Vancouver Biennale is听ramping up听and Squamish听continues to听rock the听international art stage welcoming two world-renowned artists over the course of only a few short weeks.听
Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Waste Land, touches down in Squamish听the week of July 21 to create a major art installation in听our town, while artist Konstantin Dimopoulos breezed听through Squamish last week on a reconnaissance trip scouting sites for his听sought after听Blue Trees installations 鈥� and fell in love with the very sculptural industrial relics听that code听our oceanfront heritage.
Both artists are surprising headliners for a small community such as Squamish and come as part of the听Open Air Museum听portion of the 2014-2016 Vancouver Biennale Open Borders/Crossroads Exhibition hosted by Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster, North Vancouver and Squamish.听Earlier this year, Brazilian artist Hugo Franca was in Squamish to create his Urban Furniture series out of recycled giant debris wood pieces.听
The multi-faceted Vancouver Biennale also includes an artist residency program, where 92 artists from five continents will come to the region to create in an unprecedented cultural exchange between nations. Squamish will host up to 18 hot, up and coming international听talents between now and 2016. They will make their temporary home here and create cutting edge works in a variety of听art forms, including video, sound, light, performance, and installation, all to the theme听of听Martin Luther King鈥檚 famous speech, I Have听a Dream. The Vancouver Biennale听program is designed to ensure multi-layered cultural exchange and community involvement at all levels, including local artists, youth and schools,听and the general public.听
A biennale residency artist open house takes place on Monday, July 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at StartUp Squamish, 38192 Cleveland Ave., where three newly-arrived artists will share brief presentations and attendees will be given opportunities to participate, something locals are excited about.
鈥淭his is huge for Squamish 鈥� a golden opportunity for us to host some of the most exciting and gifted artists in the world,鈥� said local Luisa Nitrato Izzo. 鈥� It鈥檚 about cultural exchange and opening horizons, and that鈥檚 exactly what the biennale is doing for our town 鈥� not only through the art itself but through all the related community events such as open houses, school programs and artists鈥� receptions.听 I think it鈥檚 absolutely fantastic for our community and am thrilled to see the Vancouver Biennale come here.鈥�
Residency artists include听India鈥檚 Sumakshi Singh, who is creating Breath Song, a mixed media symphony using sound,听vapours, and video projection. Sumakshi听is听hoping to find 108 local participants听to听briefly record the sound of their individual breath cycles. By incorporating written word and sound,听the anticipation is that the piece will be projected out in nature upon an ephemeral cloud like form. A sound booth at the reception听will be used听to record听the听breath cycles听of interested participants.
Shweta Bhattad, also from India, comes with his I Have A Dream project, a two-year Global Art Farming Peace Project between 26 countries and 30 collaborators comprised of farmers and artists each sowing seeds in the form of 鈥淚 Have A Dream鈥� in their native language on their own land.听Their discussions on farming and growing issues will be documented via video installations in Squamish. Shweta is looking for locals to collaborate in the project and help voice the stories of our food providers to the world.听
听Hasan Hujairi, a sound artist, composer and independent researcher, from Bahrain currently based in Seoul, South Korea said his project is a reflection of Squamish relative to his homeland.
鈥淢y project involves compiling a series of miscellaneous working papers and sketches surrounding my observations on Squamish and their relation to where I come from. My project also includes a workshop element on sound art and music composition,鈥� said Hujairi, adding he plans on dedicating some 鈥渋mportant books鈥� on music to the public library.
听All visiting artists听have been听overwhelmed by both the natural beauty听of Squamish and听the breadth of community support across all sectors, including logging, construction, education, hospitality, health, tourism听and the First Nations community, as illustrated in Singh鈥檚 Squamish Breath Poem:
鈥淭he stunning landscape here is the best kind of creative fuel and soul food and a whole new set of artistic ideas are erupting. A quality of spaciousness permeates everything here and I can feel it seep into my mind, creating space between my thoughts so that I can see them more clearly, less cluttered. A fellow artist gazing up at the landscape echoed my sentiments 鈥淭he mind has more clarity here.鈥欌��
Some artists are already听planning return visits and apart from the art projects, Squamish is gaining a highly regarded team of international artist ambassadors.听
鈥淥ur project gave us the opportunity to engage in the community of Squamish in a truly meaningful and rewarding experience," said Miguel Antonio Horn of Philadelphia who came to produce a co-creation called Salish Sea Lab project. 鈥淲e hoped to achieve a connection to the region through the process of creating our installation with locally sourced materials. We found, however, the most treasured resource was the professional, friendly and family ties that make Squamish such an incredible place to work as an artist.听
鈥淭he resulting installation exceeded our expectations and we have the generous, welcoming people of Squamish to thank for that. It was an honour to work with such a receptive community, and a pleasure to learn so much from you in the process.鈥澨�
Horn and fellow artist Chris Landau鈥檚 elegant Salish Sea Lab, interweaves sculpture with advanced projection technology.听The canoe-shaped piece is听installed at the Squamish Adventure Centre. Night viewing is recommended to听allow the full dreamy narrative to unfold via听a series of finely detailed light projections that flood the sculpted interior of the piece.听
鈥淏eing in Squamish really gave us the opportunity to think big. The surroundings and histories of the area were perfect for examining the topics of big change and interdependence,鈥� said co-creator Landau.
听Another completed Squamish collaboration is by Pallavi Paul and Sahej Rahal, both of India.听Reservoir is a cutting edge sci-fi art film about the听鈥渓ast piece of data鈥澨齛s it roams an imagined post-apocalyptic Squamish. A reflection on change, technology, infinity, history and life itself, this film proposes a new way of seeing. Pallavi and Sahej听said they were overwhelmed by听the physical beauty of Squamish, having never seen anything
like it before.听
鈥淭he biennale experience was about the possibility of seeing connections between everyday community experiences and multiversal propositions. Squamish was for us the perfect playground to test the porosity of these boundaries.鈥�
听Another biennale program component, Cinefest Live, features the听best of the best documentaries from around the world about masters of art who have transcended boundaries, redefined their genre and influenced their generation. Squamish participation includes a by donation screening of Oliver Stone鈥檚 10-part series The Untold History Of The United States, at the Adventure Centre.
Local culture vulture and municipal councillor Susan Chapelle said she found inspiration in the Vancouver Biennale activities she attended and the dialogue that followed.
鈥淪eeing the artists in residence be excited about Squamish in ways that have not yet been explored was exciting to my family and me,鈥� said Chapelle. 鈥淭he Salish boat project, Hugo Franca and the other artists have opened conversations on the value of arts and culture that may not have happened otherwise. The biennale has been a great community building听project.鈥�
As for myself, Krisztina Egyed, I sense a distinct and听freshly energizing sea breeze in the Squamish air. Something has changed. I have always maintained that art is a perfect barometer to guage our evolution as a society.听
