BC Culture Days has announced its dynamic new lineup of free and interactive creative events, hosted by artists and cultural organizations from across BC and Canada in its 12th annual celebration of arts and culture, September 24 to October 24.
Featuring an ever-expanding roster of events and activities aligned to the 2021 Culture Days theme—RE:IMAGINE—the month-long celebration invites British Columbians to imagine a post-pandemic world brightened through creative exploration and artistic expression.
Events will include a plethora of options encompassing all comfort levels and abiding by current public health recommendations, including socially-distanced outdoor and pre-registered indoor events, pre-recorded videos, live-stream presentations, self-guided activities and more.
“As pandemic restrictions ease and we look towards the future with cautious optimism, it’s essential that we take this time to recommit to strengthening our communities through creative connection,” says Nazanin Shoja, BC Culture Days program director.
“We’ve all been impacted over the past 18 months and have had to adapt to new ways of interacting and communicating with one another. It is our sincere hope at BC Culture Days that the events and activities offered this fall will serve as a catalyst for British Columbians to rediscover their creative pursuits, safely reconnect with their communities, and collectively re-imagine a new future supported by shared experiences.”
To further enhance the 2021 arts and culture celebration and to help boost community engagement, BC Culture Days has selected nine outstanding emerging artists to participate in this year’s cultural ambassador program.
Representing a wide array of artistic disciplines—dance, theatre, visual arts, storytelling, poetry, film and music—each ambassador will host an interactive event free to the public, as part of the ambassador event series, called RE:CONNECT.
These events will encourage participants to explore new and creative ways of reconnecting with their communities. Ambassadors have been paired with an artistic mentor—an established artist or leader in their chosen field—to guide them over the course of six months, as well as to help develop their BC Culture Days events.
Included in the ambassador program is Colwood’s Laura Rechwan. A visual artist and entrepreneur, Laura invites her community to participate in an online art exhibition, featuring live-stream events from local artists and art enthusiasts, including studio tours, artist talks, poetry readings and other performances.
Her emerging studio art practice uses many mediums to explore the unseen forces and intangible energies that surround everyday life. Play and experimentation are key to her artistic process and she often incorporates repurposed materials into her work.
From welding to ceramics and every material in between, her work has been exhibited at the Sooke Fine Arts Show and Open Space Gallery, and has been selected for a public installation with the City of Victoria his winter.
Through Laura’s BC Culture Days event, she hopes to elevate the status of the arts in Victoria by providing an opportunity for people to witness and participate in an innovative and creative process.
BC Culture Days will also feature a pre-recorded welcome ceremony from Chief Kwakwee Baker, member of the Squamish First Nation, as well as a pre-recorded provincial proclamation from BC Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Hon. Melanie Mark.
For more information on how to take part in BC Culture Days—including live-streaming options, as well as an enhanced registration system that has made it even easier for participants to plan and share their events in 2021—or to sign up for the BC Culture Days newsletter, visit culturedays.ca/bc.
For updates on BC Culture Days and the BC Culture Days cultural ambassadors, please follow BC Culture Days on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
