Burnaby catches the spirit of Culture Days
It’s a celebration of Canadian culture from coast to coast to coast – and you can join in the fun right here at home.
Culture Days, a Canada-wide celebration of arts and culture, runs from Sept. 24 to 26.
Burnaby residents can enjoy a host of special events in connection with Culture Days.
The fun kicks off on Friday with Music at Noon in Encores Café at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Ave.. Pianist Charmaine Liu will offer up a mix of light and classical pieces, and a special lunch menu will be available.
On Friday night, from 7 to 9 p.m., the Burnaby Art Gallery hosts a crochet social with artist Doug Guildford – whose Intertidal Zone exhibition is underway at the gallery until Nov. 21.
Guildford, who has embraced the technique of crochet in his three-dimensional artwork and who references crochet in his prints, will be on hand.
Visitors can join in an informal evening of learning crocket, working with unusual and traditional materials and meeting other artists.
It’s for ages 19 and up, and there will be a bar by donation.
The gallery is at 6344 Deer Lake Ave.
On both Friday and Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., visitors are also invited to stop by the Japanese Canadian National Museum to see the new exhibition Kizuna: Connecting through Generations.
The exhibition features work by four contemporary artists of Japanese-Canadian ancestry: Natalie Purschwitz, an interdisciplinary artist working with fibre and textiles; Greg Masuda, a photographer and filmmaker; Miyuki Shinkai, a painter and glass artist; and mark Takeshi McGregor, a musician and contemporary music collaborator.
The museum is in the National Nikkei Heritage Centre at 6688 Southoaks Cres. call 604-777-7000.
Saturday is a busy day at Shadbolt Centre, which will be hosting a free Art on the Spot event called Fall Plasticine Scenes.
Inspired by autumn colours and the Group of seven, participants will be able to create three-dimensional paintings using plasticine.
Instructor Polly Faminow will lead this free, hands-on session for people of all ages, in the atrium of Shadbolt Centre.
That session runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
There will also be a raku firing demonstration from noon to 2 p.m. at Shadbolt – at the Ombu Kiln site in Deer Lake Park – as well as a tour of the ceramics facility at 1 p.m., meeting at reception.
Over at Burnaby Art Gallery, art lovers can pop in for the opening reception of Guildford’s Intertidal Zone exhibition, with a talk by Guildford. the reception is on from 3 to 5 p.m.
Also on Saturday, the Burnaby Arts Council’s Deer Lake Gallery (6584 Deer Lake Ave.) hosts the opening reception for a Book Arts Mosaic, a traveling exhibition of works by 33 book artists from across Canada.
There will be a book sale and meet-the-authors event, where visitors can meet such authors as Linda De Meulemeester, an award-winning, best-selling author of young adult fiction, and poet Bernice Lever.
At 1 p.m., the gallery will host the launch of author David Glyn-Jones’ latest historical thrillers, the Queen’s Sword and the Queen’s Jewels. Glyn-Jones (who writes as David Glenn) is a seasoned actor and will also read from his own work.
On Sunday, families can delve into a hands-on activity at the Burnaby Art Gallery’s free in the BAG program, running every half-hour from 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Visitors can try their hand at making fabric sculpture. no registration is necessary – just pop in to the gallery.
From 1 to 4 p.m., just down the road at the Burnaby Arts Council’s Deer Lake Gallery (6584 Deer Lake Ave.), Sally Reesman leads a chapbook making workshop.
Participants will learn how to make chapbooks – informal, self-published books that can be used for your own stories, poetry or favourite recipes. Admission is free, but registration is required – call Claire Halpern at 604-298-7322.
For more on the Burnaby Art Gallery, check out www.burnabyartgallery.ca or call 604-297-4415.
For more about the Shadbolt Centre, visit www.shadboltcentre.com or call 604-291-6864.
Check out www.culturedays.ca for full details about the festivities happening around the lower Mainland and right across the country.
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Burnaby catches the spirit of Culture Days
