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March-April 2022

Flower power

Vancouver artist takes an organic approach

Hannah Rudderham

Fireweed is a tall, pink wildflower that blooms in areas burned by fire. For artist Holly Schmidt, it represents sustenance and resilience. In her residency, Vegetal Encounters, as part of the University of British Columbia’s Outdoor Program, Schmidt planted a fireweed field at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver. Fireweed produces an […] More »
March-April 2018

How one company brings theatre to Vancouver’s Deaf population

Theatre Interpreting Services aims to make theatre inclusive for all

Kevin John Siazon

It’s 2015, and the light come up on a dark stage at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City. Two young women stand on opposite sides of an empty mirror frame. As one waves her arms in the air creating shapes to convey her curious thoughts, the other begins to sing, giving those signed […] More »
March-April 2018

ACTION SHOT: Women of all ages march in resistance in the streets of Vancouver

This January, Canadian women young and old protested one year after Donald Trump's inauguration

This Magazine

On January 20, 2017, women across the globe marched in resistance following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The marches were symbols of protest, as a man with multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him had joined public office. As 2017 progressed, women began stepping forward, speaking up against misconduct, harassment, and rape, sparking an international movement, dubbed […] More »
November-December 2017

Vancouver’s Sandeep Johal offers hope in the face of female violence with her artwork

The artist's Rest in Power series celebrates women whose lives were taken brutally and unjustly

Madi Haslam

When Vancouver-based artist Sandeep Johal read Shauna Singh Baldwin’s novel, The Selector of Souls, she was deeply moved. The story of two Indian women tackles difficult gender-based issues Johal often finds herself considering: female foeticide, infanticide, femicide, domestic abuse, dowry, and rape. Soon after reading it, Johal was bringing a fictional goddess from the novel to […] More »
May-June 2017

PHOTO ESSAY: The faces behind Vancouver’s overdose crisis

Photojournalist Aaron Goodman provides an inside look at one woman's struggle with addiction on the west coast

Aaron Goodman@aaronjourno

In 2014–15, Aaron Goodman documented three drug users participating in a study to assess longer-term opioid medication effectiveness—the first heroin-assisted treatment research of its kind in North America. The collected photos and reflections formed the Outcasts Project, which aims to humanize addiction. Goodman, a PhD candidate in communication studies at Concordia University, sought to amplify […] More »
May-June 2017

The radical change Vancouver activists say will end the country’s opioid crisis

Despite government harm-reduction efforts, Vancouver remains the epicentre of Canada’s overdose crisis. Now, activists say the only solution is legalizing opioids

Malone Mullin@4evamalone

Except for a long line at the barbecue, where hungry older folk wait for a free meal, most people have left Oppenheimer Park for the day. But not Jim McLeod, who’s clutching a hot dog wrinkled with the cold, so engrossed in telling me his story that he’s forgotten about his dinner. It’s late February […] More »
May-June 2017

Inside the search from hell Canadian millennials must undergo for affordable housing

Nadine Bachan—like many young Canadians—spent months trying to find an apartment she could afford in Vancouver's market

Nadine Bachan

Four strangers are congregating by my doorway. I cautiously step outside and the most well-dressed of them extends his hand and makes introductions. He’s the real-estate agent and the others are his team. I say hello then retreat back inside, listening to the muffled voices outside my window. I live in the garden suite—an elegant synonym for […] More »

Gender Block: February 14 Annual Women’s Memorial March

Hillary Di Menna

Starting in Vancouver after a 1991 murder of a Coast Salish woman in the Downtown Eastside, Canadian cities have participated in the Annual Women’s Memorial March, to honour the lives of missing and murdered women, every Valentine’s Day. “This event is organized and led by women in the DTES [Downtown Eastside] because women—especially indigenous women—face […] More »

Friday FTW: Vancouver Opens a Door to Equality

Vincent Colistro

Inequality, thy name is doorknob! Recently, here at the offices of This Magazine, where the magic of journalism comes alive, and even the chairs have a political opinion, we’ve installed a doorknob. We retired our door lever, and got a doorknob. Folks, let me tell you, I do not like it. The first morning after […] More »

Friday FTW: Vancouver’s rainbow crosswalks

Espe Currie

It’s Pride Week in Vancouver, and to kick off celebrations July 29 the city unveiled an addition to the Davie Street Village streetscape. City workers painted all four crosswalks at the intersection of Davie and Bute in the rainbow flag late on Sunday night, and the big reveal happened early Monday morning hosted by Canada’s […] More »

Friday FTW: Happy 100th birthday John Koerner

Espe Currie

John Koerner is 100 years old and still making art. Really. If you haven’t heard of Koerner—a Vancouver-based modernist painter who basically kick-started said movement in Canada—or seen his work, you’re missing out. Lucky for you, he’s having a birthday party on June 9 in Burnaby, B.C., where you can hear him speak and see his work. […] More »