Updated: October 30, 2021, 7:20 A.M.
Vancouver, B.C.
Filipino-Canadian artists Hari Alluri, Mildred Grace German and Juan Imperial
take part at Downtown Eastside’s 18th Annual Heart of the City Festival
Mildred Grace German
Vancouver Eastside is notably home to the highest concentration of artists in Canada. Particularly the Downtown Eastside has been a hub of many artists and workplaces in the arts.
The many stories and years of the art scene and contributions of many artists at-home in the Downtown Eastside are shared to the community and the world via the annual Heart of the City Festival with its 18th installation happening this year on October 27 to November 7, 2021.
A gem in the Downtown Eastside community, the annual event and festival featuring the arts and artists who shape the creative scene of the historic Vancouver Eastside area are showcased in many mediums, traditions, and venues.
“The mandate of the festival is to promote all the cultures, all the stories, all the art forms, and support the professional artists, and the cultural treasures, but also important, to give people who don’t consider themselves to be artists an opportunity to participate in the arts,” says Terry Hunter, one of the Directors of the Vancouver Moving Theatre which showcases the annual Heart of the City Festival.
FILIPINO-CANADIAN ARTISTS AT THIS YEAR’S HEART OF THE CITY FESTIVAL
With the many stories, cultures, and traditions featured at the annual Heart of the City Festival, Filipino-Canadian artists also take part in the beloved annual art event.
This year, Filipino-Canadian artists Hari Alluri, Mildred Grace German, and Juan Imperial are artists-participants of the 18th Heart of the City Festival, bringing in their creativity and talents to share.
HARI ALLURI
Hari Alluri is the author of The Flayed City and Carving Ashes. An editor at Locked Horn Press and current Writer-In-Residence for the Capilano Review, he has received the Leonard A. Slade, Jr. Fellowship and the Federico Moramarco Poetry International Teaching Prize. His poems are widely available in anthologies, journals, and online venues.
Alluri will be facilitating a zine workshop for the Heart of the City Festival which will be on November 4, 2021 in the Learning Centre, 3rd Floor of the Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main Street, corner Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C.).
A great opportunity to participate and make copies of a community zine, the Heart of the City Zine Workshop will be composed of three short workshops: From Self to Pen (10am-11:30am), From Pen to Page (11:45am-1:15pm), and From Page to Book (2:30pm-4pm) on Thursday, November 4th. All three workshops are free of cost to attend.
MILDRED GRACE GERMAN
Mildred Grace German is the photo exhibition and catalogue designer for the 50 Years of Creative Collaboration: Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling, which reflects on the pair’s long commitment, creative collaborations, and celebration of arts. Hunter and Walling are the founders of the Vancouver Moving Theatre (1983) and of the Heart of the City Festival (2004).
The fifty years fascinating journey of Hunter and Walling is presented in a retrospective photo exhibit designed by German and is currently on display at the Art Gallery of the Carnegie Community Centre on the 3rd Floor from October 27 to November 27, 2021.
An event on October 31, 2021 will give an opportunity to connect and converse with the artists for a free virtual event entitled, 50 Years of Creative Collaboration: Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling, as detailed in the Heart of the City Festival website https://www.heartofthecityfestival.com. Registration required.
“I remain very inspired by the Downtown Eastside community where I continue to realize my passion and dreams. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunities to be part of the many milestones and endeavours…” German expressed.
A former Downtown Eastside youth who found home in the community through the former Kalayaan Centre located across Oppenheimer Park, German is a multidisciplinary artist and a professional chef who has participated in many art and cultural venues in Canada, the US, Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines.
German’s creative endeavors can be traced back from the grassroots art collective SinagBayan based at the Kalayaan Centre (451 Powell Street, across Oppenheimer Park) where German used to reside for many years. SinagBayan’s notable works include the Maleta / Work of Migration exhibition (Gallery Gachet and Museum of Vancouver), Political Fashion Show (Centre A Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Arts), Nanay: A Testimonial Play (Chapel Arts) and other creative events and collaborations.
In addition to being a core member of SinagBayan Arts Collective, German was also active in the former Kalayaan Centre-based groups Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada / the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC/FCYA), the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC), and Tinig ng Masa radio collective (now Jeepney Cafe) which aired weekly at Vancouver Coop Radio 100.5FM CFRO.
In the past, German was also part of Gallery Gachet as an artist and as a Program Assistant, and of the First United Church as a lead cook for the homeless shelter. German also attended one of the first cohorts of the University British Columbia’s (UBC) Humanities 101. German’s multimedia artwork is also at-home in the Motivation, Power, and Achievement Society’s (MPA Society) Mental Health Services located at 122 Powell Street. Also, in the summer this year, German has participated in the VINES Art Festival’s Our Home, Our Stories held at the Vancouver Downtown Eastside’s Crab Park.
In the present, German’s role in the Downtown Eastside involves being an Art Drop-In Instructor at the Carnegie Community Centre, a Member of the Board for Vancouver Coop Radio 100.5FM CFRO, and a Contributor and Assistant Editor for the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House’s Right to Food Zine (rtfzine.org).
JUAN IMPERIAL
The 19-year old Imperial is an avid dancer who graciously competes in Vogue, and presently trains Contemporary Dance with the Modus Operandi in Vancouver, BC. Formed in 2007, Modus Operandi, located in the Mt. Pleasant area of Vancouver, provides dance training for young emerging dance professionals.
Imperial had the opportunity to assist multimedia artist Mildred Grace German in installing the photo exhibition 50 Years of Creative Collaboration: Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling. Imperial and German also met through the former Kalayaan Centre in their young ages; same as Alluri, German, and Imperial can trace back their connections to the youth group UKPC/FCYA.
