On Sept. 29, urban explorers are invited to take a self-guided photo walk in one of Vancouver’s changing areas.
Clark Drive in East Van has long been an industrial zone and truck route. But the neighbourhood, which is also central to the annual Vancouver East Cultural Crawl, is gradually shifting into a more walkable area, with small artist-run spaces and craft breweries popping up. ClarkWalk will feature photo-documentation and new music to accompany participants. Read more below.
For the occasion, several East Vancouver musicians have contributed new compositions. Armed with this new music, eight local photographers have taken photos along the walk. The soundtrack will be released on Sept. 29 as a free download. Anyone with a curiosity about this part of the city is invited to listen to the soundtrack, walk the same route (from 6th Ave. E. to Powell Street, along Clark), and post their photos on social media (hashtag #ClarkWalk). At route’s end, participants are invited to join the photographers and musicians for an opening reception, photography exhibit, and live music performance.
As the press release notes, ClarkWalk is intended to “create a living document of a creative community and a part of the city at a key moment in the dialogue around art, development, affordability, and the identity of Vancouver.”
Stuart Derdeyn, writing in the Vancouver Sun, notes: “The ClarkWalk Project is [musician Stephen] Lyons’ concept of how to document and preserve the legacy of, arguably, the last area of the city to contain affordable rental space for artists to operate in. Even if the area becomes another manicured glass tower trough for investment, at least the memory will remain.”
Soundtrack artists include The Cyrillic Alphabet, Sara Gold, members of Fond of Tigers, The Nausea, Veda Hille, and members of the Merge arts collective. The collective members “have been working and sharing their ideas in the East Vancouver area for a number of years.”
Local band Limbs of the Stars contributes to Clarkwalk.
For more info visit offseasonrecords.com.
