Below the Radar

Welcome to See How We Run! An original Below the Radar mini-series featuring conversations with arts and cultural workers in Vancouver. In this first episode, co-hosts Julia Aoki, Kathy Feng, and Samantha Walters introduce the series and what’s to come. In each episode, they’ll speak to artists, consultants, administrators, and advocates about how art and culture is made and sustained in Vancouver.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/see-how-we-run/227-see-how-we-run.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/227-see-how-we-run.html

Resources:

Gallery Gachet: https://gachet.org/

Hives for Humanity: https://www.hivesforhumanity.com/

Progress Lab 1422: https://c-space.ca/

Backstage Spaces Report: https://c-space.ca/backstage-spaces/

Contemporary Art Gallery: https://cagvancouver.org/

Powell Street Festival: https://powellstreetfestival.com/

Bios:

Julia Aoki is an administrator, writer, researcher, and advocate. She is the Program Manager at SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement. She has served as the Executive Director of Megaphone magazine, General Manager of VIVO Media Arts Centre, and General Manager and Programming Director of the Powell Street Festival, where she prioritized developing community centred programs. Julia currently sits on the board of 221A Artist Run Centre Society, and has volunteered with advocacy organizations such as the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres and DTES SRO Collaborative. Her writing on cultural expressions and community formations that are overlooked and underserved by commercial and political mechanisms and practices can be found in TOPIA, Space and Culture and a collection by Lexington Books.

Kathy Feng is an interdisciplinary artist, born in Guangzhou, China, and is a guest living and working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. As an immigrant and child of immigrants, she grew up between cultures in a constant process of learning, unlearning, and relearning. This framework informs the central themes to her work: in which memory and nostalgia are expressed through images, text, and the aesthetics of the temporal. Kathy holds a BFA in Visual Art with a minor in Art and Performance Studies from SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts. She began working at SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement January 2020 as a Research Assistant for the Below the Radar podcast.

Samantha Walters is an emerging interdisciplinary performer, writer, and creator. She has been the Program Assistant at SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement since 2022. They are based on xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) lands. As an artist, she mostly works between contemporary theatre, directing, and video making. Their most recent works examine ecological relationships and post-human spiritualities, with a heavy favour towards the weird, the dark, and the camp. Collaboration within communities and alongside the non-human lies at the heart of her process. She grew up in England and Hong Kong and holds a BFA honours in Theatre Performance with a minor in English and a certificate in Performance Studies from SFUs School for the Contemporary Arts

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Aoki, Julia, Feng, Kathy, and Walters, Samantha. “See How We Run! Conversations with Arts and Cultural Workers.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, November 21, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/227-see-how-we-run.html

This week on Below the Radar, we’re joined by Vancouver legend Norman Armour, a curator, consultant, producer, director, actor and non-profit arts specialist with over 35 years of experience. Norman discusses his experience co-founding the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, his storied career in the Canadian arts scene, as well as his health.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/226-norman-armour.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/226-norman-armour.html

Resources:

Norman Armour: https://www.normanarmourconsulting.com/

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival: https://pushfestival.ca/

Rumble Theatre: https://rumble.org/

The Post at 750: https://thepostat750.ca/

VIFF Live: https://viff.org/live/viff-2023/

Bio:

Norman Armour is a Vancouver-based curator, consultant, producer, director, actor and non-profit arts specialist with 35+ years of experience. Since graduating from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts in 1986, he has collaborated on over 120 works for the stage and other media. In 2005, he co-founded the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, serving as its Artistic and Executive Director for 14 years. Prior to that, he co-founded and established Rumble Theatre as a mainstay of the city’s thriving independent theatre scene. He is also a co-founder of the Post at 750, an innovative shared workspace for the non-profit arts. His consulting practice focuses on scenario planning, business strategy, mentoring, proposal writing and development, as well as international engagement, touring and exchange. His career and community contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the City of Vancouver Mayor’s Award and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from his alma mater.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Paramedic for the Arts — with Norman Armour.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, November 7, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/226-norman-armour.html.

Alex Hemingway, Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), joins Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar. They discuss the Canadian housing crisis, the misclassification of independent contractors in the gig economy, and the CCPA’s report promoting a wealth tax.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/225-alex-hemingway.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/225-alex-hemingway.html

Resources:

Alex Hemingway: https://policyalternatives.ca/authors/alex-hemingway

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA): BC Office: https://policyalternatives.ca/offices/bc/about

CCPA: Wealth Tax Report: https://www.policynote.ca/tax-the-rich/

Understanding Precarity in BC Project: https://policyalternatives.ca/projects/understanding-precarity

No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age: https://janemcalevey.com/book/no-shortcuts-organizing-for-power-in-the-new-gilded-age/

Bio:

Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His research focuses on tax fairness, public finances, public services, and economic inequality in BC and Canada.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Extreme Inequality in Canada — with Alex Hemingway.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 31, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/225-alex-hemingway.html.

This week on Below the Radar, we're joined by Samir Gandesha, Professor in the Department of the Humanities and the Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University. In this conversation, Samir and Am discuss the importance of challenging ideas in academia, how family trauma has impacted his perspective, and the long history of the Institute for the Humanities–leading up to the celebration of the Institute's 40th anniversary in October 2023.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/224-samir-gandesha.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/224-samir-gandesha.html

Resources:

Samir Gandesha: https://www.sfu.ca/people/gandesha.html

Institute for the Humanities: https://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute.html

Dissertation: Tragedy and Enlightenment: https://philpapers.org/rec/GANTAE

Spectres of Fascism: https://btlbooks.com/book/spectres-of-fascism

Journal: Contours: https://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute/publication/contours.html

The Spell of Capital: https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789089648518/the-spell-of-capital

Bio:

Samir Gandesha is currently Professor in the Department of the Humanities and the Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University. He specializes in modern European thought and culture, with a particular emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Samir was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and immigrated with his parents as an infant to Canada in the mid-1960s. Members of his extended family were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “The Reason for Reason — with Samir Gandesha.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 24, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/224-samir-gandesha.html.

Bruce Mutsvairo, Professor of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University, and a 2023 SFU CERi researcher-in-residence, sits down with Am Johal to discuss his journey from journalism into academia and the state of journalism in Africa. He and Am also discuss the complexities of citizen journalism in relation to influencers, especially in the context of transparency, misinformation, and inequality.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/223-bruce-mutsvairo.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/223-bruce-mutsvairo.html

Resources:

Bruce Mutsvairo: https://www.uu.nl/staff/bmutsvairo

Introducing Bruce Mutsvairo: https://www.sfu.ca/ceri/blog/2023/Introducing-Bruce-Mutsvairo.html

Platforms, Power and Politics: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=platforms-power-and-politics--9781509553570&fbclid=IwAR0qhMg8n4OLgGo0ucxHYcTwtdXSF38ZpYbDYYCLmcCNpZIEWuf3tCuSsv4

Bio:

Bruce Mutsvairo is a Professor in the department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University, where he also doubles as the UNESCO Chair on Disinformation, Data and Democracy. His research revolves around the importance of community engagement in academia. Bruce is SFU CERi’s researcher-in-residence from January until August 2023.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Platforms, Power, and Politics — with Bruce Mutsvairo.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 17, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/223-bruce-mutsvairo.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Ali Kazimi, director and winner of the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts. Ali shares with Am how he got into filmmaking, his experiences of discrimination when arriving in Canada, and his path into the production of his various films, such as Continuous Journey, Narmada, Random Acts of Legacy, and his latest film, Beyond Extinction.

In talking about his film, Shooting Indians, created in collaboration with Jeffrey Thomas, Ali describes the film’s dialogic approach, and how Jeffrey challenges the visual stereotypes of Indigenous people put forward by the American photographer, Edward Sherriff Curtis. Ali explains how he uses archives to unearth never before seen footage of the Komagata Maru, and how he embraces the imperfections of old archival materials. Finally, Am and Ali discuss the effort it takes to maintain autonomy as a filmmaker.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/222-ali-kazimi.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/222-ali-kazimi.html

Resources:

Ali Kazimi: https://alikazimi.ca/

Continuous Journey: https://alikazimi.ca/films/continuous-journey/

Narmada: A Valley Rises: https://alikazimi.ca/films/narmada/

Random Acts of Legacy: https://alikazimi.ca/films/random-acts-of-legacy/

Shooting Indians: https://alikazimi.ca/films/shooting-indians/

Beyond Extinction: A Sinixt Resurgence: https://alikazimi.ca/films/beyond-extinction/

Bio:

Ali Kazimi is a filmmaker, author and media artist whose work deals with race, social justice migration, history and memory. He is the recipient of the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts. Ali is currently an associate professor at York University's School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design and was the former chair for the Department of Cinema & Media Arts.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Beyond Extinction — with Ali Kazimi.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 10, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/222-ali-kazimi.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, Angela Aujla, visual artist and Professor of Sociology at Georgian College, sits down with Am Johal. Angela shares her career transition into the visual arts, while continuing to draw upon her academic background in Sociology and Anthropology to influence her mixed-media works. Angela also discusses the influences and inspiration of her art exhibition, My Grandmother’s Dress.

The episode ends on a meaningful conversation about the complexities of diaspora identities and how different generations dealt with them.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/211-angela-aujla.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/211-angela-aujla.html

Resources:

Angela Aujla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angela_aujla_art/?hl=en

Angela Aujla - Exhibition: My Grandmother’s Dress: https://maclarenart.com/exhibition/my-grandmothers-dress/

Bio:

Angela Aujla is a South Asian Canadian visual artist, influenced by her academic study of visual culture, anthropology, and feminist postcolonial theory. Her mixed-media, narrative artwork explores the complexity and interplay of history, memory, and identity with a focus on diasporic and material culture. Angela is also a Professor of Sociology in Georgian College’s Liberal Arts department.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Making Legible These Lives — with Angela Aujla.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 3, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/221-angela-aujla.html.

This week on Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Ryan Tacata, Assistant Professor of Performance at SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Together, Am and Ryan discuss his performance residency at the Libby Leshgold Gallery, and methods of designing pedagogy for contemporary performance education. Ryan also shares how he started in live performance and some of the various artists who have inspired him.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/220-ryan-tacata.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/220-ryan-tacata.html

Resources:

Ryan Tacata: http://www.ryan-tacata.com/about/

School for the Contemporary Arts: https://www.sfu.ca/sca.html

White Carpet: https://libby.ecuad.ca/exhibitions/2023/soft-launch.html

La Mamelle: http://www.ryan-tacata.com/la-mamelle

For You: http://www.foryou.productions/about

The Welcoming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Z3XHtNdm0

Florentina Holzinger: https://floholzinger.wordpress.com/

Bio:

Dr. Ryan Tacata is a performance maker, educator, and scholar living in Vancouver, BC. He is currently Assistant Professor of Performance at the School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University. He has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2007) and received his PhD in Performance Studies from Stanford University. His dissertation "La Mamelle: Bay Area Conceptual Performance Art and The Alternative Art Archive" undertakes the La Mamelle/Art Com archive and various histories of West Coast conceptualism.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Nasty Performances — with Ryan Tacata.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 26, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/220-ryan-tacata.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, Charlotte Gill, author of the books Ladykiller and Eating Dirt, sits down with Am Johal to explore her latest book, Almost Brown, which shares her experience growing up as a mixed-race child in a multi-cultural/religious household. Charlotte describes the family dynamics that led her Punjabi father to marry her English mother and become estranged from his father, and in turn, the process that led Charlotte to becoming estranged from her own father.

The episode ends on a meaningful conversation about how mixed identities narratives have changed across generations, and how the language to discuss those identities have evolved.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/219-charlotte-gill.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/219-charlotte-gill.html

Resources:

Charlotte Gill: https://charlottegill.com/about/

Almost Brown: https://charlottegill.com/almost-brown/

Ladykiller: Stories: https://charlottegill.com/ladykiller/

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe: https://charlottegill.com/eating-dirt/

Bio:

Charlotte Gill is the author of Eating Dirt, a national bestseller that won the B.C. National Award for Canadian Nonfiction. Her previous book, Ladykiller, was a Governor General’s Award nominee. Charlotte is the Rogers Communications Chair in Literary Journalism at the Banff Centre as well as faculty in the MFA program in creative nonfiction at the University of King’s College. Her latest book, Almost Brown, a mixed-race family memoir, is published by Penguin Random House.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Almost Brown — with Charlotte Gill.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 19, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/219-charlotte-gill.html.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University, joins Am Johal to discuss the pertinent topic of fascism and how political figures use and promote the image of “strongmen'' in their pursuit of power. Am and Ruth explore the modern political environment through Ruth’s book, Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present, linking the style of Mussolini to politicians like Berlusconi, Orban, and Trump, and the process by which they become more corrupt, more reliant on power, and thereby more reliant on extremists.

In conjunction with our previous episode with Alberto Toscano, these two episodes give a historical perspective to understanding the rise of fascism in the present.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/218-ruth-ben-ghiat.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/218-ruth-ben-ghiat.html

Resources:

Ruth Ben-Ghiat: https://ruthbenghiat.com/

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present: https://wwnorton.com/books/strongmen

Lucid: Substack Newsletter: https://lucid.substack.com/

Bio:

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. She writes about fascism, authoritarianism, propaganda, and democracy protection. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, examines how illiberal leaders use corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power, and how resistance to them has unfolded over a century.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Fascist Strongmen — with Ruth Ben-Ghiat.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 12, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/218-ruth-ben-ghiat.html.