Celebrating Black Futures at the Vancouver Art Gallery

The Vancouver Art Gallery presents Celebrating Black Futures, a month-long program focusing on the intersection of art, film, and poetry. This bespoke line-up, brought together in honour of Black History Month, celebrates the exciting new wave of Black art and cinema from Vancouver and around the world.

Vancouver Art Gallery Celebrating Black Futures

The Gallery has partnered with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) to present four film screenings that speak to the future of Black and African cinema. The program presents a contemporary snapshot of the multilateral nature of African, African American, Caribbean and Black Canadian culture and cinema. The series launches on Thursday, February 8, with a special evening of live jazz followed by a screening of Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro’s Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (2023).

In addition to the film lineup, the Gallery’s first-ever Poet in Residence Jillian Christmas will mark her residency with Day of Delight at the Gallery. The building will be brought to life through thoughtful conversations, workshops, flower crown-making and a poetic tour of the exhibition Denyse Thomasos: just beyond. Celebrate Black History Month as a family on Monday, February 19 at Family Day at the Gallery. Admission includes painting workshops, exhibition tours, poetry readings with I Dream Library, paper flower making and Jillian Christmas’ reading of her children’s book The Magic Shell.

Scheduled Events

Celebrating Black Futures Opening Night featuring jazz from the Feven Kidane Sextet and screening of Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
Thursday, February 8 at 5:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Film Screening: All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White
Thursday February 15 at 6:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Short Film Showcase
Thursday, February 22 at 7:00pm and 8:15pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Film Screening: When Morning Comes
Thursday, February 29 at 6:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Day of Delight | Jillian Christmas in Conversation with David-George Morgan
Friday, February 16 at 5:30pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Day of Delight | Beloved: Flower Crown Workshop
Friday, February 16 at 2:00pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Family Day at the Gallery
Monday, February 19 from 11:00am to 4:00pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver)
Tickets available for booking online

Follow Vancouver Art Gallery on Facebook for updates and more information.

Find more fun this month on the February Events 2024 List.