Oct. 16 to 26 will mark the 11th annual Sechelt Arts Festival and this year the festival will present a wide range of innovative arts programming in the spirit of collaboration. Over 50 Sunshine Coast painters, sculptors, videographers, photographers, fibre artists, glass artists, carvers, musicians, actors, dancers and storytellers will combine their talents to present dozens of multi-genre events both on stage and off. Several of the participating visual and performing artists will be First Nations artists working with non-Aboriginal artists.
The festival theme, based on director Gordon Halloran’s stage presentation entitled Body of Light, will take the festival participants on a journey of discovery and collaboration combining mind, body and soul, presenting fresh and original performance and visual art events for Sunshine Coast audiences.
A series of workshops and special performances over the 10-day festival will also pick up on this concept including the VAMS Concert, an adapted music concert, and a Healing of Song workshop at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre.
Mind over Matter, the Festival’s featured art exhibition, will explore six unique artistic collaborations between 14 Coast artists of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heritage working in various medium to explore stories about community, journey, grief, heritage, love and connection. The exhibition runs from Oct. 16 to 26 including Art Crawl weekend, at the Seaside Centre, with a public opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 16, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Spirit of Song, on Saturday, Oct. 18, kicks off the performance schedule with a special concert presenting multi-cultural roots in an uplifting multi-lingual “evening of song” at the Raven’s Cry Theatre. This evening will capture your emotions and your hearts. Produced by Coast piano rocker and international songwriter Nir Blu and videographer Tamar Koslov, Spirit of Song will present some of the Coast’s finest singers, musicians and storytellers including Echo Aleck, Blue Star, Candace Campo, Andy Johnson, Jean Pierre Makosso, Yvette Makosso, Simon Paradis and throat singers Chris Niebergall and Tim Niebergall.
Body of Light, the theatrical stage premiere, will be showcased on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Raven’s Cry Theatre, an entertaining and provocative look at the mystery and transformative nature of physical and spiritual healing. This multi-genre theatrical journey will feature drama, dance, music, comedy and video with performances by Gerardo Avila, Katherine Denham, Maggie Guzzi, Caitlin Hicks, Jean Pierre Makosso and special guests.
Heritage and community collaboration also plays a big role in this year’s festival with the tems swiya Museum in Sechelt hosting the Festival heritage exhibit, Totem Tales, the art and storytelling of the Coast totem poles. This first-time, 10-day exhibit combines professional photography, videography and totem miniatures collected from local archival groups and private collections from Gibsons to Powell River.
In the words of Japanese born glass artist Myuki Shinkai, working with Coast Salish cedar weaver Jessica Silvey, both featured artists in the Art Exhibition, Myuki said, “This has been a great mentorship opportunity for me, and I thank the Festival for bringing us together.” No one could express the collaborative spirit of this year’s Festival more eloquently.
Additional free workshops and community engagement events will include a Passion for Piano day and Clowning Around family day because music and laughter are good for the soul. To review the complete festival schedule and purchase tickets for special performances, see secheltartsfestival.com
