In Vancouver this weekend there are virtual markets, farmers markets, drive-in pop-ups and even the launch of the region’s largest indoor amusement park — all with COVID safety measures in place.
This weekend, Central City Fun Park opens its doors to the public, becoming the largest indoor amusement park in Metro Vancouver.
Central City Fun Park
Location: 11125 124 Street #100A, Surrey (near Scott Rd Station) Tickets: Available online here
The team behind the Fun Park has in the entertainment business for over 30 years and currently operates a small bowling alley in Aldergrove and a couple of playcenters in Surrey and Langley (Funky Monkey & Go Bananas).
“Additionally, we used to operate Central City Arena (former Stardust), where we had public skating every Saturday evening before the building was sold for redevelopment,” owner Glen Vilio told me this week. “When the former Skyzone space became available we jumped at the opportunity to finally open a much larger facility which could be attended by people of all ages.”
They already had a strong following of roller skaters from Central City Arena so the roller rink was their first confirmed attraction followed by the new style bowling alley (10 pins using 5 pin balls and regular shoes). They then added the miniature golf course, arcade/redemption games & Hologate VR.
Due to COVID-19, they won’t be opening up to hundreds at a time, instead they have the following measures in place to ensure everyone’s safety:
Reduced occupancy from 300 to 40 people
Providing free masks (or bring your own)
Spaced out the Arcade to allow for social distancing
Limited Roller Skating to 12 skaters at a time
Reduced the number of Bowling Lanes in half
Enhanced sanitation & cleaning procedures
As an extra precaution, they are enforcing the use of masks (free or bring your own) at this time. Safety precautions will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis and are subject to change.
All guests must purchase tickets ($20) prior to arrival. Tickets include a designated entrance time & $20 Fun Card. Access is limited to 20 people per hour. Max stay is 2 hours.
With their very limited capacity (and to conform to social distancing guidelines) they also decided that the Hologate VR, pizzeria, and party rooms will remain closed for the time being.
Win Passes
It’s really exciting to see something new – and super fun – open its doors in my old neighbourhood. To celebrate, I have 2 x 4-packs of tickets (value $80 each) to give away so you can enjoy Central City Fun Park with your family/bubble. Here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win passes for the new #CentralCityFunPark in Surrey – Metro Vancouver’s largest indoor amusement park http://ow.ly/eUPG30qMFiM” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, June 11, 2020. UPDATE The winners are Selina and Noy!
On Saturday, June 13, 2020 three new art exhibitions will open at Burrard Arts Foundation (“BAF”), a local visual arts nonprofit and gallery.
Katie So’s ‘Take Care’
Burrard Arts Foundation Re-Opens
When: By-appointment opening day from 3:00pm to 7:00pm on June 13th.
Then open Tuesday to Saturdays from Saturday, June 13, 2020 to Saturday, August 1, 2020 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Where: BAF Gallery 258 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver
Price: Completely free and open to the public!
Free tickets for opening day can be reserved on Eventbrite.
Two of the shows were produced by the latest participants in BAF’s Residency Program, photographer Jackie Dives and painter, illustrator and tattooist Katie So. During the program, the two artists worked side-by-side in the two studios at BAF’s purpose-designed facility in the False Creek Flats.
Also opening is new work from Caitlin Almond in BAF’s Garage; this street facing exhibition window displays art to the public 24 hours a day and showcases early-career artists.
Katie So’s ‘Take Care’ deals with themes, like mental health, self-care, and domestic space, that feel more relevant now than ever. While the concept of self-care is more culturally prominent than ever, the meaning of this term has become both simplified and commercialized. The installations and works on canvas highlight this complexity inviting us into a domestic space inhabited by a figure that engages in self-care in ways that could be seen as both healthy and unhealthy.
With ‘Becoming Not a Mother’, Jackie Dives processes the intense feelings of loss and alienation that followed in the wake of a life altering choice. While Dives’ photography has always been raw, intimate and emotional, here she brings us closer than ever, into a period of personal transformation. As the show uncovers, when you choose not to become a parent there is no word for what you are becoming.
In Crosshatch, Caitlin Almond explores the relationship between form, object, and ornamentation. A selection of handmade screens are displayed on plinths within the Garage, constructed from plaster-coated wood painted in dense patterns. Almond’s use of plaster allows the sculptures to have a highly textured surface, mimicking thickly applied oil paint.
Safety Measures and Innovations
These exhibitions will be the BAF’s first after its temporary closure for COVID-19, and BAF has tailored its programming to the safety measures outlined in Phase 2 of the provincial government’s BC Restart Plan. In addition to required safety and hygiene measures, BAF has taken this opportunity to lead the way and model how arts organizations can make the most of our collective new normal.
This includes replacing printed flyers with digital freebies like smartphone wallpaper, QR codes instead of printed statements, and even a 3-D virtual exhibition tour.
The exhibition’s opening reception has also been adapted, from the traditional busy evening party to a physically distanced late-afternoon event. Attendees will be able to reserve free, half-hour time slots for up to 6 people, experiencing the work and celebrating with the artists in a safe format that promotes connection in smaller groups.
The DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2020 will feature over 60 films (shorts and features) from across Canada and around the world streaming online, as well as special live events this month. Offering an exceptional selection of films, filmmaker Q+A’s and live streaming events, the festival’s films will be available to stream throughout its eight day duration.
DOXA Documentary Film Festival
When: June 18-26, 2020 Where: Online Tickets: $6-10 sliding scale per individual virtual ticket; Festival Passes: $60. Available for purchase online. Films are geo-blocked to British Columbia and virtual tickets will be limited.
Committed, more than ever, to cultivating curiosity and critical thought, DOXA will deliver some of the very best in contemporary documentary cinema.
Originally scheduled to take place May 7-17, DOXA was one of many cultural events interrupted by COVID-19. After weeks of careful consideration and consultation with a variety of partners, the DOXA team decided to launch an online edition of the festival.
Still from the film WINTOPIA
DOXA kicks off their online festival edition with Wintopia, directed by Mira Burt-Wintonick. Wintopia traces the enigmatic footsteps of iconic Canadian documentary filmmaker Peter Wintonick through the lens of his daughter, Mira, as she tries to decipher the map he has left behind. Reverberating with emotion and whimsy, the film guides us on a journey through possible worlds in pursuit of reconciliation, both between artist and family, and between dreams and reality. A live moderated Q+A with Burt-Wintonick and special guests is scheduled for Saturday, June 20th. Audience members are encouraged to stream Wintopia in advance.
A special British Columbia spotlight will feature several Vancouver-based filmmakers including Greg Crompton’s Eddy’s Kingdom which recounts the story of businessman Eddy Haymour, and the extreme methods he used to construct a Middle Eastern-themed amusement park in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley in the 1970s. The world premiere of Tony Massil’s The End From Here profiles three reclusive men who live in the geopolitical anomaly of Hyder, Alaska (which straddles the B.C. border). In addition to the feature documentaries, DOXA also offers a selection of short films including Josephine Anderson’s On Falling (recently premiered at Tribeca Festival in New York City), which profiles three professional women mountain bikers.
Co-presented with DOC BC, DOXA is excited to host a masterclass with renowned cinematographer Iris Ng on Sunday, June 21st. Iris Ng is one of Canada’s most prolific documentary cinematographers, working on multi-award winning films such as The Stories We Tell (2012), Shirkers (2018), Toxic Beauty (2019), Migrant Dreams (2016), Nuuca (2018), and many more, including the popular Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer. This moderated conversation will take a deep dive into the unique creative process of a documentary cinematographer, drawing excerpts from her own work and notes from the field. A must-attend event for directors, cinematographers and all creatives, on the power of visual storytelling.
Films from the International Circuit
My Darling Supermarket, a musical ode to grocery store clerks in Brazil; Elegance Bratton’s
Pier Kids, documenting homeless and queer youth on New York’s Christopher Street Pier; Lucie Viver’s
Sankara Isn’t Dead, an exploration into the backgrounds and landscapes of the rarely depicted African country of Burkina Faso, through the perspective of a young poet named Bikontine;
Softie, which tells of long-time political activist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi, and his decision to run for office in a regional Kenyan election; Sky Hopinka’s
małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore, spoken almost entirely the near-extinct Indigenous language of chinuk wawa and rooted in the origin-of-death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest;
Landfall directed by Cecilia Aldarondo offers a visually striking, kaleidoscopic portrait of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria; and finally, Michèle Stepehenson’s
Stateless takes an unflinching look at the legacy of systemic anti-black racism against Haitians in the Dominican Republic and one lawyer’s fight to protect the rights of citizens.
Select screenings will include pre-recorded filmmaker Q+A’s and extended discussions. Follow DOXA on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more info.
Win Film Passes
I have a pair of film passes to give away for you to enjoy DOXA from home this year. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Click below to post an entry on Twitter
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win @DOXAFestival film passes http://ow.ly/ha6X30qMkt9 #DOXA2020″ quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. UPDATE the winner is Kim!
When the Georgia Viaduct was rebuilt (1969-1972), the physical hub of Vancouver’s Black community was razed, dispersing the diverse immigrant enclave. Today, thanks to the Hogan’s Alley Society, important community buildings are going up.
Wayde Compton, the co-founder of the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project, told CBC Vancouver in 2016: “It was the moment that car culture was hitting North America and people were supposed to live in the suburbs and work in the cities. So they needed to put freeways through, so invariably they targeted black neighbourhoods or Chinatowns, and in Vancouver it was both,” he said.
Compton said putting a highway “right on top of this small black community” was an example of “institutional racism, targeting the community that they thought could least oppose them.”
200 block Prior Street N/S and 200 block Union Street S/S. Archives #CVA 203-34
Where Was Hogan’s Alley
Hogan’s Alley was the unofficial name for Park Lane in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood. The alley ran between Union and Prior Streets from approximately Main Street to Jackson Avenue. It formed the nucleus of Vancouver’s first concentrated black community. Vancouver’s first archivist, J.S. Matthews, noted that the name “Hogan’s Alley” was in use by 1914.
1971 Viaducts through Strathcona. Archives# CVA 216-1.23
The Residents
From the Vancouver Heritage Foundation: The first black immigrants arrived in British Columbia from California in 1858. They settled in Victoria and Salt Spring Island, but began migrating to Vancouver in the early 1900s, making their homes in Strathcona, an east side, working-class neighbourhood that was the original home to Vancouver’s Italian community, as well as the southern edge of Chinatown. They were joined by black homesteaders from Alberta, who originally came from Oklahoma, and by black railroad porters worked at the Great Northern Railway nearby. Housing discrimination in other parts of Vancouver also concentrated the city’s black population in this area.
Black cultural institutions the neighbourhood was known for included “chicken house” restaurants, which often doubled as speakeasies — best known was Vie’s Chicken and Steak house — as well as the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel (founded in 1923) and the residential quarters of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. At its height in the 1940s, the black population in Strathcona numbered approximately 800.
The neighbourhood was home to Nora Hendrix, grandmother to rock legend Jimi Hendrix and a cook at Vie’s Chicken and Steak House. Nora Hendrix was involved in the community from the 1920s through to its demise, remaining nearby until the 1980s.
The Hogan’s Alley Society (“HAS”) in Vancouver is a non-profit organization composed of civil rights activists, business professionals, community organizations, artists, writers and academics committed to daylighting the presence of Black history in Vancouver and throughout British Columbia.
Current HAS Projects
The Hogan’s Alley Society partnered with the Portland Hotel Society (“PHS”), the city of Vancouver and BC Housing to deliver a 52-unit temporary modular housing development on the Hogan’s Alley Block. The housing unit has been named Nora Hendrix Place.
Under the approved North East False Creek Plan section 4.4 and 10.4, the City of Vancouver has indicated the intent to establish a Cultural Centre on the 898 Main Street block. The Cultural Centre is to be a focal point for the Black Community with the programming of the Cultural Centre to support community building through food, gathering and celebration, education and empowerment, art music and dance, and research and knowledge of Black Canadian history.
MVRD Black Experience Project aims to begin mapping out the diverse experiences of people of African descent (Black) in Metro Vancouver. This project will begin to examine the experiences of people African descent in the MVRD with the objective to develop a better understanding of their historical contributions, challenges with integration, and their aspirations for the future as they attempt to make Vancouver their home.
Update June 2, 2020. I saw on Twitter that Hogan’s Alley Society submitted a proposal to the City of Vancouver for a community land trust on the former site almost two years ago. Those who saw the post (including a Vancouver City councillor) replied to say they are looking into this.
