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Art and technology fuse together at Richmond World Festival

Innovation and audio-visual storytelling will be one focal point of Richmond’s upcoming World Festival. On Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept.
Photos: Richmond World Festival_2

Innovation and audio-visual storytelling will be one focal point of Richmond’s upcoming World Festival.

On Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1, the Richmond World Festival will host a Cinevolution-produced program titled Your Kontinent Digital Carnival, bringing together new and old forms of art.

Featured artists Terrance Houle and Lisa Birke will display their canoe and water top projection, Different Ways in the Richmond Art Gallery for a limited two-day run during the festival. The piece examines first encounters between settlers and Indigenous communities.

The cross-country initiative “takes to heart the call to action for all Canadians to begin a conversation—to listen and to learn—in a bid for reconciliation,” said Birke and Houle in a press release.

“Through ceremony, music, live performance, animation and innovative projection, we are exploring the slippery and unsteady understanding of our shared history and stories at events and festivals across the country, in an effort to demonstrate how dialogue and reclamation can steady the course in Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations.”

Along with celebrating and honouring Indigenous culture, the Digital Carnival aims to “create space for other diverse voices.”

“Cinevolution’s goal has always been to foster intercultural dialogue through immersive, artistic experiences beyond the borders of language” said Lynn Chen, artistic director of Cinevolution in a press release.

“This means being intentional about including and inviting diverse artistic voices, as well as making the event accessible for all members of the community.”

Along with the Digital Carnival, the Richmond World Festival will feature over 90 artists performing on nine stages, serving up rich slices of African, Asian, North and South American, European, South Pacific and Caribbean cultures.

Other highlights include the “FEASTival of Flavours” with more than 50 food trucks presenting cuisines from all over the globe and the Culinary Stage featuring top local chefs.

There’s also the global village with interactive cultural activities and performances, Africa zone cultural pavilion, artisan marketplace and “imagination world” at the Richmond Public Library.

Lights, a riveting performer and innovative songwriter, will headline the main stage on Friday, Aug. 31.