In the Beginning: A Cultural Sharing – DTES Heart of the City Festival

The Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre are producing and presenting, as part of the 2020 DTES Heart of the City Festival, In the Beginning: A Cultural Sharing from Wednesday, November 4 to Saturday, November 7, 2020. The five cultural sharing events, which will take place over four days, include Over The Mountains, From The Waters, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish.

In the Beginning: A Cultural Sharing

• Where: Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova, Vancouver)
• When: Wednesday, November 4 to Saturday, November 7, 2020
  • Wednesday & Thursday, 7:30pm; Friday & Saturday, 8:00pm; Saturday, 3:00pm
• Tickets: Available online now (or by phone 604-689-0926)
  • Single Tickets: from $20
  • Tickets for Downtown Eastside community members: $15
  • Series 5-Pack: $90

Storyteller, filmmaker and performer Rosemary Georgeson (Coast Salish/Dené) and the Firehall’s Artistic Producer Donna Spencer delve into the stories and history of the Indigenous peoples in the area that is now called Vancouver prior to and during colonization. Over five evolving events, Georgeson, Spencer, and moderator Kim Haxton are joined by Indigenous elders, knowledge keepers, and artists from the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil- Waututh homelands; and those who came down the rivers, across the waters or across the mountains to area.

Stories of the land told by people of the land with images projected of the land and waters as well as historic and personal photos. This is the second stage of the exploration of the many individuals and groups from different cultural heritages who have made Vancouver’s East Side, and in particular Strathcona, Chinatown, Gastown and Paueru Gai (Powell Street), the neighbourhoods they are today.

During the Firehall‘s 2019-2020 season, and the 2019 DTES Heart of the City Festival, Rosemary Georgeson and Donna Spencer, with assistance from Vancouver Moving Theatre’s Artistic Director, began an exploration of the history of the neighbourhood surrounding the Firehall Arts Centre.

Drawing on materials collected from a wide number of different sources, they explored the neighbourhood through reference materials and found information on the many different cultural communities who lived and worked there and contributed to the rich history of the neighbourhood as well as the city of Vancouver. But, during this project, they kept coming back to the question of “where are the Indigenous voices in this history?” – so they began the process of seeking out those who could help reveal and unwrap the stories of those who lived in that area prior to contact, colonization, and settlement. This and the hope to create a greater understanding is what In the Beginning: A Cultural Sharing is about.

For more information about this production and more, follow the Firehall Arts Centre on Facebook.