Hello Powell Street Festival Society Friends,
As we write this overlooking changing leaves and braving the wet weather, we have a lot of news and some exciting live events we hope will bring warmth in the coming weeks.
In this letter:
- Upcoming: Details on some very special in-person events, the next Paueru Gai Dialogues Online Event, and more
- NEW extremely cozy Limited-edition fall merchandise
- Community Announcements
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Tatsuya Nakatani in 2 Vancouver Concerts
Wednesday November 10 | 6:30 PM | Massy Arts Society (sold out)
Saturday November 13 | 2:30 PM | Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre | With guest Mark Haney
Tickets by Donation
Powell Street Festival Society is excited to present master of resonance and sound Tatsuya Nakatani in two intimate concerts. Nakatani will be performing a solo show on Wednesday, November 10 at the Massy Arts Society, and will be joined by special guest, bassist Mark Haney at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre on November 13. These concerts are presented in partnership with Massy Arts Society (Nov. 10) and DKAM. With support from Canadian Heritage.
Read more about these exciting concerts and reserve your tickets now at the link below! Both venues have limited capacity, double vaccination and masks are required to attend.
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Dumb Instrument Dance: Made In Voyage
November 24-27 & December 1-4, 2021 | 5pm & 7pm nightly
Morrow, 336 West Pender St, Vancouver
Tickets $30/$25
Capacity is very limited – early booking strongly advised
A triptych of solos that are odes to the performers’ grandmothers, featuring Ziyian Kwan, Shion Skye Carter, and Justin Calvadores. Each of these collaboratively created works counter historic erasure by highlighting the life stories of womxn of colour, portrayed through the memories of their grandchildren.
Presented as part of The Dance Centre’s 13th biennial Dance In Vancouver | Co-produced with Powell Street Festival
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Miyō: Powell Street Festival at the Rio
Saturday, December 4 | 3:00 PM
The Rio Theatre 1660 E Broadway at Commercial
Live In-Person and Online. ASL Interpreted.
Sliding-Scale ($10-$50) Tickets
Join Powell Street Festival artists for an afternoon of short films, live music, and conversations with host Tetsuro Shigematsu featuring live performances by festival-favourite artists Bernie Arai’s Eremetic Sound (Jocelyn Waugh, trumpet; John Bently, tenor sax; Brad Muirhead, sousaphone; Bernie Arai, drums & cymbals), Masami Hanashiro (Eisa Taiko Solo), and screenings from artists Sammy Chien of CHIMERIK and Tomoyo Yamada of Clala Dance Project. Plus, get your hands on some very special, limited-edition winter merchandise, chat with friends from the festival over snacks and drinks from the Rio’s concessions and bar, and hear exciting interviews with each of the festival artists. Not ready to join in-person? This event will also be live-streamed online! Access can be purchased on our website below.
Health & Safety protocols will be followed, including mandatory masks, social distancing, and proof of vaccination checks.
Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, November 10th - read more below!
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The Paueru Gai Dialogues #9 (Final!): Monumental Reckoning
Saturday November 20 - 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM PST / 4-7 EST
Free online event, advance registration required
In the ninth and final Paueru Gai Dialogues event, Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon will be in conversation with Skundaal Bernie Williams- Gul Kiit Jaad, Joe Fry and Ken Lum as they rethink and reimagine what monument means and why memorialization might be important. Do we need monuments and, if so, why? What do they mean and for whom? How are monuments being rethought? Participants will be invited into breakout groups to share their perspectives with one another. To wrap up the event, everyone will reconvene to offer questions and debrief together. This online event is free, donations are gratefully accepted.
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Special Edition Fall Merchandise
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Now available! Pre-order your
PowellStFest Forever Hoodie today!
First 10 orders will receive a Festival 2021 tenugui gift. Enter DARUMA10 during check-out.
You voted on social media so here it is: a re-issue of Andrea Wan’s festival 2014 poster, now on a hoodie (a first in Powell Street Festival history!)
Look closely and you'll see a timeless Powell Street Festival scene: the lucky daruma doll, taiko drumming, sumo, and, of course, Festival volunteers. Stay cozy and in the festival spirit!
Local pickup and shipping available. Or, better yet, attend our upcoming in-person event Miyō: Powell Street Festival at the Rio, and pick one up in-person.
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Powell Street Festival Online
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Watch the Paueru Gai Dialogues #8: Expanding Diasporic Imaginaries
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Missed the Paueru Gai Dialogues #8: Expanding Diasporic Imaginaries? Watch the full video above, or visit our YouTube playlist to catch up on the whole series before #9: Monumental Reckoning on November 20th.
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Revisiting and Envisioning: A Special Edition of As Long as I can Remember at Heart of the City Festival
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We are excited to announce that our Powell Street Festival video Revisiting and Envisioning: A Special Edition of As Long as I can Remember is featured on-demand in the 18th Annual Downtown Vancouver Heart of the City Festival! The festival may be over now, but you can still stream this program online for a limited time!
Twenty years later and in the midst of the COVID pandemic, longtime Powell Street Festival volunteers came together virtually to reflect on Lynda's film. What do they think the future of the Powell Street Festival will look like? What surprised them? What are they most proud of? Take a trip down memory lane with the Powell Street Festival and envision what twenty more years might look like. We encourage you to respond with your hopes and vision for the future! Tag them with your response using #powellstfest on social media or send your written, audio, or video responses to info[at]powellstreetfestival.com
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Wife of a Spy at the Rio
Saturday November 13th | Doors 5:30 PM, Movie 6:00 PM
Advance tickets or purchase at the door for $15
The year is 1940 in Kobe, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant and amateur filmmaker Yusaku (Issey Takahashi, KILL BILL) senses that things are headed in an unsettling direction. Following a trip to Manchuria, he becomes determined to bring to light the things he witnessed there, and secretly filmed. Meanwhile, his wife Satoko (Japan Society’s 2021 Honoree Yû Aoi) receives a visit from her childhood friend, now a military policeman. He warns her about Yusaku’s seditious ways and reveals that a woman her husband brought back from his trip has died. Satoko confronts Yusaku, but when she discovers his true intentions, she is torn between loyalty to her husband, the life they have built, and the country they call home.
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25th Vancouver Asian Film Festival
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The Vancouver Asian Film Festival celebrates its 25th edition this year! For the first time ever, VAFF is going to be a hybrid affair taking place over 11 days and counting. The extended festival kicks off with 4 days of in-person events (November 4-7), followed by 6 days of online programs (November 8-13), before one final live program and the festival’s closing awards ceremony on November 14.
We are very excited to see these three Japanese language films included in the program, two of which are available On Demand!
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Masa hires rental actress and aspiring dancer Kanako to pose as his fiancée to impress his estranged, ailing father.
A man and a woman meet at an English conversation café and begin to play a game where they visit cafes and act like different people, but only when they speak English.
We're looking forward to seeing these films!
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In Memory of Kevin Sleziak
May 28, 1966 – October 24, 2021
It is with great sadness to share that our dear friend and long-time Powell Street Festival supporter, Kevin Sleziak, passed away on Sunday, October 24th, 2021 in the comfort and care of May’s Place.
Kevin is known to many in the Powell Street Festival (PSF) and downtown eastside (DTES) communities because he worked for and was a volunteer for so many different organizations. The Festival was so fortunate to have had Kevin’s help for the past 20 years or so as a leader of our Hospitality & Security Team. Kevin was at the center of our learning about how to bring the Festival into Oppenheimer Park, the living room and backyard of so many residents, in a respectful way that aims to humanize the interactions of people with many different experiences, backgrounds, and daily challenges. Kevin showed us through his kindness, generosity of spirit, and by example, how to treat people with dignity and respect, and helped ensure that every Festival went as smoothly as possible. Our successful events rested heavily on his shoulders for which we will be eternally grateful.
We are also so lucky that Greg Masuda, a past member of the PSF Advocacy & Outreach Committee, created the wonderful film, The Spirit of Nihonmachi, which documents the 2011 Festival and the participation of Kevin and friend, Abraham, in our behind the scenes work as well as their participation in our annual Sumo Tournament. You can view this gift from Greg online here and see Kevin in action.
PSF plans to collaborate with some of the groups in Kevin’s network to hold a Celebration of Life in the coming months. We’ll let you know when we have the details.
Here’s to Kevin and all he did for the community and so many. He will be hugely missed at the Festival and in the neighbourhood, but he will remain well loved and long remembered!
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Thank-you from the Powell Street Festival Society Team!
Thank-you for reading this month's edition of our newsletter! Don't forget to connect with us on social media—links below—for more updates and conversations. See you soon!
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