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This weekend I went to the Nanaimo Art Gallery to attend a talk by Toronto artist Jon Sasaki whose work is in a new exhibition there called Trust Fall.

 Jon’s presentation and art is interesting in itself, but the real highlight for me was chatting with him after the event about how he uses art to navigate and engage with his identity as a Japanese Canadian.

Jon talked about how grappling with his background features in his art, such as the creation of an ofuro-inspired bathtub raceboat in the exhibit, and how his family didn’t talk about what happened during the Second World War when they were removed from their home on B.C. coast by Canada's racist policies.  

It was a fascinating discussion that put his artwork in both a personal and collective context and I’m happy to bring you some of what he talked about in the story below.  

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

Trust Fall exhibit at Nanaimo Art Gallery ‘embraces the happy accident’

 Jon Sasaki and Laura Gildner exhibit a journey into misadventure and miscommunication.

🖊️ What you said ⌨️

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“You cover a broad range of Wha's happnin' ! Nice work!”

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🔎 Watch for🔎

Colliding Canyons will play at The Vault Cafe with Hypno Jerk and Lorri Clark on Saturday, Feb. 8. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

Got the inside scoop of an event you think should be shared? 

Let us know by sending Mick an email.

🎵 Listen 🎤

Thursday, Feb. 6,  6:30 p.m.: Book Launch for Paul db Watkin's Soundin' Canaan: Black Canadian Poetry, Music, and Citizenship with readings from Paul Watkins, Nanaimo’s new poet laureate Neil Surkan and poet/musician Sonnet L’Abbé at The Vault Cafe. Suggested $5 donation.

Thursday, Feb. 6, 9 p.m.: Teenage Tiger and Lip Forest play good ol’ garage rock at The Vault Cafe. $10

Friday, Feb. 7, 8 p.m.: Caveman & The Banshee will play a record release party for their new album Born to Kill with Stephen Hamm: Theremin Man at The Vault Cafe. The cover is $15 at the door. 

Saturday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.: Under The Mountain will play an all-ages record release show with Danger Box, Vogue Villains and Butcher at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.: B’boon will bring their high energy British influenced retro punk and new wave sounds to The Queen’s. Tickets cost $20.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 7:30 p.m.: The Vancouver Island Symphony and Natalie Choquette will ask the audience “Whoever said Opera is Boring?” Tickets cost $39.50 to $63.50 or $28.50 for students. 

Saturday, Feb. 8, 9 p.m.: A night of psych rock, kraut rhythms, trip hop and new age delights with Colliding Canyons, Hypno Jerk and Lorri Clark at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15.

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m.: Steve Patterson is joined by Yumi Nagashima and Charlie Demers for The Debaters Live on Tour at the Port Theatre. Tickets cost $50.50 to $75.

🎭 View 🖼️

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m.: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo bring their slapstick ballet comedy to the Port Theatre. Tickets cost $64 or $34 for students. 

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 9 p.m.: The media studies department will screen Fortescue at the Malaspina Theatre at Vancouver Island University. Director Rebecca Love and some of the cast will be in attendance for a Q&A after the show. Free to attend. 

Friday, Feb. 7, noon: A lunchtime tour of the exhibit Trust Fall is led by a Nanaimo Art Gallery facilitator every Friday at noon through the run of the exhibition. 

Friday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.: The play Yaga by Kat Sandler will start its run at The OV Arts Centre and play there until Feb. 16. Tickets cost $28.

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society's annual Newcomer Wellness Fair will be held at the Beban Park Social Centre with over 40 organizations and cultural performances. Admission is free and you can preregister for the event here. 

Friday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m.: English professor Neil Surkan will present a lecture titled Toward More (Un)Certainty: Parenting and the Poetics of Hope  at Vancouver Island University’s Malaspina Theatre. He will analyze recent poems by parent-poets in which speakers reckon with becoming their children’s ancestors in a world of increasing precarity. Neil will also share new poems from his manuscript-in-progress, Empties, which explores the conditions of parenting on the verge of hope(lessness).

Friday, Feb. 7, 6 p.m.: The VIU Mariners basketball teams will play the Capilano University Blues at the VIU Gym. The women’s game is at 6 p.m. and the men’s game is at 8 p.m. Tickets are free for VIU students, $6 at the door or two for $10.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.: The VIU Mariners basketball teams will play the  Capilano University Blues at the VIU Gym for the final home games of the season. The women’s game is at 1 p.m. and the men’s game is at 3 p.m. Tickets are free for VIU students, $6 at the door or two for $10.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 10:30 a.m.: Tania Amaral (Mozambique) and Beni Rene (Madagascar) will host A Celebration of African Cultures with African storytelling, art and music at the Nanaimo Harbourfront library.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo Clippers will play the Langley Rivermen at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets cost $20. 

Saturday, Feb. 8, 7:15 p.m.: The VIU hockey club will play the UVic Vikes at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, Rink 1. Tickets are $10 or $5 for students. 

Tuesday, Feb. 11. 11:30 a.m.: In the spirit of Black History month, Dr. Sonnet L'Abbé will host a lunchtime open mic celebrating Black authors and the power of poetry to articulate joy, rage, solidarity, struggle and hope for the future in the Malaspina Theatre Lobby at Vancouver Island University.

See you around town,

— Mick and The Discourse team

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