Sacred Circle Steppers at BC Culture-Days in 2019. Photo by Mary-Matheson Photography
By Brittany Tiplady
@yellowbird888
BC Culture Days—Canada’s largest public participation campaign— kicks off today, September 25, for an extended month-long celebration of the arts.
The event boasts a large program of digital, in-person, and self-guided events, ranging from panel discussions and art exhibitions, to live stream performances and workshops.
According to the press materials, “this year’s event will feature five diverse emerging artists as ambassadors for BC Culture Days, musing on topics such as minority experiences and sex, history of First Nations Peoples, environmental conservation, and queer, trans and gender non-conforming youth and the performing arts.” The five BC Culture Days ambassadors are Damian John, Edward Fu-Chen Juan, Bambi, Molly Beatrice and Coral Santana.
Santana, a fourth year film and creative writing student at UBC, will be hosting a live stream festival called ARTIVISM: Sex + The Unheard at BC Culture Days, happening throughout the month-long fest.
“ARTIVISM: Sex + The Unheard is all about highlighting minority experiences of sex, sexuality, gender, and ownership of body,” Santana explains in a phone interview. “By minority voices, I mean the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community, artists with disabilities, and visibly religious artists. These are communities that are not usually allowed to have these conversations in a mainstream audience. Part of the human experience is engaging with everyone around you and these people could fall into one or many of these categories, so why not take that extra step to understand their human experience and how that intersects with yours?”
Opening ARTIVISM: Sex + The Unheard is a cabaret Speakeasy featuring musician Missy D. As for what audiences can expect? Santana says, to prepare to have your mind blown.
“There are going to be multiple topics that are dabbled throughout the program, ranging from high energy to high concentration type of events,” she shares. “It’s all about connecting to the theme of sex, sexuality, gender, and ownership of body in every single art form possible. Expect the unexpected and to learn and be entertained.”
BC Culture Days Ambassador Molly Beatrice is at the helm of Letters to Myself: Queer & Trans Digital Monologues. Beatrice is an emerging queer director, devisor, and producer based primarily in BC
This digitally recorded event will feature three youth and three senior theatre artists performing monologues based off of letters written to their future and past selves.
“[This event] was specifically curated for this festival. It originally came up because my co-creator had and I had talked about how COVID-19 has presented a very specific set of challenges for queer and trans youth,” says Beatrice. “Suddenly, you have to spend so much time at home, home isn’t always a safe space, or it is a safe space but you’re not out. There is so many different types of relationships and being home so much means you aren’t with your queer friends at school. It becomes isolating really quickly.”
Participating performers will receive 1:1 coaching from Beatrice over Zoom on writing, monologue, work, and digital creation. Culture Days spectators can view the mashup of monologues on October 23.
“This is a magnificent opportunity and it is definitely a test of my capabilities as an artistic person,” concludes Santana. “It is amazing to connect with so many others in the artistic community here in Canada.”
BC Culture Days is happening September 25-October indoors, outdoors and online. Learn more here.
Brittany Tiplady is a writer, editor, former ballet teacher, and the co-founder of Loose Lips Magazine. She loves the indoors, fast wifi, collecting maps, and a generous glass of red wine. She’s a self-proclaimed wizard of time management and a notorious loud talker with a penchant for all things Internet and pop culture.
