June 17 – 28 | Queer Arts Festival | Roundhouse Community Centre, SUM gallery, James Black Gallery, VAG North Plaza
Futurism and fantasy have always been cornerstones of the 2SLGBTQIA+ experience. What better place to manifest ourselves as the free and empowered superbeings we truly are? For many queer people, the Future is a place where dreams are realized; for others, it’s a vital sanctuary from a present-day reality that does not include them. While “Queers in Space” may evoke cosmic camp and otherworldly voyages (and this festival gleefully delivers both), we take these words very seriously as well: this is just as much a call to explore and celebrate the space we occupy, each and every day; to honour our queer elders on whose shoulders we stand; and to celebrate our future, queer trajectories.
ArtParty!
Sat Jun 17 | 7pm Roundhouse Exhibition Hall – 181 Roundhouse Mews Join us as QAF 2023: Queers in Space officially launches into orbit! This year, ArtParty! returns to the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre’s Exhibition Hall for the first time since 2019. Party amidst our signature Visual Art…
bumfuzzled monachopsis: innerspace out
Curated Visual Art Exhibition Sat Jun 17 – Wed Jun 28 Mon – Fri 9am – 9pm Sat – Sun 9am – 5pm Roundhouse Exhibition Hall – 181 Roundhouse Mews ———— Zandi Dandizette , Curator bumfuzzled monachopsis: innerspace out Free Guided Curator Tour with Zandi Dandizette Sat Jun 24 ,…
Cosmic Connections: Queer Indigenous Astronomy (A View From Above and Below)
Preston Buffalo AR works Sat Jun 17 – Wed Jun 2 8 9am to 9pm daily Roundhouse Exhibition Hall – 181 Roundhouse Mews Augmented Reality artist Preston Buffalo secretly brings the Roundhouse to life with Indigiqueer pasts and futures – including a creation story of how the Cree People originated…
Love After the End: Joshua Whitehead & Friends
QAF + Talking Stick Festival: a day in celebration of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Artists Sun Jun 18 | 3pm Free cinq-à-sept reception to follow at 5pm Roundhouse Performance Centre – 181 Roundhouse Mews Joshua Whitehead, Curator Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction is an…
Virago Nation Burlesque
QAF + Talking Stick Festival: a day in celebration of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Artists Sun Jun 18 | 7pm Roundhouse Performance Centre – 181 Roundhouse Mews Our day-long slate of events centred on Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer art concludes with breathtaking burlesque brought to you by the badass babes of Virago…
Queers in Space: Pride in Art Community Show
Mon Jun 19 – Sat Jul 8 Exhibition open Tue thru Sat, 12 – 6pm The James Black Gallery – 144 E 6th Ave . Opening Reception: Mon Jun 19, 7pm Long regarded as the bedrock of the Queer Arts Festival, the Pride in Art Community Show honours the legacy…
Kiss & Tell Collective: Lesbian Imagery & Sexual Identities
Thu Jun 22 | 5:30pm Or Gallery – 236 E. Pender St. In this community presentation and Q&A, Dr. Kristen Hutchinson discusses the history and impact of the pioneering Vancouver-based Lesbian artist collective Kiss & Tell. Presented in partnership with Or Gallery. Where do you draw the line between censorship…
New Yams Festival
Odera Igbokwe solo exhibit Thu Jun 22 – Fri Jul 2 8 Exhibition is open Tue-Sat, 12 to 6pm SUM gallery – #425-268 Keefer St. New Yams Festival Opening reception with Odera Igbokwe Thu Jun 22, 7pm SUM gallery – #425-268 Keefer St. Buy Tickets on Eventbrite Register for opening…
Sujit Vaidya: Breathe In The Fragrance
Fri Jun 23 | 7pm Roundhouse Performance Centre – 181 Roundhouse Mews Breathe In The Fragrance is Sujit Vaidya ‘s celebration of erotic ritual — of taste, of smell, of song, of dance, of sensations awakened by Jasmine — to make space for the in-betweenness of things to exist. Combining…
Witch Prophet
Sun Jun 25 | 5:30pm šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square – Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza – 750 Hornby St. Queer Arts Festival partners with Vancouver International Jazz Festival for the second year in a row to present Witch Prophet : the evolution of Toronto based singer-songwriter Ayo Leilani . Think Erykah…
Hymnen an die Nacht:
Claude Vivier Retrospective Tue Jun 27 | 7pm Roundhouse Performance Centre – 181 Roundhouse Mews In 1983, Canada’s queerest and most cosmic composer, Claude Vivier, shockingly left this world at the age of 34, murdered by a rent boy in Paris. In this retrospective, we commemorate the 40th anniversary of…
Glitter is Forever
Wed Jun 28 | 7pm Roundhouse Exhibition Hall — 181 Roundhouse Mews Our 16th Queer Arts Festival comes home to dock in spectacular fashion, featuring drag performances by the “only nationally acclaimed All-Asian drag family,” House of Rice and music by DJ Bella Sie! Take in our curated visual art…