Due to the continued unpredictability of the pandemic and provincial health and safety regulations, PuSh Festival will not proceed as planned. However, audiences will still have an opportunity to experience PuSh Festival Partner Presentations this winter.
Until further notice, in line with the public health order, non-essential travel into, within, and out of BC is not recommended. BC residents, let’s do our part by continuing to stay small and support local with your immediate household, in accordance with the latest guidelines.
2021 PuSh Events
Graveyards and Gardens, co-presented with Music on Main
Online live stream, January 28–29, 2021 at 4:30pm & 7:30pm PST
Here is your chance to see an album emerge before your eyes—and to witness a unique, revelatory melding of movement and sound. This live-streamed performance features a mixture of archival and electronic sounds, and the aural component is joined to dance so creatively as to give each element whole new dimensions. Entrancing, enveloping, and ultimately liberating in its innovations, this is experiential art at its best.
Graveyards and Gardens. Photo by David Cooper
I swallowed a moon made of iron 我咽下一枚铁做的月亮, a Music Picnic Production
Online live stream, February 4 & 5 at 7 pm PST, February 6 at 4 pm PST
In this haunting song cycle, composer and performer Njo Kong Kie sets the poetry of factory worker Xu Lizhi to song and delivers a lament for our digital age. Kong Kie’s score for solo voice and piano is performed in Mandarin with English surtitles and combined with imagery, ambient sound, and more; it is an act of political witness, a vital human document, and, not least, a work of great beauty.
I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron. Photo by Dahlia Gatz
Sanctuary: The Dakota Bear Ancient Forest Experience, Co-presented with the Sunshine Coast Arts Council at Performance Works on Granville Island
February 3–5, 3–7:15 pm, Feb 6–7, 1–5:15 pm PST
This 360° projection takes you to a place that has existed since the last Ice Age—and is now under threat. Inside a geodesic dome, the viewer experiences a wraparound view of an ancient forest, as well as an auditory mix of music and the sounds of nature. This is a transporting experience—a journey that will bring you to a new understanding, and a new sense of urgency.
Also featuring an Online talkback — Skwx̱wú7mesh youth amplifying the message of SANCTUARY: The Dakota Bear Ancient Forest Experience.
February 7, 11–12.30 pm PST
Creators Cease Wyss and Damien Gillis are working with two young voices from her Skwx̱wú7mesh nation to lead a talkback as well as co-lead a workshop for immigrant and refugee youth. Young voices whose ancestors have been here since time immemorial in dialogue with newcomer youth, about the land they have just arrived on and what needs to be done to preserve and defend it.
Sanctuary. Photo courtesy of Sanctuary Creative team
PuSh Walks
Produced by Ben Lange, audio edited by Ashley Daniel Foot. Streamed on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcast.
In addition to all of these exciting works, PuSh is also thrilled to introduce PuSh Walks, aimed to get audience members out and about during these uncertain times. Put on your headphones and join in on this special series features guided audio journeys through the urban spaces that have inspired the featured artists. New walks are released weekly and are available on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
DJ Kookum & Sierra Baker / Missy D, co-presented with Coastal Jazz & Granville Island
Online live stream, February 19 at 8 pm PST
Kookum is an open format DJ but grew up listening to EDM and Hip Hop music. With club residencies, one-off gigs, and through work as the official DJ for Snotty Nose Rez Kids, this diverse mix diva slays on the decks and always keeps it hype, fresh, and unpredictable. They’ll perform a 30-minute set with dancer, designer, community consultant, entrepreneur, artist, and storyteller Sierra Baker.
Next up, it’s Missy D, a bilingual emcee born and raised around the Motherland of Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, and Zimbabwe. She’s been rapping since she was 11 years old in both French and English, and represents a blend of African cultures in her life-force and in her music, fusing hiphop, rap, and R&B with what she calls Rap & Soul.
DJ Kookum and Sierra. Photo by Rebecca Blissett and Jon Benjamin
Gordon Grdina Trio, co-presented with Coastal Jazz & Granville Island
Online live stream, February 20 at 8 pm PST
Gordon Grdina is a JUNO Award-winning oud/guitarist whose career has spanned continents, decades and constant genre exploration throughout avant-garde jazz, free form improvisation, contemporary indie rock and Arabic music.
Gordon Grdina Trio. Photo by Rebecca Blissett and Jon Benjamin
