IPA stands for IBPOC Plus ALLIES while IBPOC stands for Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour. Welcome to IPA Corner, a new regular feature in UCV’s monthly E-Bulletin with updates about our events and the work we are doing at UCV.
Read on for updates on recent and upcoming events at UCV by your IPA team fostering cultural connections, leading to greater understanding of IBPOC experiences and promotion of healthy relations.
SECOND Annual Cherry Blossom Picnic – April 2 & 9, 2023
The IPA demonstrated that sometimes in life, we receive curveballs, but we are resilient and know how to pivot!
On April 2nd our planned picnic under the cherry blossoms was moved indoors due to heavy rain, and at times hail! That’s Spring in Vancouver for you.
Instead we had an enjoyable indoor celebration, sharing memories of the blossoms, singing songs and even learning about and composing haikus to celebrate the season.
We also celebrated together the IPA 1st Birthday, viewing three videos skillfully crafted by Tamiko Suzuki, tracing our efforts and sharings with UCV and beyond, that brought us this far.
The walk to view the blossoms was postponed to Sunday, April 9th, but again nature had other plans!
We plan to continue on with this as a yearly tradition, rain or shine.
We took the opportunity on April 9th to present a card with our heartfelt thanks to the hard working UCV staff for all of their efforts, support and help to the IPA team in the past year.
Image: Some of the haikus written during our cherry blossom event!
Image: IPA member Megumi Anderson explaining how to write a haiku.
IPA-led service on Sunday, May 21
The IPA (IBPOC Plus Allies) will be putting on the May 21 Sunday service. We want to celebrate what we’ve achieved and learned in our first year of existence. The service will be different from what you normally see, and will be interactive and participatory, in keeping with the IPA’s mandate of cultural connections and creativity. The service will also feature several videos created by Tamiko Suzuki in honour of our first anniversary as well as IPA members sharing what their involvement in the group has meant to them over the past year. We hope you can attend!
Reminder: An Invitation to Circle Work on the Process and Content of the 8th Principle May 6 and 20, 1 – 5 pm in the Fireside Room/Hewett Hall
You are invited to two circle sessions, to be held in the Fireside Room of the Hewett Center, Unitarian Church of Vancouver, on Saturday May 6 and Saturday May 20. The sessions will start at 1pm and be finished by 5pm and include a break for refreshments and treats provided by an Indigenous caterer. PLEASE REGISTER HERE. Detailed information on these sessions can be found here.
Asian Heritage Month is a time to reflect on and recognize the many contributions that Canadians of Asian heritage have made and continue to make to Canada.
Below are some Asian Heritage month events being held in the city so be sure to check them out!
If you are interested in getting a group together to attend and discuss after, please contact [email protected]
Celebrate Asian Heritage Month: Uplift Asian Sponsored by the Vancouver Public Library
A series of programs to celebrate Asian cultures and perspectives, and push back against discrimination in our communities. Discover authors and artists, and hear discussions with Asian thinkers who represent a diversity of experiences across Asian communities in Vancouver.
https://www.vpl.ca/program/uplift-asian
Film Event – DOXA Documentary Festival – May 9th, 2023
You are warmly invited to join together with other interested UCV members to watch the movie: Big Fight in Little Chinatown on May 9th at 5:15 at the Vancity Theatre. We will go for a coffee afterward at the nearby Perfecto Cafe to discuss the film.
The film is part of the Doxa film festival and there is also a second show that same evening, titled Twice Colonized at 8:00 pm for those able to stay for a second film (or join in for the second film if you can’t make the first one). It also looks like an excellent film!
Looking forward to being together in community to watch and discuss good films.
You can buy your ticket online (see links below) or at the door but please email Debra Sutherland at [email protected] if you are coming.
https://doxa2023.eventive.org/schedule/64262845160ec800c164c814
https://doxa2023.eventive.org/schedule/6424b0bfdd79cd004098dd4a
LIVE performances of Firehorse and Shadow, May 4-6 at Left of Main, a location in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown that has deep significance.
Situated in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown, Firehorse and Shadow is an autobiography charted in gesture, storytelling, ink painting and shadow puppetry that tells the tale of the lives and choices of four generations of Chinese Canadian women.
Buy tickets here https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/0464f02b-d037-44c1-8d17-17be6889f851
Two Upcoming Workshops associated with Firehorse and Shadow
Storytelling & Dance Workshop with Sarah Chase
May 19 from 10:00am – 4:00pm
Chinatown Storytelling Centre, Vancouver
Sarah Chase will offer a workshop focusing on how to draw upon story, narrative and memory from our own lives to create gestures and movement patterns in new and unexpected ways.
Shadow Workshop with Annie Katsura Rollins
May 5 from 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Left of Main, Vancouver
Join us for a shadow workshop with artist Annie Katsura Rollins. Participants will be invited to dwell on “this place”, Vancouver’s storied Chinatown, and how particular places and spaces have shaped us and continue to create a sense of identity, even if those places have undergone a visible transformation.
Register for both workshops by emailing [email protected]
The Firehall Arts Centre and Savage Society present White Noise, written by Taran Kootenhayoo.
A comedy about two families who have dinner together for the first time during Truth and Reconciliation week, White Noise explores what it means to live in Canada from two different paradigms and asks us to consider: How do we deal with internalized racism? Do we keep pushing it away and pretend to live safely in our day-to-day lives?
https://tickets.firehallartscentre.ca/TheatreManager/1/online?event=988
Hearts of Freedom in BC – Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees
Learn more here: https://www.pchc-mom.ca/hearts-of-freedom
May 23rd is Komagata Maru Remembrance Day
On May 23rd, 1914, Komagata Maru, a ship from Hong Kong carrying 376 passengers arrived in Vancouver. However, these migrants, originally from Punjab, mostly Sikh British military veterans, were denied landing. After two months of discussions between the governments, immigration officers, activists and lawyers, all passengers, except twenty-two who had previously lived in Canada, were denied entry and were forced to return to India. Upon their return, 19 passengers were tragically shot and killed. Many others were injured or jailed as they were labelled political agitators. Learn more here: https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/komagata-maru-remembrance-day.aspx
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