haggis Fat Choy Performance.

Below is a message from Qiu Xia, informing friends about their Enchanted Evenings concert this Friday at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens.

A note to all Silk Road Music Friends:

Gumboot to China

Silk Road Music presents a fascinating performance of Chinese and African dance.
Highlife,Gumboot and Step-dancing from the African diaspora, Central
Asian music of Xin-Jiang, colorful dance and costumes of hill tribes
from Yunnan to the Mongolian plateau. The journey will unite some
of Vancouver’s finest artists: Jacky Essombe, a heart warming
Cameroonian dancer; Jessica Jone and Cheng xin Wei, a highly creative
team redefining Chinese dance; Qiu xia He on Chinese pipa and vocal,
Andre Thibault on guitar, oud and winds plus Pepe Danza on world
percussion.

Sep 5.2008

Enchanted Evenings Concert Series

All concerts begin promptly at 7:30pm. Doors open at 7pm.

Ticket Prices: $18.00 (non Garden members) and $15.00 for members.

Call 604-662-3207 ext 208 for tickets or email assistant@vancouverchinesegarden.com

We recommend pre-purchasing your tickets as these popular concerts are often sell-outs!

Silk Road Music

Qiu Xia He

Canada

Tel: 604-434-9316

e-mail: qxcloud@telus.net

Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy

Toddish McWong's Misadventures in Multiculturalism: through arts, culture, food, dragon boats, travel + more…

Category Archives: Upcoming Events

100 years of South Asian-Candian Music and History + Delhi 2 Dublin info

Gung Haggis dragon boat team is busy… paddlers are reading at Heart of the City Festival and running for Vancouver Parksboard + paddling?

How come it dook so long for Asians and First Nations to get the vote in BC?

20th Anniversary of Japanese Canadian Redress celebrates with 3 day conference

Conference Schedule

Day 1: Friday, September 19

Day 2: Saturday, September 20

Day 2: Sunday, September 21

UBC Day of the Long Boat: Gung Haggis dragon boat team gets ready for next practice 1:30 Sunday

Story Telling Our Lives: Stories of Migration and Displacement – presented by No One Is Illegal and newworldtheatre.

Silk Road Music performs at Dr. Sun Yat Gardens for Enchanted Evenings concert Friday Sept 5