For the 10th Anniversary of the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot (aka V2.0) I thought a trip down memory lane might be in order. I’m no sports fan but when tens of thousands cram together into blockaded streets, the place is guaranteed to turn into a shooting gallery for photo journalists. Actually, the vibe was pretty...Read More
One of the most important and symbolic pole raising ceremonies in recent memory occurred on April first, 2017 at UBC. Haida master carver Jim Hart spent two years working on a new pole that serves as both a telling of the trauma of Canada’s First Nations’ experiences under the residential school system, and as a...Read More
Next to the catastrophic, “End Times”-like scenario predicted for the closure of Point Grey Road for the purpose of encouraging cycling/boosting property values of well connected citizens/turning Fourth Avenue into a rush hour death chute, the remodeling of the Burrard Street Bridge was going to be the most anticipated act of civic vandalism to take...Read More
Whenever I’m downtown I like to wander past some of the older buildings that have evaded the wrecker’s ball for one reason or another. There aren’t many left. My earliest memory of an old downtown heritage building was the one at 804 Pender Street where my mother began Spectrum Players’ Lunch Hour Theatre in 1969....Read More
Our feature article in the Winter, 2010 issue of Vancouver Review was a sprawling piece by architecture critic Trevor Boddy that rounded heavily on the sad architectural legacy the 2010 Winter Games would leave us with. One notable exception was the Richmond Oval and its superb engineering achievements as well as its ongoing usefulness to...Read More
It’s fall. There’s a civic election in the air and leaves on the ground. And in Vancouver, the issue of “bikes vs. cars” is always just around the corner. So it seems like a good time to feature this image from our VR Centrefold series. This site-specific arrangement of Mazda car bits was created by...Read More
Over the last few years I’ve been keeping an eye out for representations of the orca in public spaces. I’ve spotted them in tacky murals, as ‘sponsored’ charity sculptures and, occasionally, as serious public art installations. Of course, the real thing seems to be making some welcome and occasionally spectacular appearances in close local waters....Read More
This image presented itself, unbidden, at a local sushi restaurant. A simple exit sign that somehow seemed fitting to convey the feel of the novel EXIT in relation to the upcoming VR Media mini-feature on literary translation.Read More
