Max Wyman: Speaking on Cultural Activity, Creativity at Vancouver Public Library


Vancouver writer and cultural commentator Max Wyman, President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, spoke at the Vancouver Public Library tonight.  His talk was described that he would address that:


Max Wyman, former dance and arts critic, now cultural commentator and mayor of Lions Bay, BC., is also the author of The Defiant Imagination: Why Culture Matters. There was a full crowd at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch's Alice Mackay room, when I walked in.  There were television cameras set up.  Vancouver City Councilor Elizabeth Ball, in her role as board member of Vancouver Public Library, gave Max an incredible introduction listing his many achievements.

www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/23/1720005.html

Max started speaking about Vancouver's incredible diversity of culture, and how both he and Elizabeth Ball were recently at an incredible event called Gung Haggis Fat Choy, created by Toddish McWong.  He went on to describe that it blends together Chinese New Year and Haggis, featuring performers such as a bagpiper with South Asian tabla drums, Rick Scott and his Chinese partner (Harry Wong), and Faye Leung - the hat lady, Jim Harris the Green Party leader.  And that they along with several others including a First Nations Chief were all reading verses from Robbie Burns "Address to a Haggis"....

What a surprise, to be sitting in the audience and to have Max Wyman saying such cultural praise about my creation Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  He recognizes that culture is organic, and that it constantly changes and evolves.  The performers at GHFC are those whom I recognize and highlight, but they are already doing their own thing.  But what is important is that the creativity and the imagination helps us to see ourselves in ways that we wouldn't otherwise.  And I think that is why Max Wyman cited Gung Haggis Fat Choy as a wonderful example of the importance of Imagination and Creativity for cultural activity.


Max gave an incredible talk, describing the importance of cultural interchange.  He said that UNESCO was founded 62 years ago for the mission of peace and humanity, but there are more wars going on in the world today.  He said that the divisions between East and West, North and South are vast.

He also told the audience that Canada is percieved as very important at UNESCO.  He described a huge room with many many countries represented where Canada's desk is situated between Cameroon and Cape Verde.  Wyman said that when Canada speaks, everybody stops to listen.

At the end of his talk, he invited people to ask questions.  The questions were lively and the points well made. The audience was sensitive when a young Korean man struggled to convey his ideas and questions in English, but also could be curt when speakers were rambling and overbearing in their personal rants.

When I stepped up to the microphone, Max recognized and welcomed me.  I thanked him for mentioning Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and he stated that I was one of the important cultural creators.  Wow...

I stated that when Expo 86 came to Vancouver, we saw an incredible amount of great arts performances that we wouldn't have normally been able to.  Our cultural horizons are limited by our own experiences but cultural interchange with Canadians in New Foundland or Innuvik are important.  It is also important to recognize arts creators not always as starving student stereotypes but also as cultural visionaries and cultural engineers.  I pointed out that the previous Vancouver City Council had created an performing artist program at City Hall, but that it needed to be taken out to the streets in the form of a City Poet Laureate or City Arts Laureate and to that point I asked councillor Elizabeth Ball, and Max Wyman, if they as arts advocates/politicians could help support such activities.  

Max agreed with me, and said that it is most important to "take it to the streets", and he talked about how both he and Ball are new to the GVRD, but are looking at ways to create community arts interchanges within the GVRD.  In my closing, I then asked him about his comments on CBC about the 8 minutes of Canada at the closing Olympic ceremonies.

Max said that watching Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan in his wheel chair accept the flag, was one of the most beautiful moments of the ceremonies, that brought tears to his eyes.  He said that Ben Heppner sang O Canada, so beautifully, but was underwhelmed by the rest of it.  He did mention the stereotypes, and had said he had been less than discreet about his comments on CBC.

People really enjoyed themselves at this UBC sponsored event.  I talked briefly with Chan Centre Director Dr. Sid Katz, who apologized that he was unable to attend this year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner, but enthusiastically said that Rick Scott and Pied Pumpkin had been one of his first cultural events in Vancouver.

Here is a link to a Max Wyman talk called Why Culture Matters in Moncton, NB, February 12, 2004

Here's my summary of the Emily Kato book launch... rather longish description... + PICTURES... featuring Joy Kogawa, Roy Miki, Jeff Chiba Stearns' "What are you really?", and musicians Harry Aoki and Alison Nishimara.    more »

House pitched as refuge for exiled writers Vancouver Sun, by Kevin Griffin Turning the Kogawa house into a home for writers in exile would help cement Canada's international leadership role in helping persecuted writers from around the world, according to the head of one of the country's major writers' organizations. Constance Rooke, president of PEN Canada, said the history of the house, the childhood home of writer Joy Kogawa who was interned with 22,000 other Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, makes it a perfect fit for writers who have fled imprisonment and restrictions on freedom of expression in their own countries.   more »

John Rutherford's Check Your Chart for the Week of 27 February 2006 Mars rules not only pain, as per last week, but fear, typically of the unknown, and revenge. Get locked up in it and so often what you desire turns into its opposite. Want to keep your honey close? Get jealous, push everyone away to keep him or her “safe” and what happens? You’ve closed yourself off from all other loved ones and that special one has no choice but to leave, along with the rest. Follow your passion to any extreme and whatever is done to extreme leads to destruction. Passion means suffering. The news has presented it wrong. The main story last week, aside from “Four Medals and a Funeral”, was: the Shiite’s Golden Mosque in Samarra was blown up and a riot started. That’s far too shallow. It had no context. There is no picture without a setting.   more »

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre opened their latest installment of the theatrical soap opera "Sex in Vancouver on Friday night. It was a lot of fun, and I will post my review here later today. My first thoughts are that this is really FUN! And I am very sorry that this will be the last episode. I had a good chat with director Peter Leung, who shared with me some of the ins and outs of transfering the original scripts into a more multi-media presentation.   more »

Great! Just watched Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan accept the Olympic Flag, on CBC TV. Wonderful to see a quadripelic in a wheelchair waving the flag. Chiefs from the Squamish Nation also have now welcomed the world to come to Vancouver Olympics. Here's a story highlighting Sam's participation.   more »

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival: a new event for March about friendship

Vancouver has a new festival centred on friendship.  The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is the brain child of Linda Poole who was originally struck by how beautiful the cherry blossoms in Vancouver are, and wondered why they weren't celebrated the way they are in Japan.... (go see the movie Memoirs of a Geisha for an example).

I first met Linda, when a new cherry tree was being planted on Novemeber 1st, at Vancouver City Hall.  It was "Obasan Cherry Tree Day" in recognition of the achievements of Joy Kogawa, and the efforts to save and preserve "Kogawa House" and to plant a tree for continuing friendship and harmony for future generations of Vancouver to share.  Joy even wrote a poem for the festival:

Some of the planned events are:

Blossom Picnic

Origami Workshop
March 16th, Thursday at Vancouver Public Library

NHK Japan Screening
March 12th

Haiku poetry contest

"A Celebration of Emily Kato" featuring author Joy Kogawa with special surprise literary and musical guests + silent auction to help raise funds for the preservation of Kogawa House. Joy Kogawa's Emily Kato Book Launch Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, Alice McKay Room February 27th, 7:30pm   more »

Watching the Women's figure skating is one of my favorite Olympic events. It was a special treat to watch Michelle Kwan skate (if only in practice) during the World Championships in Vancouver back in 2001. There is a special balance of grace and power, beauty and athleticism. But most of all, today I was struck by the intermixing of ethnic musical themes... American Sasha Cohen skated to the Russian folk theme of "Dark Eyes" for her short program, then to the Italian composer Nino Rota's score for the movie "Romeo & Juliet" for her long program. Russian Irina Slutskaya skated to a Spanish flamenco soundtrack, and Japanese gold medal winner Shizuka Arakawa skated to Italian Puccini's Turandot opera music, which was set in China.   more »

RICHMOND – Grades 3 and 4 children of Richmond’s Tomsett Elementary School will join principal Sabina Harpe and their teacher Joan Young in asking Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and members of the public for help to save author Joy Kogawa’s childhood home. The children will present drawings of the Kogawa house and letters of support to the Mayor during a visit at Vancouver City Hall on to be announced.   more »

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy home dinner concept is definitely spreading. While I have encouraged my friends in Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax to invite friends to their homes and raise a glass or a pint to Toddish McWong, there have been some complete strangers sending my their stories and pictures. Kristin Baetz and Doug McCallum attended the 2005 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner in Vancouver, co-hosted by myself, Shelagh Rogers and Tom Chin. It was the largest one yet at 560 people. But Kristin and Doug moved to Ottawa, and so unable to attend the official Gung Haggis Fat Choy™: Toddish McWong s Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner. they created their own dinner party for 30 people with home-made haggis won ton..... PICTURES!   more »

The Burns Club of Vancouver prides itself on being faithful to the tradition of the Tarbolton Batchelor's Club, which was founded on 11 November 1780. Robert Burns and some friends formed a debating society to 'forget their cares and labour in mirth and diversion', to promote friendship and to improve their minds with meaningful debate. The Vancouver dinner was held on Monday evening, February 20th, at the Terminal City Club in downtown Vancouver.   more »

Recently I was asked to state a case for preserving Kogawa House. You can visit the discussion here on www.darrenbarefoot.com ~~~~~~~ The Case for Preserving Kogawa House... 1 - It is a historical and literary landmark: Joy is one of Canada's most influential and honoured authors. Vancouver has only two literary landmarks and both are in Stanley Park - Robbie Burns statue and Pauline Johnson memorial. Name another Canadian author listed in BC Almanac's Greatest British Columbians, Literary Review of Canada, and Quill and Quire's top 100 books? Has recieved Order of Canada? Has had an opera made from their works?    more »

I really enjoyed being part of the Cric?Crac! Vancouver Storytelling Society's program for January - Haggis & Chopstix - see my review of the evening at http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/16/1677286.html Here's what they have lined up for this weekend. Sunday, February 19, 2006: 7.30 pm Celebration of Black History Month    more »

When I saw the new Tim Horton's television commercial featuring the Chinese Canadian grandfather bringing "double doubles" to the hockey rink to sit beside his son, and watch his grandson play... I thought "Cool!" Depicting Canadians who just happen to be Asian, doing Canadian things that just happen to be hockey and going to Tim Horton's.    more »

Here are performances of Naomi's Road and The World of Opera (in 45 Minutes) that are coming soon to your community. Sunday, February 19, 2006 2:00 pm Vancouver Opera Guild presents Naomi's Road   more »

VANCOUVER -- Celebrated Canadian author Joy Kogawa has a deadline hanging over her. By the end of March, she's hoping that enough money will be raised to save her childhood Vancouver home from demolition and turn it into a writer-in-residence's retreat. But with the deadline just six weeks away, fundraising has reached just $160,000, far below the $1.25-million needed to buy the house from the current owners and maintain it as a writers' retreat. "We're hopeful that more people will hear about this," said Tamsin Baker, regional manager with the Land Conservancy.   more »

The Vancouver Sun published a nice story about Joy Kogawa's keynote speech at the Feb 15th, "Order of Canada / Flag Day" luncheon held at the Four Seasons Hotel. It was a very moving talk, motivated by her conflicting emotions of being in awe of the great Canadians and many appointees of the Order of Canada (which she recieved in 1986) and in wanting to give the many children and students in the room a message for their future. - ~~~~~~~ Vancouver writer and poet Joy Kogawa told the Canadian Club Wednesday she felt she had "come home" when the City of Vancouver chose her book Obasan as the city's official book. At the beginning of the Second World War Kogawa was removed from her Vancouver home to a Japanese internment camp in Slocan. Addressing her remarks to the many students in the audience, Kogawa said many children grow up feeling they don't belong in Canadian society. "Some of us feel we don't belong and we're not as good as the rest and it's a bit tough when you grow up feeling there is no home for you," she said.   more »

When the quest to save a house of historical significance collides with a booming Vancouver real estate market, the end result sometimes favors development, and even destruction, over preservation. So far, that's been the case for the childhood home of author Joy Kogawa, located in Vancouver's Marpole neighbourhood. Like otherwise once-overlooked neighbourhoods in the Greater Vancouver area, Marpole is now experiencing an influx of interest and dollars -- to the dismay of historians and literature enthusiasts across the country. That's because the Kogawa house, which is located at 1450 West 64th Avenue, is facing a day of reckoning with a bulldozer.   more »

PICTURES of JOY with REPORTERS..... Marisa Taylor is the Global News reporter that captures the essence of the story, that by a wonderful coincidence also included a shot of students from David Lloyd George Elementary who just happened to be walking to see the house for a field trip after reading "Naomi's Road".   more »

It was a good day for Save Kogawa House and the Canadian Club on Flag Day, the 41st anniversary of the Maple Leaf flag, first unveiled in 1965. Joy Kogawa was the keynote speaker for the annual "Order of Canada / Flag Day" luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club. Recent BC Order of Canada recipients named in 2005 were honoured with a special ceremony remniscent of the actual investiture ceremony that takes place at Rideau Hall with the Governor General.... PICTURES + STORY    more »

It is the birthday of the Canadian Flag - our Maple Leaf Forever, adopted on Feb 15, 1965. This will be the first day I celebrate Flag Day, but I will be doing it in style. The Canadian Club, one of Canada's oldest clubs, hosts a "Order of Canada / Flag Day" luncheon. We will celebrate the newest BC recipients of the Order of Canada, as well as cut a huge birthday cake for Flag Day.   more »

Very interesting Valentine's Day for 2006... I went to City Hall today to join the protest against City Hall's decision to cut the funding for the Mayors from the Peace Messenger Cities World Peace Forum..... While driving along Canada Way, I saw Charlie's Chocolate Factory.....   more »

PICTURES of JOY KOGAWA, ROY MIKI, DAPHNE MARLATT AND ELLEN CROWE-SWORDS.... It was a surprisingly emotional and appreciative audience that thanked each of the readers on Saturday Feb 11th at Chapters on Robson St. Roy Miki started by reading segments from his book REDRESS: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice. Miki read passages that set the tone and described how the government used language to euphemize and downplay the confiscation of property, the massive uprooting and tearing of social fabric, and the internment of Japanese Canadians, labeled as "enemy aliens."   more »

WHAT: Roger Emerson, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Western Ontario, will speak on �David Hume: Our Excellent and Never To Be Forgotten Friend� WHEN: Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 8 P.M. WHAT: The B.C. Pipers� Association is holding its Annual Dinner WHEN: Saturday, March 11, 2006   more »

The campaign to save the childhood home of novelist and poet Joy Kogawa is entering its final few weeks. Joy Kogawa outside her childhood home in Vancouver. Last November, Vancouver City Council gave a 120-day reprieve on the demolition of the house that featured in Kogawa's 1981 classic novel Obasan. Arts groups and the author herself had asked for time to raise money to buy the house, so it could be turned into a writers' retreat. A developer wants to take it down to make way for condominiums.   more »

Gina Oh and Jessica Cheung were enthusiastic in their greetings as I visited their last rehearsal before the Spring touring session of Naomi's Road - the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble production that is visiting BC Schools. "We're going to Seattle, and Lethbridge!" they exclaimed, clearly excited at the upcoming destinations after having such wonderful memories of their tour on Vancouver Island where they had visited such small communities such as Uculet/Tofino and Denman Island. I will post the interview soon.... in the next day or so. PICTURE of Cast.   more »