Festival dates announced:
July 31 – August 18, 2012

28 weeks to go!
That might feel like a long way off, but soon enough the Queer Arts Festival will be upon us, presenting three incredible weeks of visual art exhibits, theatre, music, dance, and workshops. This year’s theme is ‘Random Acts of Queerness’- commemorating the centenary of experimental queer artist John Cage (1912-1992).

Chris Randall

RaNDoM acTS oF QueeRNeSS

“Chance comes in here to give us the unknown.”
- John Cage

What’s in a theme? And who was this John Cage guy? An experimental, multidisciplinary artist, Cage is best known for championing Indeterminacy; a philosophy that opens up artistic practice to include the random as a way of radically breaking with tradition, convention and habit. Cage said, “Indeterminacy in art is made not as an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living.”

Cage’s multidisciplinary artistic practice, pioneering approach, and openly queer life elegantly exemplify QAF’s mandate and values. For this year’s theme QAF curators encourage artists to explore indeterminate elements in their work, whether it be Indeterminacy of Process, Indeterminacy of form or Indeterminacy of identity; perhaps risking the effects of random juxtaposition. What kinds of systems, symbols or strategies will you harness?

Visual Art Submission Deadlines

Wanna be a featured QAF artist?
Then you need to submit your work! The deadline for the curated art show, working with the theme of ‘Random Acts of Queerness’, is March 1. The deadline for the community art show, in which pieces do not need to be themed, is May 1. (please note the earlier date)
To learn more, and to apply, click HERE.

What is QAF?
Featuring a curated visual art exhibit, community art show, and three exciting weeks of workshops and live performances, the Queer Arts Festival is Vancouver’s multidisciplinary arts festival celebrating queer art and artists.

A taste of what’s to come
Boulez contra Cage dramatizes the friendship and conflict between composers John Cage and Pierre Boulez and Screaming Weenie brings us Turkey in the Woods.
Don’t miss the workshop performance of Canada’s first lesbian opera, When the Sun Comes Out; transgender pioneer Kate Bornstein performing her landmark solo show, On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us; and dancer/ choreographer Noam Gagnon’s astonishing piece, Thank You, You’re Not Welcome.

Save the Date:
The Opening Night Art Party is Tuesday July 31, 2012 at the Roundhouse Community Center.

New girl in the house
QAF welcomes Flora Ware, a Capilano Arts & Entertainment Management Student and currently the society’s Communications Intern for the spring term. A queer artist in her own right, Flora is a Soul/Pop/Jazz singer and Burlesque performer. Check out her website HERE

Birds do it, bees do it…
February love-letter

Spreadin’ the L.O.V.E.

You know you love us. We know you love us. Make it ‘official’ by attending our AGM in April.
So mark Tuesday April 10 down, because you have a hot date with us.

Exciting festival updates, sizzling financial reports, and getting down to official business! Afterwards there will be eating, drinking, and discussion with your fave queer artists and board members. You know you wanna!

QAF receives commissioning grants for ground-breaking lesbian opera

We are pleased to announce that QAF is the recipient of two commissioning grants from the Canada Council and the BC Arts Council, to create Canada’s first lesbian opera.

When the Sun Comes Out, written by composer Leslie Uyeda and librettist Rachel Rose, is being presented in a workshop performance on Thursday August 2, 2012 at QAF. Starring soprano Teiya Kasahara and baritone Joel Klein, this compelling new chamber opera is being directed by Robert McQueen. The fully-staged performance will premier at QAF 2013.

Deadline reminder:

Artists who wish to submit a proposal to be considered for the Curated Art Exhibit, working with the theme Random Acts of Queerness, must apply before March 1, 2012.

Community Art show deadline is May 1, and works do not need to be theme-related.

Please click HERE for instructions and more information.

Friends with benefits:

Do you want to help the Queer Arts Festival operate like a well-oiled machine? Like getting to see shows for free?

We need volunteers to help before, during and after the festival in varied capacities such as: publicity team, gallery greeters, ushers, delivery drivers, and tear down.

Get more info HERE.

DJ Tapes is a project by Aja Rose Bond (Diadem, HerJazz Noise Collective) that utilizes cassette tapes as a musical and conceptual basis for new sonic explosions. Performances vary greatly, covering territory as diverse as live DJ sets at dance parties, Harsh Noise experiments, and highly developed compositions.
DJ Tapes’ source materials range from original and dubbed cassettes including everything from pop music, noise, ambient field recordings and “books on tape” to her own original compositions.  She is inspired by an endless fascination with the tactile, analog nature of cassettes, the visceral, mechanical experience of handling them, and the intrinsic value of the mixtape as art object.
DJ Tapes has performed as a part of the Utopia Women’s Electronic Music Festival, Vancouver New Music’s Copyright/Copyleft Festival; Her Jazz Noise Collective’s Women’s Studies; Fuck Off and Dance; and This Summer’s Going to Be a Girl Riot at VIVO Media Arts Centre.

Jef Leppard

For over two years, JEF LEPPARD has found a home in the dimly lit rooms ofVancouver’s East Side ever-growing queer scene as resident deejay of parties likeSPIT, QUEER BASH, and APOCALYPSTICK (East Van’s Drag Show). He’s shared thedecks with the likes of DJ’s Lady Starlight and Colby B (NYC) and DJ Kasey Riot(Vancouver), specializing in songs that encourage arm-waving, sweat-producing andbooty-popping.
During his sets, disco-funk, electro-house, throwback tracks and hip-hop mergeharmoniously to leave you reaching for a throat lozenge while simultaneouslywondering why the night has to end.
He hopes that you like him.

Beth Allen

Performing in Electrosexual: SucK iT uP! July 30

Beth “Buzy B” Allen moved to Vancouver 9 years ago to pursue  music.

Since her move she has completed a Jazz/contemporary vocal diploma from Vancouver Community College. She has held weekly DJ night’s around Vancouver at Lick nightclub and currently at The Reef resturant. Also she has been involved with great festivals such as the Sista’ Hood festival and The International Queer Flim festival.

Though she started as a DJ, the MC was never far behind. Her newest project,a 5 piece band,Buzy B and the Honeycomb Kids has her where she has been working to be. Writing lyrics,singing,rhyming and scratching are some of the reason’s why she goes by the name Buzy B. They are headed into the studio soon and hope to have a CD ready by the end of the year.

HECTOR

Performing in Electrosexual, July 30

HECTOR is a fracas of vigorous bass and drum grooves, mixed with digital din.  Old-school rock and electro-pop meet with inexpungible lyrical hooks and melodies, the clamour is it’s own perpetual opiate.  With re-enactments of affliction and anguish, HECTOR’s minimalistic rogue continues to engage longtime fans and win new ones.

Writer Kevin Dale McKeown

Vancouver-born (1950) Kevin Dale McKeown has enjoyed a varied career in journalism, media relations and event management, a career launched in 1970 when, at 19, he became the Georgia Straight’s gay columnist and Canada’s first “out” gay journalist. Titling the column “Q.Q. Writes … Page 69”, his pseudonym quickly became a nickname as Q.Q. began appearing under his own name on radio talk shows and at public events. By the summer of 1971 any thoughts of anonymity were dispelled when his image and name appeared with his column in a photo taken with a well-known gay clown in the PNE Parade!

For most of the 70s, in the Straight and other publications, Q.Q. chronicled the early days of gay Vancouver’s political, social and business community, while to many readers his most important contribution was his colourful reporting on the clubs, pubs, tubs and thriving drag scene. Kevin worked through the 70s and 80s as an arts columnist for the Straight, The West Ender and Vancouver Courier and served stints as managing editor of the Williams Lake Tribune, The West Ender, and Montréal Magazine. A “second twenty-year career” saw Kevin turn his hand to marketing and media relations for such events as the Dragon Boat, Writers, Children’s and Folk Music festivals, DOXA, Theatre Under The Stars and Out On Screen.

Kevin, now 60, is presently the director of communications and special events for Metro Vancouver’s Alliance for Arts and Culture, a professional association of arts organizations and individual artists. In that role he handles media relations, coordinates advocacy initiatives, and is managing producer of the annual Mayor’s Arts Awards, BC Culture Days and the cultural sector leaders’ Arts Summit. He is also volunteer producer of two charitable fundraisers, the Granville Island Ferries Garbage Can Art Contest, for the art therapy programs at BC’s Children’s Hospital, and the Diane Forsythe Abbott Crabtree Corner Luncheon, for the YWCA’s Crabtree Corner DTES centre for mothers and children.Kevin is the recipient of a Canadian Newspaper Award (1978), a Western Magazine Award (1991), the Empress of Canada’s Humanitarian Award (2010) and a 2011 inductee to the Q Hall of Fame.

Al Cannon

Alexander Cannon, trumpet soloist, chamber musician, and educator, is a dedicated student of music and committed advocate of the Arts. Al has performed at the International Trumpet Guild Convention in Dallas, TX (2003), Las Vegas Music Festival (2003), Lake Placid Institute in New York (2003), Dublin International Festival in Ireland (2004), International Trumpet Guild Convention in Bangkok, Thailand (2005), Chaiyi International Band Festival in Taiwan (2006), Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena, CA (2006), Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, ME (2007), Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, IN (2008), and with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2008).  From 2007-2009, Al was the Acting Principal Trumpet with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, and he has appeared as a soloist across North America and in various parts of Asia.

Cannon has performed and recorded on trumpet and has served as administrator for a number of brass chamber ensembles.  In Vancouver, current projects include Cascades Brass, winners of the Coleman-Saunderson Prize for Woodwinds and Brass at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2006; the Three Body Problem, a brass trio dedicated to new music commissions and performance; and the Vancouver Brass Project, a brass ensemble of top Vancouver performers from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, iTromboni, the Turning Point Ensemble, and area freelancers.

Cannon is currently a student of the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance at the University of British Columbia, where he was a recipient of UBC’s highly competitive University Graduate Fellowship in 2006-2007, and again in 2008-2009.  Under the mentorship of Larry Knopp of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Al maintains an active schedule as freelance performer, clinician, private instructor, and arts administrator.

Dianna David

Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, this first generation Filipino-Canadian started her performing career at the early age of 6 years old. Dianna has been actively involved for twenty years as a performer, choreographer and artistic director for the dance group The Philippine Barangay Performing Arts Society.

Dianna graduated at the University of Alberta with a BSc. Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2000. It was through her engineering that landed her a job in San Francisco, CA, which opened new doors in her performing arts career. In the little time she had after long hours in the office, Dianna managed to perform for the Bay Area’s finest Hip Hop dance groups Culture Shock Oakland with director Kim Battiste and choreographer Lee Lee Brewster and Mind Over Matter with choreographer Allan Frias.

She took her performing skills towards another direction. She choreographed and acted in Contra Costa College’s 2001 Production “Achievers”; acted in Bindlestiff Studios’ Midnight Mass 2001 and 2002, their Eight Stories High Production, and their full length movie “Curtains Up: Opening Night”; and in 2002 she was cast in her lead role as Polly Planetarium in the sold out shows for “Rocket Girl”, put up by the Thunderbird Theatre Company.

In the March of 2003 she made the decision to resign from her secure career to focus all her energy on herself. First she went back to Edmonton, Alberta to start up a group she named Expressive Devotion. It was her mission to help outreach to the youth community by empowering them through dynamic workshops in order to help them find their own artistic vision and to materialize it. By the end of the workshops, they are encouraged to perform what they learned. Since then she has produced two more successful Expressive Devotion Productions in Vancouver, BC.
Dianna went off to London, England to study physical theatre at The School of Physical Theatre with Ron East. She came back to San Francisco where she attended the Clown Conservatory at San Francisco Circus Center under the direction of world renowned Jeff Raz.

Currently Dianna is residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She will be living there indefinitely to create a new community in which to network her skills and talents.