The Pride in Art Society’s 2011 Annual General Meeting on April 19 was well-attended by board members, staff, artists and volunteers. Pride in Art is pleased to welcome Arli Nikkel as our newest board member! Returning board members have stepped up to new roles in the Executive: Joel Klein as president, and Sherri Charters as […]

The Pride in Art Society’s 2011 Annual General Meeting on April 19 was well-attended by board members, staff, artists and volunteers. Pride in Art is pleased to welcome Arli Nikkel as our newest board member! Returning board members have stepped up to new roles in the Executive: Joel Klein as president, and Sherri Charters as […]

Queer Arts Festival 2013: TransgressionNowJuly 24 – August 9 Welcome back! Summer may seem a long ways off, but the Festival team is already in full swing. So mark your calendars, because from July 24 – August 9, another incredibly diverse, cutting-edge, and exciting Queer Arts Festival is coming to Vancouver! About this year’s theme:Queer […]

Queer Arts Festivalcelebrating queer art & artistsJuly 31 – August 18, 2012 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 […]

Baby It’s Cold Outside…… but things are warming up here at QAF. 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. […]

QAF welcomes new staffThe festival staff is growing! We have recently welcomed Meagan Thomas into the role of Administrative Assistant, and Kathy Atkins as our Volunteer Coordinator. Meagan is the Arts Director of CiTR radio, and a long time supporter of the arts. We are happy to have her on board! Kathy is a former PiA Board Member and […]

AGM announcement This will serve as official notification to Pride in Art Society members of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting to be held on TUESDAY APRIL 30, 2013 at the Roundhouse Community Centre, Room B, 181 Roundhouse Mews (Pacific and Davie). 7pm.Exciting festival updates, sizzling financial reports, and getting down to official business! (last year […]

Dear Minister Moore ; The Pride in Art Society has just received word that Canadian Heritage is withdrawing funding for the 2013 Queer Arts Festival (QAF), 3 months before QAF is scheduled to open. This is a devastating and startling blow to the festival, as Canadian Heritage has funded QAF through the Building Communities through […]

This year QAF lost $45,000 of federal funding, and regained $35,000 due to a groundswell of support. For the backstory, see our previous post. Huge thank-yous to everyone who advocated on the festival’s behalf. This is YOUR victory! QAF Programming and Legacy Fund Help us fill QAF’s $10,000 funding gap, and build a Legacy Fund to […]

QAF’s federal funding was cut by $44,000, without warning or explanation, just 3 months before the festival is due to start. We have asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage through a twitter campaign to restore our funding  – and it seems to be working! He’s promised to take a second look at our file. We urgently need […]

Canadian Heritage funding victory!Most of you will be aware that the last month has been a roller coaster ride for us at QAF. In April, we received word from Canadian Heritage that they were withdrawing their funding of the 2013 festival. This came as a shock, without warning or explanation, after a very successful three-year […]

Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival is anything but random The Queer Arts Festival (QAF) may be only five years old in its current incarnation, but it’s throwing a centenary birthday bash. The birthday boy, free-form experimental artist John Cage, will make a posthumous appearance along with his more structured contemporary Pierre Boulez in QAF’s Boulez Contra Cage, […]

Check out the complete QAF line-up onlineat queerartsfestival.com Cutting-edge new media art, a gay pig-boy dance duet, gender bending performance art and the world premiere of a lesbian opera… where else can you find this spectrum of culture and entertainment but at the 6th annual Queer Arts Festival in Vancouver, BC! Don’t miss our Art Party! Opening night gala, Wednesday July […]

Holy guacamole, TransgressionNow opens in two weeks!! Tickets are already selling fast, so don’t wait or it might be too late.We have something for everyone: quirky contemporary dance, comic theatre, indie rock, gay sing-alongs, dramatic opera, and cutting-edge visual and new media art the likes of which even NYC hasn’t seen! (well maybe, but not exactly. Y’know […]

RaNDoM acTS oF QueeRnNeSS,July 31 – August 18. What are you most excited to see?The Visual Art Exhibits? Queer Theatre? Contemporary Dance? Cutting-edge musical premieres? Or off-the-wall variety shows?! Maybe you want to take in a workshop or two… Whatever your fancy, make sure you get your tickets- on sale at Little Sister’s Bookstore, through brownpapertickets.com, […]

We are now 7 days away from the opening night of the 2013 Queer Arts Festival: TransgressionNow. Hope y’all are coming down to our Art Party! Wednesday July 24, from 7-10pm at the Roundhouse, because it’s gonna be a blast. The opening night gala is always a queer-tastic, inclusive, all-ages event for everyone to see some art […]

Kinnie Starr: Home is everywhere.  Juno-nominated artist takes fringe cultures to the cutting edge. By Francois Marchand, Vancouver Sun, July 26, 2013 Kinnie Starr Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m. | Roundhouse Performance CentreTickets: $5 (youth), $20 (adult) in advance at queerartsfestival.com For Kinnie Starr, it’s a portable life. Whether in Penetanguishene, where she has been caring for her father, […]

Best of the City 2014: Reader’s Choice Results! BY WE VANCOUVER EDITORIAL Published Tues, Feb 25, 2014 9:00 pmORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.wevancouver.com/news/best-of-the-city-2014-readers-choice-results-1.881310 Our readers know what makes Vancouver one of the best cities in the world, and a record number took the time to share in our annual Best of the City readers choice survey. Public Art 1. A-maze-ing […]

By SD Holman Queer Arts Festival |  March 17, 2014Whats new at QAF? We’ve got some exciting news and changes this month, including a job posting, new staff, and exciting upcoming projects. Here’s what we have to share with you. Art changes people; people change the world Become a Pride in Art patron. Imagine a world without homophobia — then […]

By Corey |  April 12, 2014 Queer Arts Festival receives more stable BC funding BY SHAUNA LEWIS Published Sat, Apr 12, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://dailyxtra.com/vancouver/news/queer-arts-festival-receives-stable-bc-funding Organizers waiting to hear from federal ministry that cut funding last year Having lost, then regained, three-quarters of its federal funding last year, Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival (QAF) organizers are welcoming increased funding from the […]

Dear Queer Arts Family, Happy New Year! 2014 is a year of big changes at QAF. QAF offices have moved – from our East Van basement headquarters to a bright top floor loft in Gordon Neighbourhood House at Broughton and Comox. As we relocate from one Vancouver gaybourhood to the other, we are happy to have found offices […]

BY GAY VANCOUVER in ARTS Published Thurs, May 22, 2014 ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://gayvancouver.net/arts/alien-sex-romantic-disturbing-passionate-and-tender/ If the thought of Alien Sex doesn’t immediately pique your interest, perhaps the idea of a trans-disciplinary arts project that combines generations, genres, genders and sexualities will. To help raise the funds necessary to put together the project for this year’s Queer Arts Festival, the Alien Sex team is […]

BY ECUAD, Published Wed, June 4, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.ecuad.ca/about/news/313320 Shaira (SD) Holman (’92) is the recipient of a 2014 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for her work as Co-founder/Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival. The festival, now one of the fastest growing cultural festivals in Canada, was started by Holman seven years ago. She initally started Pride in […]

Queer Arts Fest Artistic Director nominated for YWCA award BY NATASHA BARSOTTI, Published Fri, May 30, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://dailyxtra.com/vancouver/news/queer-arts-fest-artistic-director-nominated-ywca-award SD Holman up for Women of Distinction Award on June 3 The artistic director of Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival has been nominated for a prestigious award. SD (Shaira) Holman is one of two nominees for this […]

Published in Vancouver Sun, June 4, 2014 Shaira Holman recognized as Woman of Distinction. By Matthew Robinson Shaira (SD) Holman, a photographic artist and a driving force behind Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival, accepted a YWCA Women of Distinction award Tuesday for her work at the trans-disciplinary arts festival. “Shaira’s vision has transformed the festival from […]

Published in Xtra, June 4, 2014 By Natasha Barsotti Shaira (SD) Holman, artistic director of the Queer Arts Festival, has won the 2014 Women of Distinction Award from the YWCA, under the arts, culture and design category. The award, which recognizes outstanding women whose achievements contribute to the community’s well-being and future, was presented to Holman […]

Celebrate the closing of another thrilling festival season with Loud and Queer! Our final fiesta, join us for a delectable evening of choice edibles, effervescent refreshments, spellbinding performances, and two silent auctions featuring the latest treats, swag bags and accoutrements from local queer artists and businesses.  Revel in the scintillating voices of young, loud, and […]

Join the BC Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf (BCRAD) and the Queer Arts Festival as we embark on a collaboration to explore the dynamics of Deaf-Queer identities! Our facilitator and four panelists from various backgrounds of Deafness explore the intersections of Deaf and queer culture, deliver heavy-hitting personal treatises on ableism and accessibility, and answer […]

Meet the people who make QAF happen, learn about the submissions process, and help brainstorm the theme for 2015. Pride in Art welcomes artists and art-lovers of all ages, orientations, backgrounds and abilities to participate in QAF’s ongoing planning and preparation. QAF is brought to you by the Pride in Art Society (PiA), a registered […]

Co-presented with the grunt gallery and Dazibao Co-presented with the grunt gallery Initiated by the filmmaker Rodrigue Jean, Épopée is a collection of short films written and made in collaboration with male drug addicts and sex trade workers in Montreal. Set in the district known to residents as “the box,” an area bounded by the streets […]

Co-presented with the Vancouver Pride Society Join the Bobbers’ all-queer improv comedy troupe for a special edition of QueerProv! The well-loved weekly improv show at Heaven’s Door moves on up to the Roundhouse for Pride. Featuring local performers in a fabulous showcase Vancouver’s LGBTQ comedic talent. QueerProv: Special Pride Show is a 105 minute comedy […]

3rd of 3 sessions: July 26, 27 and August 2, 1 – 3pm A Memoir Writing Workshop for trangressive voices led by author Amber Dawn, Tough Language, Tender Wisdoms invites participants to write under-told and boundary-pushing stories from their personal experience, and to develop strategies to creating safe and celebratory spaces for these stories to […]

Co-presented with the Kickstart Society for Disability Culture and REVERB: a queer reading series The dog days in August bring languid evenings, raw mornings, hot afternoons. This year, as part of the Queer Arts Festival, they also bring an alchemical collaboration between Kickstart Disability Arts and REVERB: A Queer Reading Series, with words from communities […]

Co-presented with the Vancouver Men’s Chorus The perfect post-parade pairing — round out your Pride Sunday with a Queer Arts Festival’s mainstay, Big Gay Sing!, a festive, participatory, music-making spectacle led by the Vancouver Men’s Chorus. Described as “Karaoke with Glitter,” this post-parade sing-a-long is one of our most popular annual events now in its […]

Co-presented with the Erato Ensemble Just in time for Pride weekend, Erato Ensemble’s I Sing the Body Electric celebrates the Queer spirit of Walt Whitman and the Beat Generation, who dared to express an individual language and lifestyle in the midst of the conservative social mores of their times, changing our culture forever. Walt Whitman’s poetry is […]

NEW START TIME 7:30PM With event partner Genderfest ASL Interpretation provided by BCRAD Tentacles wrestle the sexual status quo; secret identity exposes itself; and the Empire is challenged by authentic expression in a work that mixes whimsy, savage poetry, heartbreaking vulnerability and B-movie joy. Get your alien on in this transdisciplinary evening for the Queer Arts […]

Co-presented with frank theatre Everything is better in bed. Curated by frank theatre, Clean Sheets was created in 2008 by Seán Cummings and Chris Gatchalian as a new national queer playwriting workshop, and premiered at the 2009 Queer Arts Festival with the support of the City of Vancouver and Pride In Art. Now in its […]

So you wanna tour the world with your art or performance? Step-by-step considerations for self-producing and touring independent performance, including being presented by venues, festivals or community groups, hiring venues and/or Do-It-Yourself style (warehouses, youth centres, living rooms…). Workshop facilitator Sunny Drake has toured his work extensively including in Canada, the USA, Europe, Puerto Rico […]

With community partner Genderfest (July 26) Ever seen a drunk puppet? Sex. Booze. Facebook. Carbs, Fess Up: what’s your guilty pleasure? Stunning stop motion animation, whimsical puppets, and sharp live performance meld in this fast-paced one-man show. X is a magical, imaginative and honest look at addiction, particularly struggles with alcohol, as well as sex […]

Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Early Music Festival A giant among the first generation of musicians who brought the idea of historically informed performance to the general concertgoer, world-renowned keyboardist Colin Tilney turned 80 this year. Join us as we celebrate his legacy with a solo harpsichord recital. Tilney’s wide repertoire stretches from the […]

Photo credit: belle ancelle photography Cor Flammae [kor ‘flam.maj] flaming heart Ignite your evening with the ravishing, soaring voices of Cor Flammae, Canada’s only professional choir of queer singers who illuminate the rich and furtive queer spaces typically left out of classical choral concerts. Composed from the ranks of Canada’s top-flight choral ensembles, the choir […]

Painted Stories from Self Identified LGBTQ2SI Migrants & Refugees. Co-produced with the Rainbow Refugee Committee and PeerNetBC. An intimate participatory painting workshop creating and claiming  space for queer refugees and migrants, sharing stories and building community through visual arts, facilitated by Mira Ghattas (Jordan) with social artist Melanie Shambach (Colombia).  Produced in partnership with Rainbow […]

Image credit: Christina Cooke, Butch 2014  – 5  Wed Jul 23 – Sat Aug 9 | Gallery hours 10:30am – 10pm weekdays; 10:30am – 4:30pm weekends The Pride in Art Community Show is a Queer Arts Festival tradition. This longstanding event showcases the talents of emerging and established visual and media artists from within the […]

Photo credit: ZANELE MUHOLI, South AfricaKatlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg 2007 ©Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Gallery hours 10:30am – 10pm weekdays; 10:30am – 4:30pm weekends QAF’s signature visual arts exhibition is curated this year by esteemed interdisciplinary artist Laiwan. Queering the International features a lineup of established and emerging […]

QAF’s 2014 theme, ReGenerations, is a defiant reframing of the Nazi term “Degenerate Art,” the banner under which they banned artists who were avant-garde, Jewish, or queer, saying their work posed an imminent danger to society. QAF 2014 embraces the premise that art can be dangerous, even revolutionary. In the intimate act of sharing as artists and audiences we find […]

We met with the team on Sunday, and we’re excited to report that their creative juices have been flowing freely. They’ve spawned so much more material than we anticipated for this point in the workshopping process, that we realized the 8:30 start time for the performance was going to run indecently late.  So we’re announcing […]

Learn to silk screen! Bring your own t-shirt, bag, fabric, etc to silk screen on. Children welcome! 3:30pm-8:30pm$2-20 sliding scale per family Roundhouse Community Centre 181 Roundhouse Mews *satellite event in the West End (Yaletown) Submit a design by July 15th and have your design made into a silk screen! Send design submissions to ragamuffin.printing@gmail.com […]

BY LINDSAY GLAUSER KWAN Published Fri, Jul 11, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE here Dare being challenged. Risk being changed at this year’s Queer Arts Festival at the Roundhouse. From July 23 to August 9, the festival will highlight cutting-edge performance art, music, visual arts, literature and more by artists of all ages at this year’s festival under the theme “ReGenerations.” […]

BY STACY THOMAS Published Thu, Jul 17, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE hereThis year’s fest aims to build bridges across all kinds of borders For Rachel Iwaasa, ReGenerations means cultivating new connections across age, boundaries, experience and borders. “This year our focus is on mentoring tight relationships,” the artistic director of Vancouver’s multidisciplinary Queer Arts Festival (QAF) says. Whereas previous festivals […]

BY MICHELLE DA SILVA Published Fri, Jul 17, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE here THERE’S NO ARGUING that the range of images of women depicted in mainstream media is limited—not only in terms of race, class, and body size, but gender expression as well. The term “butch” is often used to describe the performance of female masculinity in LGBT communities. These are […]

The Pride in Art Society’s 2011 Annual General Meeting on April 19 was well-attended by board members, staff, artists and volunteers. Pride in Art is pleased to welcome Arli Nikkel as our newest board member! Returning board members have stepped up to new roles in the Executive: Joel Klein as president, and Sherri Charters as […]

The Pride in Art Society’s 2011 Annual General Meeting on April 19 was well-attended by board members, staff, artists and volunteers. Pride in Art is pleased to welcome Arli Nikkel as our newest board member! Returning board members have stepped up to new roles in the Executive: Joel Klein as president, and Sherri Charters as […]

Queer Arts Festival 2013: TransgressionNowJuly 24 – August 9 Welcome back! Summer may seem a long ways off, but the Festival team is already in full swing. So mark your calendars, because from July 24 – August 9, another incredibly diverse, cutting-edge, and exciting Queer Arts Festival is coming to Vancouver! About this year’s theme:Queer […]

Queer Arts Festivalcelebrating queer art & artistsJuly 31 – August 18, 2012 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 […]

Baby It’s Cold Outside…… but things are warming up here at QAF. 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. […]

QAF welcomes new staffThe festival staff is growing! We have recently welcomed Meagan Thomas into the role of Administrative Assistant, and Kathy Atkins as our Volunteer Coordinator. Meagan is the Arts Director of CiTR radio, and a long time supporter of the arts. We are happy to have her on board! Kathy is a former PiA Board Member and […]

AGM announcement This will serve as official notification to Pride in Art Society members of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting to be held on TUESDAY APRIL 30, 2013 at the Roundhouse Community Centre, Room B, 181 Roundhouse Mews (Pacific and Davie). 7pm.Exciting festival updates, sizzling financial reports, and getting down to official business! (last year […]

Dear Minister Moore ; The Pride in Art Society has just received word that Canadian Heritage is withdrawing funding for the 2013 Queer Arts Festival (QAF), 3 months before QAF is scheduled to open. This is a devastating and startling blow to the festival, as Canadian Heritage has funded QAF through the Building Communities through […]

This year QAF lost $45,000 of federal funding, and regained $35,000 due to a groundswell of support. For the backstory, see our previous post. Huge thank-yous to everyone who advocated on the festival’s behalf. This is YOUR victory! QAF Programming and Legacy Fund Help us fill QAF’s $10,000 funding gap, and build a Legacy Fund to […]

QAF’s federal funding was cut by $44,000, without warning or explanation, just 3 months before the festival is due to start. We have asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage through a twitter campaign to restore our funding  – and it seems to be working! He’s promised to take a second look at our file. We urgently need […]

Canadian Heritage funding victory!Most of you will be aware that the last month has been a roller coaster ride for us at QAF. In April, we received word from Canadian Heritage that they were withdrawing their funding of the 2013 festival. This came as a shock, without warning or explanation, after a very successful three-year […]

Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival is anything but random The Queer Arts Festival (QAF) may be only five years old in its current incarnation, but it’s throwing a centenary birthday bash. The birthday boy, free-form experimental artist John Cage, will make a posthumous appearance along with his more structured contemporary Pierre Boulez in QAF’s Boulez Contra Cage, […]

Check out the complete QAF line-up onlineat queerartsfestival.com Cutting-edge new media art, a gay pig-boy dance duet, gender bending performance art and the world premiere of a lesbian opera… where else can you find this spectrum of culture and entertainment but at the 6th annual Queer Arts Festival in Vancouver, BC! Don’t miss our Art Party! Opening night gala, Wednesday July […]

Holy guacamole, TransgressionNow opens in two weeks!! Tickets are already selling fast, so don’t wait or it might be too late.We have something for everyone: quirky contemporary dance, comic theatre, indie rock, gay sing-alongs, dramatic opera, and cutting-edge visual and new media art the likes of which even NYC hasn’t seen! (well maybe, but not exactly. Y’know […]

RaNDoM acTS oF QueeRnNeSS,July 31 – August 18. What are you most excited to see?The Visual Art Exhibits? Queer Theatre? Contemporary Dance? Cutting-edge musical premieres? Or off-the-wall variety shows?! Maybe you want to take in a workshop or two… Whatever your fancy, make sure you get your tickets- on sale at Little Sister’s Bookstore, through brownpapertickets.com, […]

We are now 7 days away from the opening night of the 2013 Queer Arts Festival: TransgressionNow. Hope y’all are coming down to our Art Party! Wednesday July 24, from 7-10pm at the Roundhouse, because it’s gonna be a blast. The opening night gala is always a queer-tastic, inclusive, all-ages event for everyone to see some art […]

Kinnie Starr: Home is everywhere.  Juno-nominated artist takes fringe cultures to the cutting edge. By Francois Marchand, Vancouver Sun, July 26, 2013 Kinnie Starr Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m. | Roundhouse Performance CentreTickets: $5 (youth), $20 (adult) in advance at queerartsfestival.com For Kinnie Starr, it’s a portable life. Whether in Penetanguishene, where she has been caring for her father, […]

Best of the City 2014: Reader’s Choice Results! BY WE VANCOUVER EDITORIAL Published Tues, Feb 25, 2014 9:00 pmORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.wevancouver.com/news/best-of-the-city-2014-readers-choice-results-1.881310 Our readers know what makes Vancouver one of the best cities in the world, and a record number took the time to share in our annual Best of the City readers choice survey. Public Art 1. A-maze-ing […]

By SD Holman Queer Arts Festival |  March 17, 2014Whats new at QAF? We’ve got some exciting news and changes this month, including a job posting, new staff, and exciting upcoming projects. Here’s what we have to share with you. Art changes people; people change the world Become a Pride in Art patron. Imagine a world without homophobia — then […]

By Corey |  April 12, 2014 Queer Arts Festival receives more stable BC funding BY SHAUNA LEWIS Published Sat, Apr 12, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://dailyxtra.com/vancouver/news/queer-arts-festival-receives-stable-bc-funding Organizers waiting to hear from federal ministry that cut funding last year Having lost, then regained, three-quarters of its federal funding last year, Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival (QAF) organizers are welcoming increased funding from the […]

Dear Queer Arts Family, Happy New Year! 2014 is a year of big changes at QAF. QAF offices have moved – from our East Van basement headquarters to a bright top floor loft in Gordon Neighbourhood House at Broughton and Comox. As we relocate from one Vancouver gaybourhood to the other, we are happy to have found offices […]

BY GAY VANCOUVER in ARTS Published Thurs, May 22, 2014 ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://gayvancouver.net/arts/alien-sex-romantic-disturbing-passionate-and-tender/ If the thought of Alien Sex doesn’t immediately pique your interest, perhaps the idea of a trans-disciplinary arts project that combines generations, genres, genders and sexualities will. To help raise the funds necessary to put together the project for this year’s Queer Arts Festival, the Alien Sex team is […]

BY ECUAD, Published Wed, June 4, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.ecuad.ca/about/news/313320 Shaira (SD) Holman (’92) is the recipient of a 2014 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for her work as Co-founder/Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival. The festival, now one of the fastest growing cultural festivals in Canada, was started by Holman seven years ago. She initally started Pride in […]

Queer Arts Fest Artistic Director nominated for YWCA award BY NATASHA BARSOTTI, Published Fri, May 30, 2014 1:00 pm EDTORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://dailyxtra.com/vancouver/news/queer-arts-fest-artistic-director-nominated-ywca-award SD Holman up for Women of Distinction Award on June 3 The artistic director of Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival has been nominated for a prestigious award. SD (Shaira) Holman is one of two nominees for this […]

Published in Vancouver Sun, June 4, 2014 Shaira Holman recognized as Woman of Distinction. By Matthew Robinson Shaira (SD) Holman, a photographic artist and a driving force behind Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival, accepted a YWCA Women of Distinction award Tuesday for her work at the trans-disciplinary arts festival. “Shaira’s vision has transformed the festival from […]

Published in Xtra, June 4, 2014 By Natasha Barsotti Shaira (SD) Holman, artistic director of the Queer Arts Festival, has won the 2014 Women of Distinction Award from the YWCA, under the arts, culture and design category. The award, which recognizes outstanding women whose achievements contribute to the community’s well-being and future, was presented to Holman […]

Celebrate the closing of another thrilling festival season with Loud and Queer! Our final fiesta, join us for a delectable evening of choice edibles, effervescent refreshments, spellbinding performances, and two silent auctions featuring the latest treats, swag bags and accoutrements from local queer artists and businesses.  Revel in the scintillating voices of young, loud, and […]

Join the BC Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf (BCRAD) and the Queer Arts Festival as we embark on a collaboration to explore the dynamics of Deaf-Queer identities! Our facilitator and four panelists from various backgrounds of Deafness explore the intersections of Deaf and queer culture, deliver heavy-hitting personal treatises on ableism and accessibility, and answer […]

Meet the people who make QAF happen, learn about the submissions process, and help brainstorm the theme for 2015. Pride in Art welcomes artists and art-lovers of all ages, orientations, backgrounds and abilities to participate in QAF’s ongoing planning and preparation. QAF is brought to you by the Pride in Art Society (PiA), a registered […]

Co-presented with the grunt gallery and Dazibao Co-presented with the grunt gallery Initiated by the filmmaker Rodrigue Jean, Épopée is a collection of short films written and made in collaboration with male drug addicts and sex trade workers in Montreal. Set in the district known to residents as “the box,” an area bounded by the streets […]

Co-presented with the Vancouver Pride Society Join the Bobbers’ all-queer improv comedy troupe for a special edition of QueerProv! The well-loved weekly improv show at Heaven’s Door moves on up to the Roundhouse for Pride. Featuring local performers in a fabulous showcase Vancouver’s LGBTQ comedic talent. QueerProv: Special Pride Show is a 105 minute comedy […]

3rd of 3 sessions: July 26, 27 and August 2, 1 – 3pm A Memoir Writing Workshop for trangressive voices led by author Amber Dawn, Tough Language, Tender Wisdoms invites participants to write under-told and boundary-pushing stories from their personal experience, and to develop strategies to creating safe and celebratory spaces for these stories to […]

Co-presented with the Kickstart Society for Disability Culture and REVERB: a queer reading series The dog days in August bring languid evenings, raw mornings, hot afternoons. This year, as part of the Queer Arts Festival, they also bring an alchemical collaboration between Kickstart Disability Arts and REVERB: A Queer Reading Series, with words from communities […]

Co-presented with the Vancouver Men’s Chorus The perfect post-parade pairing — round out your Pride Sunday with a Queer Arts Festival’s mainstay, Big Gay Sing!, a festive, participatory, music-making spectacle led by the Vancouver Men’s Chorus. Described as “Karaoke with Glitter,” this post-parade sing-a-long is one of our most popular annual events now in its […]

Co-presented with the Erato Ensemble Just in time for Pride weekend, Erato Ensemble’s I Sing the Body Electric celebrates the Queer spirit of Walt Whitman and the Beat Generation, who dared to express an individual language and lifestyle in the midst of the conservative social mores of their times, changing our culture forever. Walt Whitman’s poetry is […]

NEW START TIME 7:30PM With event partner Genderfest ASL Interpretation provided by BCRAD Tentacles wrestle the sexual status quo; secret identity exposes itself; and the Empire is challenged by authentic expression in a work that mixes whimsy, savage poetry, heartbreaking vulnerability and B-movie joy. Get your alien on in this transdisciplinary evening for the Queer Arts […]

Co-presented with frank theatre Everything is better in bed. Curated by frank theatre, Clean Sheets was created in 2008 by Seán Cummings and Chris Gatchalian as a new national queer playwriting workshop, and premiered at the 2009 Queer Arts Festival with the support of the City of Vancouver and Pride In Art. Now in its […]

So you wanna tour the world with your art or performance? Step-by-step considerations for self-producing and touring independent performance, including being presented by venues, festivals or community groups, hiring venues and/or Do-It-Yourself style (warehouses, youth centres, living rooms…). Workshop facilitator Sunny Drake has toured his work extensively including in Canada, the USA, Europe, Puerto Rico […]

With community partner Genderfest (July 26) Ever seen a drunk puppet? Sex. Booze. Facebook. Carbs, Fess Up: what’s your guilty pleasure? Stunning stop motion animation, whimsical puppets, and sharp live performance meld in this fast-paced one-man show. X is a magical, imaginative and honest look at addiction, particularly struggles with alcohol, as well as sex […]

Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Early Music Festival A giant among the first generation of musicians who brought the idea of historically informed performance to the general concertgoer, world-renowned keyboardist Colin Tilney turned 80 this year. Join us as we celebrate his legacy with a solo harpsichord recital. Tilney’s wide repertoire stretches from the […]

Photo credit: belle ancelle photography Cor Flammae [kor ‘flam.maj] flaming heart Ignite your evening with the ravishing, soaring voices of Cor Flammae, Canada’s only professional choir of queer singers who illuminate the rich and furtive queer spaces typically left out of classical choral concerts. Composed from the ranks of Canada’s top-flight choral ensembles, the choir […]

Painted Stories from Self Identified LGBTQ2SI Migrants & Refugees. Co-produced with the Rainbow Refugee Committee and PeerNetBC. An intimate participatory painting workshop creating and claiming  space for queer refugees and migrants, sharing stories and building community through visual arts, facilitated by Mira Ghattas (Jordan) with social artist Melanie Shambach (Colombia).  Produced in partnership with Rainbow […]

Image credit: Christina Cooke, Butch 2014  – 5  Wed Jul 23 – Sat Aug 9 | Gallery hours 10:30am – 10pm weekdays; 10:30am – 4:30pm weekends The Pride in Art Community Show is a Queer Arts Festival tradition. This longstanding event showcases the talents of emerging and established visual and media artists from within the […]

Photo credit: ZANELE MUHOLI, South AfricaKatlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg 2007 ©Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Gallery hours 10:30am – 10pm weekdays; 10:30am – 4:30pm weekends QAF’s signature visual arts exhibition is curated this year by esteemed interdisciplinary artist Laiwan. Queering the International features a lineup of established and emerging […]

QAF’s 2014 theme, ReGenerations, is a defiant reframing of the Nazi term “Degenerate Art,” the banner under which they banned artists who were avant-garde, Jewish, or queer, saying their work posed an imminent danger to society. QAF 2014 embraces the premise that art can be dangerous, even revolutionary. In the intimate act of sharing as artists and audiences we find […]

We met with the team on Sunday, and we’re excited to report that their creative juices have been flowing freely. They’ve spawned so much more material than we anticipated for this point in the workshopping process, that we realized the 8:30 start time for the performance was going to run indecently late.  So we’re announcing […]

Learn to silk screen! Bring your own t-shirt, bag, fabric, etc to silk screen on. Children welcome! 3:30pm-8:30pm$2-20 sliding scale per family Roundhouse Community Centre 181 Roundhouse Mews *satellite event in the West End (Yaletown) Submit a design by July 15th and have your design made into a silk screen! Send design submissions to ragamuffin.printing@gmail.com […]

BY LINDSAY GLAUSER KWAN Published Fri, Jul 11, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE here Dare being challenged. Risk being changed at this year’s Queer Arts Festival at the Roundhouse. From July 23 to August 9, the festival will highlight cutting-edge performance art, music, visual arts, literature and more by artists of all ages at this year’s festival under the theme “ReGenerations.” […]

BY STACY THOMAS Published Thu, Jul 17, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE hereThis year’s fest aims to build bridges across all kinds of borders For Rachel Iwaasa, ReGenerations means cultivating new connections across age, boundaries, experience and borders. “This year our focus is on mentoring tight relationships,” the artistic director of Vancouver’s multidisciplinary Queer Arts Festival (QAF) says. Whereas previous festivals […]

BY MICHELLE DA SILVA Published Fri, Jul 17, 2014ORIGINAL ARTICLE here THERE’S NO ARGUING that the range of images of women depicted in mainstream media is limited—not only in terms of race, class, and body size, but gender expression as well. The term “butch” is often used to describe the performance of female masculinity in LGBT communities. These are […]