SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM 

Museum of Vancouver (MOV) Tour - Dressed for History: Why Costume Collections Matter (Women's Fashion 1750 - 2000) with Curator Ivan Sayers

The Museum of Vancouver is committed to deepening a collective understanding of the city through common stories, objects and experiences.

Clothing is the most personal of artefacts. It reveals so much about who we are, what we do and what we value. Clothing conveys information about occupation, social and economic status, gender and cultural identity and political and religious affiliation. 

Photo credit: Rebecca Blissett

Roedde House Museum Guided Tour 

Gustav and Matilda Roedde settled in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1888. German-born Gustav was Vancouver’s first bookbinder. He opened his own bookbinding business, G.A. Roedde Bookbinders where he specialized in the craft of marbling paper. The family moved into their newly-built house in the West End neighbourhood in 1893. The house was designed by famed architect Francis Rattenbury.

Photo Credit: Roedde House Museum

Guided Tour of Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Founded in 1925, Emily Carr University is a world leader in art, media and design. Merging studio practice, research and critical theory in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment, ECU encourages

Marian Bradshaw Lecture - Douglas Coupland - Accidental Career: Public Art

Artist, Author, Innovator Douglas Coupland gives us some insights into his experience with public art. Public art is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse and is visually and physically accessible to the public.  

“Public art is like the nonfiction version of art. Instead of working in a private personal universe, public art is tethered to the real world in some way. Public art is also an amazing way to learn about new ways of making objects, as well as meeting new people along the way. My goal has always been to make life feel like art school, and public art has been an enormous part of this drive.”

Photo Credit: Douglas Coupland's Sunset Beach Love Letter, which covers the entire Muro building Reliance Properties Ltd. 

The lecture is supported in part by:

Curator's Tour - Fashion Fictions at the Vancouver Art Gallery with Curator Stephanie Rebick

Stephanie Rebick, curator, will provide a tour of Fashion Fictions which surveys experimental design practices that exist at the intersection of fashion and other modes of cultural production. International in scope, the exhibition explores the increasing influence of research-based, materially driven practices on the global fashion scene, while acknowledging the proliferation of creative practices that challenge the aesthetic, material and technological conventions of fashion.

The exhibition is comprised of three thematic sections: Material Futures, which includes work that features technological and scientific innovations in materials research; Aesthetic Prophesies, which highlights designers’ fusion of cultural traditions with speculative creations; and Responsible Visions, which investigates how designers are incorporating adaptive reuse and upcycling into their explorations

Photo: Credit:  Craig Green for Moncler Genius, Ensemble, 5 Moncler Craig Green collection, Fall/Winter 2018, micro ripstop nylon, cotton down, Courtesy of Moncler

Inform Interiors

Established in Vancouver in 1963 and considered one of the top 5 design stores in the world, Inform Interiors is not only a go-to place for the best in contemporary home furnishings but is also a cultural hub for all things related to design and architecture. Inform founder, Niels Bendtsen is a highly regarded furniture designer producing contemporary furniture through his company Bensen. 

Photo Credit: Inform Interiors 

Collector’s Perspective: John David Lawrence in conversation with Daina Augaitis at Inform Interiors

Join Chief Curator Emerita at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Daina Augaitis and John David Lawrence owner of Do Da Antiques as they discuss the collector's psychology and the love of BC ceramics. 

Photo Credit:  Julie Riches 

The reception and conversation is supported in part by: 

Museum of Vancouver (MOV) Tour Exhibition - Reclaim + Repair: The Mahagony Project with Toby Barratt

Reclaim + Repair: The Mahogany Project, curated by Propellor Studio, in collaboration with the Museum of Vancouver, will celebrate the creativity and craft of Vancouver’s design community, while engaging with questions central to the role of design in advancing sustainability as well as social and environmental justice.

A diverse group of both emerging and seasoned local designers and makers have been selected to create objects made from vintage mahogany provided by MOV. The exhibition will feature a wide array of design objects from furniture, lighting and household objects, to jewelry, and so much more.

Photo Credit: Museum of Vancouver 

Waddington's Vancouver (Railtown District)

Lecture - Ron Thom and the Art of Architecture with Adele Weder  

Ron Thom (1923-1986) ranks among the most important Canadian architects of the 20th century. He trained at the Vancouver School of Art and approached his work with the eye of an artist and the hand of a craftsman, right down to the furniture. Disdaining the austere postwar International Style, he created structures and spaces that exude warmth, intimacy, artistry and hand-crafted beauty. In a time when many feel alienated from the glass-and-steel monotony of our built landscape, his major projects, including the B.C. Electric Building, Massey College, Trent University, Shaw Festival Theatre and much else—have enduring appeal.  

Photo Credit: Copp House wooden side table credit is Josh Nychuk

Brix Studio - Heritage Building (Gastown District)

Indigenous Approaches to Creative Practices with Connie Watts 

Connie Watts's presentation highlighted her Art and Design practice. Her work is often rooted in forms and knowledge drawn from First Nations cultures, while her sculptural objects incorporate modern fabrication and design techniques. She will then give an overview of the Indigenous material practice programming at Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s Aboriginal Gathering Place. She will wrap up with a highlight of some of the Indigenous Student’s artwork through the latest exhibition, Sacred Fires 2023. She expressed that there is a great diversity of Indigenous approaches to the creative practices.

Photo Credit: Connie Watts, Thunderbird Woman, 18” x 36” x 60”, cedar, fabric, acrylic, and metal, Potlatch 67–67: Then and Now, Comox Valley Art Gallery, 2018.

Walking Tour - West End with Civic Historian, John Atkin 

The West End is a study of contrasts. Georgian revival walk ups from the early 1900s sit next to crisp 1960s concrete modernism along with wood frame Dingbats, surrounded by tall apartment towers. On this walking tour we’ll look at how the West End developed and some of the innovative zoning tweaks shaping the area today.

Photo Credit: stanleyparkvan.com

Craft Council of British Columbia on Granville Island with Raine McKay 

Introduction to the Council and the community of studios on the island.

The CCBC is a charitable arts service organization which supports all stages of artistic practice in the craft sector; creates opportunities for artists to exhibit, sell and produce art; provides a voice for artists and craft organizations and aids in the development of active communities around craft. Now in its 50^th year, the CCBC is the only craft sector arts service organization in BC that fulfils an educational and public mandate along with regional and national objectives in developing opportunities for craft artists, the art form and the craft sector as a whole.

Along with the introduction to the BC craft sector, CCBC hosted an interactive artist talk by Kaisa Lindfors, whose exhibition “How to feel full: ceramic vases and cages” is in the CCBC Gallery.

Photo Credit: Craft Council of BC 

Studio Tours

Guided tour of craft studios and meet artists at work in their surroundings. 

- Vancouver Studio Glass

- Granville Island Broom Co. 

- S&R Apron Co.

- New Leaf Editions 

- BC Blacksmith 

- Propellor Studio 

Please see the studio profiles HERE. 

Photo Credit: Photo by Julie K.

11:30am - 1:30pm

Studio Tours

Join us for a guided tour of craft studios and meet artists at work in their surroundings. 

- Vancouver Studio Glass

- Granville Island Broom Co. 

- S&R Apron Co.

- New Leaf Editions 

- BC Blacksmith 

- Propellor Studio 

Please see the studio profiles HERE.

Uno Langmann Fine Art and Antiques Gallery  

Tour and talk of the Uno Langmann's Gallery with Jeanette Langmann

Uno Langmann Limited is a second-generation family business founded in 1977 by Uno Langmann. They are now Canada's foremost specialist in the finest quality European and North American paintings from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The elegant, neoclassical surroundings of the gallery also showcase a careful selection of antique furniture, silver and objects of decorative arts.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Uno Langmann Fine Art & Antiques Gallery

We would like to thank our generous Supporters and Sponsors. 

Partner Museums & Venues: Roedde House Museum, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver Art Gallery, Inform Interiors, Museum of Vancouver, Waddington's, Craft Council of British Columbia, Uno Langman Fine Art and Antiques Gallery and the many artist Studios on Granville Island. 

Patron Sponsor Partner

In Kind: 

Media Partner: 

We would also like to thank the following institutions for their help and in-kind support:

Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Museum of Vancouver, Roedde House Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Inform Interiors, Waddington's - Vancouver, Brix Studio, Craft Council of British Columbia, Uno Langmann Fine Art and Antiques Gallery. 

Members of the 2023 Symposium Committee

        Gilles Latour, Co-Chair                       Sarah Macaulay

        Julie Riches, Co-Chair                         Mary Macaulay

        Stephanie Rebick                                Cailin Broere

        Raine McKay                                        Jacqui Dixon