Don’t miss the opening reception for Bhenji Ra’s solo exhibition “Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon” this Saturday, July 13, 2024, between 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
“Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon” (2024) documents a process of ancestral, intergenerational learning. Its starting point is a ritual journey taken by Ra with her teacher and collaborator Sitti Airia Sangkula Askalani-Obeso. A Tausug elder, Obeso is a cultural bearer of the pangalay, a pre-Islamic dance of the Tausug people of the Sulu Archipelago and the eastern coast Bajau of Saba in the Philippines.
Falling into a dreamlike ancestral plane, Obeso and Ra develop and trouble the roles of student and teacher, mother and daughter. Whilst relaying the history of the pangalay, Ra and Obeso explore the cultures and structures of movement practices in the Sulu Archipelago and their relationship to precolonial understandings of gender and identity, in particular the bantot or bayot relating to a trans feminine person. A fabulation unfolds in which a celestial being that resembles a woman with wings and supernatural beauty, known across the Sulu as the Biraddali, reveals itself through dialogue and dreaming. Translated from Tausug or other Samal languages as “angel” or “skymaiden” the Biraddali are believed to live in the sky and possess the power to change their form. As the imaginal passage unfolds, the dance of pangalay and the figure of the Biraddali become symbolically interrelated, with Ra interpreting the Biraddali as a trans, non-human figure and the originator of the dance.
A new musical score composed by Tati au Miel accompanies the film.
“Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon” is co-commissioned by Auto Italia, London and Western Front, Vancouver.
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There are still tickets available for the screening of Miko Revereza's "Nowhere Near" this Thursday, Jun 13, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. Admission by donation, with tickets and further infomation available here: https://westernfront.ca/events/nowhere-near
Don't miss the opportunity to experience José Maceda's "Ugnayan", a 51-minute composition for twenty radio frequencies. Presented as an installation in our Grand Luxe Hall, the work is on view until Saturday, Jun 1, 2024, from 1 - 6 p.m.
Western Front is pleased to present "The Weather Report", a new online project by Jay Pahre developed as part of our artists-in-residence program.
"The Weather Report" is a series of broadcasted writing that is tuned to weather formations across gitchi-gami (Lake Superior) and minong (Isle Royale). The lake is as much a place of passage as it is a boundary; in the winter the water freezes, forming an ice-bridge between the archipelago and the mainland. In the summer, the open water gives way for crossing by floating log, boat, or swimming. Drawing from the ways atmospheres collide and shift interactively with the changing ecologies across the region, "The Weather Report" queries these points of connection along the avenue of speculative writing.
Visit the project at https://theweatherreport.ca
Join us on Saturday, Feb 17, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. to hear Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang perform work from their latest album "Azure" (2023). The five compositions experiment with different intensities of pulsation, intoxicating harmonics and vibrato, long-tone vocalizations, drones, and pizzicato tones to propose alternate realities of what ecstatic music might be. Admission by donation, tickets here: https://bit.ly/3OKvEkt
Rachelle Sawatsky: Vitals
To celebrate the last day of Rachelle Sawatsky's exhibition "Vitals", we are pleased to extend our opening hours to 1 - 8 p.m. today. For those who can't make it, or who would like to learn more, check out the full virtual tour with Rachelle here: https://westernfront.ca/events/vitals
Virtual tour of Sol Hashemi: Tasting Notes
A virtual tour of "Tasting Notes" with artist Sol Hashemi is available now!
Speaking to his interest in brewing, the artist gives us a glimpse into his approach to the exhibition, and the influence of fungi on his artistic practice.
Watch the full video here: https://westernfront.ca/events/tasting-notes
Video by Collide Entertainment.
Video extract: International Festival of Telecommunication Art = Telecom 91 (1991).
