Browsing “The Arts”

SCENE AND HEARD showcases the independent music scene here in Vancouver. With over 28,000+ artists, boasting more than 140,000+ tracks, the CBC Music/CBC Radio 3 web site is the absolute ultimate authority, and the home, of independent music in Canada. With that massive library along with tools for members (free to join!), we’re taking advantage of what they’ve set up by bringing you a fresh batch of music every week featuring local groups who have tracks (entire albums, even!) on the R3 site.

Record Club is back at the Biltmore TONIGHT and this week they have Vancouver band The Shilohs performing (with guest DJs Evan McDowell and Daniel Presnell (Von Bingen)). In the meantime we asked the boys to put together a list of some of their fav Vancouver tunes. I LOVE when I get playlists back and hear songs by bands I’ve never heard of…and there are some gems in this one. Click the images below to hear the list and we’ll see you tonight at the Biltmore!:

Vancouver favourites We Are the City are gearing up for the June 4 release of their next LP, Violent.

To celebrate we’re offering you the opportunity to catch them live July 4 at the Vogue Theatre here in Vancouver with a VIAindie Album Package.

The package is only $32.50 and includes a ticket to the July 4 show, a commemorative poster, and a signed copy of “Violent”, and the only place to get them is right here.

Get Your Package Now!

Tickets are also available at Red Cat, Zulu Records, Northern Tickets and hipcitymusic.ca/tickets.

>>> Oh, and BONUS Awesome, we’re going to give away two sets of packages on Facebook (click here for details) and Twitter (click here for details)! You’re welcome! <<<

SCENE AND HEARD showcases the independent music scene here in Vancouver. We post weekly guest playlists comprised of Vancouver artists and ‘Last Week in Music’ highlights some of the best concerts happening around the city…

We’re Three Years Old Today! Yay VIAindie…that’s a lot of photos. I’d like to thank the Vancouver Music scene and all of the photographers that have contributed their skills over the last 3 years!

We had a great party last week (I’ll include a photo of the cake!) and then I took off for Tofino, but the wonderful Ben Caldwell (check out HIS band Broken Down Suitcase) took some shots at the tribute to The Smiths at the Biltmore! Thanks buddy!

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC: the Khatsahlano (free) launch party at Zulu Records is on Wednesday with Village, and Gal Gracen. Thursday check out Rococode, with Tough Lovers, and Colourful Language at the Media Club. Friday Small Town Artillery & JP Maurice are at the Backstage Lounge, while Bill Baird is at the Cobalt with V.Vecker Ensemble, and Dissonant Disco. Saturday Sad Mag is having what looks to be like an amazing party with bands covering 80′s, new wave, and electro-pop songs! Finally on Monday, be sure to check out The Shilohs performing at the Biltmore.

Check out VIAindie’s Facebook page for more images from This Week In Music!

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Written by: Holly Armishaw, Artist, CASV Board Member

It’s become an annual tradition in Vancouver, every spring the local visual arts community looks forward to the Canadian Art Foundation Gallery Hop Vancouver presented in partnership by the Canadian Art Foundation (CAF) and the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver (CASV). As the rain clouds begin to subside, we come out of hibernation early one morning in April and gather to watch, listen, exchange ideas and to celebrate all that Vancouver has to offer in its myriad of galleries and public installations. When I first heard about the Gallery Hop Vancouver years ago, I was thrilled by the idea! I really wanted to attend, but as an emerging artist couldn’t afford a ticket for the full day’s events. Thanks to the efforts of individuals that have acknowledged this issue and public need, corporate sponsorship is now sought each year so that the day’s events are available to everyone. This year we had lead sponsor BMO Harris Private Banking and supporting sponsor Chubb Insurance to thank for the opportunity to engage the public with our passion for contemporary art through the Gallery Hop.

What better way to connect Vancouverites to contemporary art than to begin with a panel discussion about alternative landscapes? Drawing on Canada’s international reputation for its vast and diverse landscapes, artists Charles Stankievech and Kara Uzelman and curator Cate Rimmer took Canadian landscape to new heights as they discussed their unique explorations of earth, air and sea. The thread of continuity between the works was an almost sublime look at the depths of which we rarely see in Canada, creating a sort of unearthly terrain through moonscape-like images of the Northern-most inhabited lands, electromagnetic sound waves from the earths surface, and visions of the vastly unknown deep sea and its tales of treachery.

Holly Armishaw with Andrea Geddes Poole and Byron Aceman

Christine Shaw, Canadian Art Foundation Program and Outreach Manager, moderated the morning panel discussions, drawing the presentations together with both a natural charm and professionalism that showed her understanding, passion and appreciation of contemporary art. She and her colleagues from Toronto, Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation and Publisher, Canadian Art magazine Ann Webb and Development Director Andrea Geddes Poole demonstrated similar enthusiasm and professionalism throughout the day that was nothing short of inspiring.
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SCENE AND HEARD showcases the independent music scene here in Vancouver. We post weekly guest playlists comprised of Vancouver artists and ‘Last Week in Music’ highlights some of the best concerts happening around the city…

Great week…with a mega mix of different sounds from both local and national bands. I hope you got out and saw something…and didn’t break your camera lens like I did. *sigh*…cross your fingers for me, or shooting my own show this week will be hard…speaking of which:

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC: tomorrow (May 8th) I’m throwing VIAindie a birthday party at the media club – Young Pacific, The Washboard Union, and JP Maurice are performing… There is also going to be a few special guests, a CAKE, a photo booth. Yup. Get your tickets (by clicking here) in advance for $5! Thursday there are a few options. Facts, The Fortunate Isles, and The Oh Wells are over at the Electric Owl, at Venue you’ll find Good For Grapes, and The Ponderosas, at the Rickshaw is The Gay Nineties, Atomatom, and Mete Pills, and finally a Tribute to The Smith over at the Biltmore. Good luck choosing between those… Friday sees the last show ever by the disbanding Apollo Ghosts (*sad*) with B-Lines, Watermelon, and Diane at the Rickshaw; and/or Come Friday at the Cobalt with Sex With Strangers for their video release! And last but not least, Half Moon Run, and Of Monsters And Men are at the Orpheum on Sunday.

Check out VIAindie’s Facebook page for more images from This Week In Music!

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PROVOKE, ENGAGE, ANIMATE. Our vision at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) is to hold a mirror up to the city and lead provocative conversations about its past, present, and future. Linking the historical record and the living experiences of its visitors to what is happening socially, politically, and culturally NOW; we honour the material culture of the city: mixing history, archaeology, visual arts, design, architecture, urban planning, music, performance, new media, design, fashion, popular culture, and photography. Check us out on our blog, talk to us on Twitter, or stay up to date through Facebook.

Talking about apps has been a big thing in the museum world lately – how do you use technology to engage visitors? How can you enhance a historical or artistic experience? What is the role of the museum in using technology to further their mission?

Some museums, like the Guggenheim, launched into the forefront of app development, taking the risk for the rest of us, spending years developing an app that later became irrelevant. Others, like the Museum of London, came in a bit later, developing their street museum only to discover
that it actually increased attendance to their physical location.

When the MOV launched Neon Vancouver | Ugly Vancouver (our neon sign exhibition here at our Kitsilano building) it sparked an unprecedented flow of stories from Vancouverites that
signaled how deeply enmeshed the city’s neon is with local history and ourcivic identity.

Of course, telling the stories of some of Vancouver’s most iconic signs — like the Vogue, Save-On-Meats, or The Orpheum — by bringing them into the MOV wasn’t an option (they’re still in use, and they’re so large they wouldn’t even fit in the building!). So we dreamt up the next best thing: a virtual exhibition and mobile app that would share 40+ stories about 50+ signs and use augmented reality technology to help with the visuals.

At the end of 2011 — with some much appreciated federal funding from Heritage Canada (Virtual Museums Canada) in hand — Hanna Cho, the MOV’s Curator of Dialogue & Engagement, rolled up her sleeves and began work with a talented team of archival researchers, visual storytellers, and interactive producers to create The Visible City.

Just 18 months later we’re thrilled to be releasing an app that is the first of its kind in North America. It takes augmented reality to the streets, and provides countless historical photos, audio stories, and contemporary insights from notable Vancouverites like Dal Richards (legendary big band leader), Vancouver punk icon Joe Keithley of DOA, architect Gregory
Henriquez, and Judy Graves, Vancouver’s advocate for the homeless.

The exhibition traces the rise, fall, and revival of neon in Vancouver, and enables people to explore the rich social and cultural histories associated with the signs. While there are hundreds of neon stories that pepper our city’s historical and contemporary landscape we couldn’t
possibly include them all (there were, after all, an estimated 19,000 signs in the 60s). We ended up focusing on some key signs and stories that illustrate the role of neon in Vancouver’s civic evolution. Do you think we’re missing a sign? We encourage you to add your own photos to the Flickr pool!

We hope you’ll download the app, take one of the two tours with a friend, and contribute your own impressions, stories, and photos to the exhibition!

The app is free to download from iTunes or GooglePlay, or to view online at www.thevisiblecity.ca .