Break out the popcorn and join us for a Sunday matinee featuring The Cheech (2019) a short documentary film on Cheech Marin’s collecting journey. The film explores Marin’s “lifelong advocacy of the Chicano Art Movement, and his journey to develop the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture and Industry.” The screening will be followed by a live Q and A with the filmmaker, Edward Tyndall, moderated by Dr. Karen Tam.

The Cheech chronicles the real life experience of actor-comedian, Cheech Marin. We take a close look at his involvement in the Chicano Art Movement, and the ties between collecting and community-building.

Karen Tam 譚嘉文 is a Tiohtià:ke/Montréal-based artist and curator exploring the constructions and imaginations of cultures and communities through her installations. Since 2000, she has exhibited her work in North America, Europe, and China at venues such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum, and He Xiangning Art Museum. Tam has received grants and fellowships from the Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts du Québec, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Winner of the 2021 Giverny Capital Prize, she was a finalist for the 2017 Louis-Comtois Prize, and a finalist for the 2016 Prix en art actuel from the Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec. Tam holds an MFA in Sculpture (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and a PhD in Cultural Studies (Goldsmiths, University of London). She is Adjunct Curator at Griffin Art Projects and is represented by Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.

Join us on Saturday, March 15th, from 6-8pm for An Evening of Comedy with Keith Nahanee and Friends! Taking place at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.

Squamish Nation comedian Keith 'Bubbas' Nahanee is known for his work with Bubbas Comedy, Granny’s Corner, and Rez Comedy, Keith has taken the stage at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, JFL Vancouver, and the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival.

Brenda Prince is a Anishinaabe comedian who’s been exposing the absurdities of everyday life since 2019 after she graduated from Stand Up for Mental Health. Since then she’s graced stages at Just For Laughs Vancouver, the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Arctic Comedy Festival and is now featured in the new Rez Comedy film. Brenda mixes sharp punchlines with big auntie energy. If laughter is good medicine, Brenda’s serving it up just like fried baloney!

Jiovanni Beltran is an emerging Indigenous comic and a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Since 2022, he has been actively doing comedy, including open mics, stand-up events with Rez Comedy, Granny’s Corner and Bubba’s Comedy, and shows and competitions in and around the lower Mainland.

Presented in collaboration with Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art (639 Hornby Street)

Tickets: $20 (www.griffinartprojects.ca/events)

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED—we apologize for any inconvenience. Please join us for our upcoming March offerings.

Join the team of Grenville+Fille (Bruce Grenville and Alice Mackenzie) in person onsite at the Griffin Residency as they share their discoveries and processes researching and archiving the work and legacy of feminist innovator in contemporary tapestry, Ann Newdigate (1934-2023).

Bruce Grenville is a researcher and art consultant based in Vancouver. Together with Alice MacKenzie he formed the art consultancy Grenville + Fille in 2023. Prior to that he spent 30+ years as a senior curator at Vancouver Art Gallery, the Edmonton Art Gallery, and the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon. Alice MacKenzie is an art consultant, multi-disciplinary artist, and co-founder of BAD ART, a radical approach to creativity and accessibility.

They note, “The goal of our residency is to support research and documentation of the art and practice of Ann Newdigate (b. 1934, Makhanda, South Africa; d. 2023, Hornby Island, Canada). The study of artistic legacies is a crucial curatorial activity with the goal of documenting and preserving the complexity and diversity of artistic production across a lifetime in all cultures. Ann Newdigate was recognized for her large and small tapestry works, mixed media installations and works on paper. Her art resonates deeply with themes such as anti-apartheid histories, the global impact of colonialism, the emergence of second wave feminism, the persistence of regionalist voices, and the significance of material practices and aesthetics.”

Join us for Open Studios with Faria Firoz, Karl Mata Hipol and Khim Mata Hipol as they invite the public to experience the works they have created during their residencies at Griffin Art Projects.

In recognition of her contributions to the arts and her commitment to social advocacy, Faria Firoz was awarded the prestigious Lieutenant Governor’s Medal in 2021. Faria holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Fraser Valley, where she was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award. Currently, she is furthering her artistic journey by pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Emily Carr University of Art & Design.

Through a synthesis of research gathered from both the Philippines and Canada, Karl and Khim Mata Hipol’s plan to create experimental photography and installations that reflect their migrant experience. Central to their project is the celebration of cultural heritage and the exploration of universal themes such as connection, disconnection, and identity. They aim to foster empathy and unity through art, inviting viewers to engage with the richness of our shared human experience.

Join us for an artist talk with Faria Firoz, Karl Mata Hipol and Khim Mata Hipol as they expand on the works created during their residencies at Griffin Art Projects.

In recognition of her contributions to the arts and her commitment to social advocacy, Faria Firoz was awarded the prestigious Lieutenant Governor’s Medal in 2021. Faria holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Fraser Valley, where she was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award. Currently, she is furthering her artistic journey by pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Emily Carr University of Art & Design.

During their time at Griffin, Karl and Khim Mata Hipol are working on a collaborative artistic residency titled "Looking Back to Go Farther." Drawing inspiration from the poignant Filipino saying "ang hindi lumingon sa pinangalingan, ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan" ("one who does not look back on their roots, will not reach their destination"), their project explores their journey of being Filipino immigrants turned naturalized Canadians returning to their ancestral homeland, the Philippines, after nearly a decade, from Canada. 

Through a synthesis of research gathered from both the Philippines and Canada, Karl and Khim Mata Hipol’s plan to create experimental photography and installations that reflect their migrant experience. Central to their project is the celebration of cultural heritage and the exploration of universal themes such as connection, disconnection, and identity. They aim to foster empathy and unity through art, inviting viewers to engage with the richness of our shared human experience.

Join us for a Conversations on Collecting with Lucy McGarry, Co-Founder of RMB Latitudes Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa. The RMB Latitudes Art Fair launched in May 2023 with a mission to “create a transformed, collaborative and uniquely African art ecosystem.” The fair attracted over 9,000 visitors to its second iteration in 2024. Join Lucy McGarry to discuss how the fair has evolved and how it contributes to the collecting ecology in Johannesburg and South Africa. This ongoing series builds on Griffin Art Project’s mandate to make privately held art collections accessible to the public.

Register through our Eventbrite Here

Join us for the opening reception and tour of Future Worldings, curated by Lisa Baldissera, Usha Seejarim and Karen Tam, featuring Canadian artists Nura Ali, Sun Forest and Xwalacktun, and South African artists Lebogang Mogul Mabusela, Pebofatso Mokoena and Wezile Harmans. Future Worldings considers approaches of collective and collaborative “worldmaking” and follows a 2021 digital residency that took place online and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opening will feature an Artist Walkthrough at 6:30 PM

Common to South Africa and Canada are histories of colonial occupation, separatist policies that purposefully isolated and even eradicated Indigenous people, institutional racism and ongoing marginalization. Despite attempts at land restitution and the implementation of truth and reconciliation commissions in both countries, the scars of respective historical trauma surface in different ways. 

Curated by Lisa Baldissera, Usha Seejarim and Karen Tam, Future Worldings brings Canadian artists Nura Ali (based in Calgary, on the lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Tsuut’ina, Îyâxe Nakoda Nations and Métis Nation Region 3), Sun Forest and Xwalacktun (both residing on the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm [Musqueam], Skwxwú7mesh [Squamish] and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh [Tsleil-Waututh] Nations) together with Johannesburg-based South African artists Pebofatso Mokoena, Lebogang Mogul Mabusela and Wezile Harmans to consider approaches of collective and collaborative “worldmaking.” The project concerns itself with how it may be possible to “world” collectively while retaining the specificities of site, body, history, access and cultural understandings.

In 2024, the Future Worldings project continued when the artists and curators gathered in person for the first time, engaging in international cultural exchanges through three diverse residency programs in Canada and South Africa at NIROX (Krugersdorp, South Africa), Similkameen Artist Residency (SAR) (Keremeos, BC) and Griffin Art Projects. 

During his five-week residency in South Africa, Xwalacktun visited key Johannesburg sites, including the Constitution Hill Prison and Courthouse, the Credo Mutuwa Cultural Village and the site of Latitudes Art Fair. He met with students from the printmaking centre Artist Proof Studio, with renowned sculptor and conceptual artist Willem Boschof and with eminent South African artist William Kentridge, among other local artists, curators, academics and gallerists. Facilitated by artist Collen Maswanganyi, Xwalacktun also toured the Limpopo region, where he met with Master Carvers Johannes Maswanganyi and Dr Noria Mabasa. At NIROX, Xwalacktun participated in a ten-day woodcarving workshop titled “Carving X Two” alongside artists Dada Khanyisa, Collen Maswanganyi, Johan Moolman, Simon Moshapo Junior, John Nkhoma, Usen Obot and Ben Tuge. This workshop culminated in the exhibition Relief, presented at the Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture from June 29 to September 2, 2024. Relief was produced in partnership with the Kromdraai Impact Hub, NIROX and the Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture.

At SAR and Griffin Art Projects, all six artists took part in a series of cultural exchanges and events, including a visit to En’owkin Centre; Cultural Protocols and Learning on the Land in the Similkameen with Anona Kampe; a visit to kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ Hatchery, a salmon restoration project led by the Syilx people; a Decolonization Tour at UBC; and curator-hosted visits to the Museum of Anthropology and the Museum of Vancouver, as well as engagements at other local organizations. Emily Carr University hosted Future Worldings artist visits, presentations and workshops.

These events culminate in the Future Worldings exhibition, which features new and recent works completed since the 2021 digital residency project and additional works from the artists’ studios and collections, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and performance. The artists consider the questions stated in the curatorial thesis for the Future Worldings project: What are the conditions for creating the world? How do we imagine ways of creating a cosmology? What forms of language/terms/collection of understanding might this encompass? Connecting the works of all the artists is the centrality of the body as a site of cultural space and of knowing and receiving the world. The artists’ diversity of material practices include levels of performance, public acts of making with the body (marking/using the body), as well as exhibition-based demonstrations, ceremony and events that activate the work beyond visual perception. Works also include an invitation to participate within the space, where the viewer/participant is integral to the work.

The exhibition, along with the conference, digital and in-person public programs, workshops, residencies and performances, articulates the artists’ experiences and the work that has ensued over the past three years.

Future Worldings is generously supported by funding received from Canada Council for the Arts, the Freybe Foundation, Government of Canada, The Hamber Foundation, Metro Vancouver's Regional Cultural Project Grants program, the Michael and Inna O’Brian Family Foundation, North Vancouver Recreation & Culture, Peter and Betty Haworth Fund at the West Vancouver Foundation, and the Vancity Community Branch Grant.

Xwalacktun’s South African residencies were generously supported by funding received from BC Arts Council’s Professional Development grant. 

Future Worldings is produced in partnership with Aboriginal Gathering Place, Bag Factory, the Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, NIROX Foundation, and Similkameen Artist Residency.

Join us on site at Mount Pleasant Furniture (MPF) for tours of Vancouver’s famous prop house! Three simultaneous group tours will be conducted onsite at Mount Pleasant Furniture.  Each tour will accommodate eight participants and include introductions and exploration of the space. RSVPs are required, tickets are $20 per person.

MPF operates exclusively by appointment. Secreted behind a closed door, this hidden gem is known primarily to film and stage art directors. MPF has been a prop house wonderland for the film, television, stage and art communities for decades. It is a family owned and operated business in the heart of the Mount Pleasant warehouse district, a neighbourhood that in just a few short years has transformed into the city’s technology hub. MPF is an astounding and diverse collection of over one million antique and vintage objects. It is stored in two multi-level buildings, a labyrinth of 35,000 square feet, crammed from floor ceiling with furnishings, objects of art, paintings, textiles, sculpture, figurines. 

These tours are in conjunction with Griffin Art Projects’ exhibition, The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects, curated by Lisa Baldissera and Paul Wong.  The Prop House offers an opportunity to celebrate and explore this extraordinary collection with the public for the first time. The objects were sourced everywhere, from second hand stores to garage to estate sales deepening in complexity and materiality.

This exhibition features a film project by Paul Wong, presented at the Mount Pleasant Community Screen and window installation and window project at Mount Pleasant Furniture.

The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects is presented in collaboration with grunt gallery, Mount Pleasant Community Screen, Mount Pleasant Furniture and On Main Gallery.

Join us on site at Mount Pleasant Furniture (MPF) for tours of Vancouver’s famous prop house! Three simultaneous group tours will be conducted onsite at Mount Pleasant Furniture.  Each tour will accommodate eight participants and include introductions and exploration of the space. RSVPs are required, tickets are $20 per person.

MPF operates exclusively by appointment. Secreted behind a closed door, this hidden gem is known primarily to film and stage art directors. MPF has been a prop house wonderland for the film, television, stage and art communities for decades. It is a family owned and operated business in the heart of the Mount Pleasant warehouse district, a neighbourhood that in just a few short years has transformed into the city’s technology hub. MPF is an astounding and diverse collection of over one million antique and vintage objects. It is stored in two multi-level buildings, a labyrinth of 35,000 square feet, crammed from floor ceiling with furnishings, objects of art, paintings, textiles, sculpture, figurines. 

These tours are in conjunction with Griffin Art Projects’ exhibition, The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects, curated by Lisa Baldissera and Paul Wong.  The Prop House offers an opportunity to celebrate and explore this extraordinary collection with the public for the first time. The objects were sourced everywhere, from second hand stores to garage to estate sales deepening in complexity and materiality.

This exhibition features a film project by Paul Wong, presented at the Mount Pleasant Community Screen and window installation and window project at Mount Pleasant Furniture.

The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects is presented in collaboration with grunt gallery, Mount Pleasant Community Screen, Mount Pleasant Furniture and On Main Gallery.

Join us at Griffin Art Projects the opening reception of The Prop House: A Collection of One Million Objects! 

The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects explores the objects housed in the collection of Mount Pleasant Furniture (MPF). MPF has been a prop house wonderland for the film, television, stage and art communities for decades. The Prop House offers an opportunity to celebrate and explore this extraordinary collection with the public for the first time. The objects were sourced everywhere, from second hand stores to garage to estate sales deepening in complexity and materiality. In turn, this archive has been returned to the world as objects of imagination, inscribing film and theatre scenes with affective qualities through their presence, from romance to horror to police procedurals.  The Prop House celebrates the decades-old collection of MPF, by inviting Vancouver-based artists who will create one last journey of imagination before the Prop House closes. Embracing archive, hauntology, nostalgia and the imaginary, the re-assemblages and responses includes the work of Cathy Busby, Germaine Koh, Jason Payne, Jay Senetchko, Charlene Vickers, Parvin Peivandi and Bagua Artist Association, who will reflect on the sovereign life of objects. 

This exhibition also features a film on the  Mount Pleasant Community ArtScreen and window installations at Mount Pleasant Furniture.

The Prop House: A Collection of Over One Million Objects is presented by Griffin Art Projects (North Vancouver) and On Main Gallery (Vancouver) in collaboration with grunt gallery, Mount Pleasant Community Screen and Mount Pleasant Furniture.