Vancouver, British Columbia, is where I live. The sad thing to see is how few members of the general public are involved with the protests. Sadly, the arts sector is protesting at the same time as activists involved with education, health and sports and we are not getting the attention we would like. Everyone is hurting. Times are going to change. One lesson I have learned about life: A great skill to have is adaptability. Creative people usually have this skill in spades.
Still, I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The air and our environment are relatively clean because we get fresh air blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. We exist in one of the most abundant forested areas of the world, surrounded by mountain peaks. I have lived here all my life and whereas we have the most beautiful physical setting, we have never had an enlightened government during my lifetime (except maybe one brief blip when Mike Harcourt was Premier of BC, but even his party underfunded the arts).
Experimentation and brave programming will likely slow considerably in artistic expression here, and some small companies will fold. The Helen Pitt Gallery, an artist run centre with a long history here, has already announced its closure. Life goes on.
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[...] by packaging itself as hip and cool. This archive site is a nice find, particularly in light of the embarrassing and horrific cuts to the arts announced here in BC (from an annual $47.6M to $3.6M). Ruins In Process is a research [...]
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