SCA | Quick News | September 29, 2023
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Following Royal Assent on June 3, 2021, September 30 now marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, which was legislated, via Bill C-5, as a federal holiday by the Government of Canada in response to Call to Action #80 from the collection of 94 Calls to Action compiled by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2015. Call #80 reads: "We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process."
Because September 30 falls on a Saturday, however, the federal holiday falls on Monday, October 2, 2023, which means SFU's campuses will be closed and no classes will be held, including by the SCA. In recognition of the day, we encourage everyone to read or reread the TRC's 94 Calls to Action, which you can download HERE as a PDF.
As well, Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, who will also be receiving an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Laws, honoris causa) from SFU at the Fall Convocation on Friday, October 6, at the 9:45 AM ceremony, is the keynote speaker at a FREE event recognizing the 10th Anniversary of Orange Shirt Day on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM (PDT) at the Leslie & Gordon Diamond Family Auditorium (8888 University High St., Burnaby). RSVP HERE.
Strike!
Quick News is normally completed on Fridays, but due to ongoing strike actions by the SFU's Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU), including a picket line at SFU's Vancouver campus on Friday, September 29, 2023, which includes SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, this is an abridged version that was hastily assembled on Thursday, and programmed to go out this morning before the start of the 9 – 5 working day. For SCA students, please reach out to your instructors to see how all this might impact your classes. For more information about the negotiations and the strike actions, visit SFU's "Collective bargaining at SFU" webpage HERE and TSSU's webpage HERE.
Tacata's Nasty Performances
The SCA's Ryan Tacata is the guest on the latest episode of Below the Radar, the podcast produced by our friends and colleagues in SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement (VOCE). Listen HERE.
BowWowWowWow
Join the SCA's Ryan Tacata and SCA alumni Santi Henderson, Marita Michaelis, Billy Marchenski, Lara Abadir, Nancy Tam, June Fukumura, Anthony Lee, Howard Dai, Avery Chapman, Brynne Harper, Zoe Braithwaite, and Keely O’Brien, and Andrew Laurenson, Josh Hite, Peter Anderson for BowWowWowWow, Leaky Heaven’s first "Non-Human Sound Lip-Sync Competition," with a $500 Cash Prize (zoinks!) on October 19, 2023, at 7:30 PM (doors) at The Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave., Vancouver), with all proceeds going to the Leaky Heaven / RayCam Community Centre collaboration, Slip, Slap, Trip, Whack. More HERE.
Lee in Contact Zone and the Gwangju Media Arts Festival
The SCA's Young Joo Lee is participating in The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Contact Zone, which runs September 8, 2023 – January 14, 2024, across seven venues, including Brooklyn Museum, EFA Project Space, NARS Foundation Gallery, Artists Alliance Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, Wendy’s Subway, Alchemy gallery, Accent Sisters (more HERE) and the Gwangju Media Arts Festival 2023 (more info to come HERE).
Abouchehade wins an Audain travel grant
SCA student Noor Abouchehade was one of the five recipients of a $7,500 travel grant from the Audain Foundation, which were awarded along with the $100,000 Audain Prize for the Visual Arts to Dana Claxton. Congratulations, Noor and Dana – and the other winners! More HERE.
Polygon Art Auction
SCA alumni Katayoon Yousefbigloo and Graeme Wahn have works available in The Polygon Gallery's Art Auction 2023. Bidding ends Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00 PM. More HERE.
Dai and Fung talk The Legend of Whoosh
Listen to SCA alumnus Howard Dai and Kristin Fung of the A Five Blessings Collective on CBC Radio's North by Northwest with Margaret Gallagher talk about their audio play series, A Year of Blessings, which released its latest episode, The Legend of Whoosh, produced with support from Gateway Theatre. Listen HERE.
The Peak on Smith's Black Box Investigations
Read SFU's The Peak on SCA alumnus Paige Smith’s Black Box Investigations, which is screening at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival on Sunday, October 1 at 8:30 PM at VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St., Vancouver) and Monday, October 2 at 12:15 PM at the International Village Theatre (88 W. Pender St., Vancouver). Read it HERE.
위밑 we meet (up down)
Watch a video documentation of 위밑 we meet (up down), a recent performance by SCA alumnus Jae Woo Kang, which took place on Friday, September 15, 2023, at Griffin Art Projects, presented as part of the opening reception for SHIFT: Ecologies of Fashion, Form and Textile, which runs September 16 – December 10, 2023, at Griffin Art Projects. Watch it HERE.
Girls Who Think They Are Alone
SCA alumni and former SCA Technician (2018-2022), Paula Viitanen Aldazosa, was the set builder-carpenter for Girls Who Think They Are Alone, the Finnish National Theatre's 2024 season's main stage premiere, which opened September 21, 2023. More HERE.
Exquisite Pressure x Here For Now
SCA student Brynne Harper joins Hayley Gawthrop and ellis cheadle as part of What Lab's next Exquisite Pressure on October 13 & 14, 2023, at 7:00 PM (doors) at What Lab (1814 Pandora St., Vancouver), this time hosted by Here For Now, which is a "cross-disciplinary" project by SCA alumnus Erika Mitsuhashi and Francesca Frewer and Antonio Somera. More HERE.