Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency Launches

×

Expand

Blue Cabin Drydock (photo by Henri Robideau)

Five artists will examine local histories and resurgent Indigenous traditions as part of the first Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency in Vancouver's False Creek over the coming year.

The inaugural program, Skeins: Weaving on the Foreshore, features Angela George (Squamish/Tsleil-Waututh), Janice George and Buddy Joseph (Squamish), and Debra Sparrow (Musqueam), pivotal figures in the revival of Coast Salish weaving.

The first open house runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the Plaza of Nations in False Creek.

Originally built as floating house in 1927, the cabin was relocated to North Vancouver where it became a studio for artists Al Neil and Carole Itter for five decades.

They were evicted in 2015, when the site was purchased by Polygon Homes. A community campaign organized by grunt gallery, Other Sights for Artists’ Projects, and Creative Cultural  Collaborations saved the cabin from demolition.

“The Blue Cabin is a culturally and historically significant work of architecture, and its launch in False Creek will encourage both artists and the public to appreciate the many complex histories that make up the community,” says Glenn Alteen, program director of grunt gallery.

“The cabin — and the broader region we now call the Lower Mainland — is inextricably linked  to the colonial displacement of Indigenous peoples. As a heritage-focused project, one of our core values is to reflect and engage with the stories of the traditional owners of these lands: the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations."

Australian Indigenous artist and activist Vicki Couzens (Gunditjmara) is the first international artist-in-residence. Couzens, who will be in residence from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31, has led a resurgence in making possum cloaks and, as a Gunditjmara language keeper, is involved in linguistic training programs.

The residency emphasizes engaged programming and intergenerational knowledge exchange, including workshops, classes and presentations around weaving, language and design.

For information, visit thebluecabin.ca.