DIVERSE-Canadian Multicultural Awareness Magazine

Discover, Build and Share Your Story

Squamish Lílwat Cultural Centre:

Aboriginal Youth Ambassadors Program

Words by Tracy Stefanucci

The Aboriginal Youth Ambassador Program, a cultural development and tourism education initiative run out of the Squamish Lílwat Cultural Centre in collaboration with Capilano University, is one of the products of a renewed sense of hope, confidence, and energy in the Lílwat and Squamish Nations. The creation of the program and centre are empowered steps toward cultural resurrection, preservation, and continuation headed by the alumni of AYAP: youth who are ready to discover, build, and share their stories. Read more

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..La Bella Vita

Vancouver’s Italian Community

by Margaret Dorazio-Migliore

Photos by Myungsook Lee

Italian culture has become synonymous with La Bella Vita (the good life). Having an Italian ancestry or being an Italian Canadian is now something to be proud of, and everyone can claim Italian heritage, if they wish to.

More story is in a hard copy.

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Vancouver Heritage Tours

with John Atkin

Wednesday late afternoon, shadows are drawing one by one over the Strathcona Community Centre at 601 Keefer Street where the participants will meet and start the Walking Tour. While cars or bus tours are for foreign tourists, walking tours are for local residents who are learning about their area and supporting each other. The attractiveness of the tours is that people notice something quite different in how they view their neighbourhoods.

More story is in a hard copy.

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Elizabeth Carefoot

Agents of Transformation

Words by Virginia Gillespie

Displaced people travel light, often carrying only stories that become remnants to rebuild the fabric of their lineage. In the case of artist Elizabeth Carefoot, the connection with her Siberian Grandmother and her own family migration from northern China to British Columbia inspires her shamanic art objects. A retired graphic designer, she now creates an ever growing body of work called Agents of Transformation that will be on exhibit at Douglas College in September.

....More story is in a hard copy.

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Gordon Halloran

Paintings Below Zero: Questioning Canadian Identity through ICE

Interview by Tracy Stefanucc

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Although national identity is often in tangible in a country as vast and young as Canada, artist Gordon Halloran has captured the Canadian spirit in his own invented art form, Paintings Below Zero. At once serene and majestic, and rugged and survivalist, his artwork embodies a duality that is inherent to both the landscape that inspired it and the man behind it.

More story is in a hard copy.

Questioning Canadian Multiculturalism

Debunking the Fragmentation Critique of Multiculturalism

Essay by Lloyd L. Wong Photos by Myungsook Lee

Multiculturalism has never been accepted wholeheartedly by Canadians whether it was in the form of public philosophy, official state policy, or actual practice on the ground. For example public opinion polling in Canada has consistently found that a significant minority of Canadians disapprove of multiculturalism in Canada and in recent years this figure has been around 25% of the population. Read full story

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Sushi Phenomenon

evolution of the sushi culture in Metro Vancouver

Words by Sophia Kim Photos by Myungsook Lee

I have an addiction—a sushi addiction. Growing up with parents who were fanatical about sushi, I was exposed to the delicate textures of raw fish at an early age. I learned over time to master the technique of dipping the fish so that the difficult balance between the soy sauce, the stinging wasabi and the spicy pepper sauce—a Korean twist to sushi that my parents have taught me to love—can be achieved for that perfect bite. What I never realized at the time was how the culmination of techniques like this and the fervent love for the delicacy was opening up a whole new era for the sushi culture in Vancouver. Read full story

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Vancouver Latin American Film Festival

a vehicle for artistry, dialogue and understanding

Words by Tracy Stefanucci Photos by Myungsook Lee

Inspired by the lack of exposure for Latin American films — despite a decade of international cinematic breakthroughs from Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina — Victor Martinez Aja and five colleagues founded the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival in 2003. Aja says that the festival serves to promote Latin American culture through film, to use film to educate and to motivate the public on Latin American issues, and to integrate the Latin American community with the community at large. He believes that film’s unique integration of a variety of art forms — such as photography, music, and writing — allows viewers to truly experience films, making them a valuable and meaningful tool for learning about other cultures. More story is in a hard copy.

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Surrey Public and Community Art

diversity, language and place making

Words by Virginia Gillespie Photos by Myungsook Lee

Art imitates life. Public art, on a grander and more iconic scale, transcends the viewer/object relationship to include environment and the dynamic of place making. Whatever its form, public art attracts attention. In place making, both permanent and temporary works become focal points to invite interaction, transform our surroundings and challenge us to re-think our assumptions about community values and diversity. According to the Public Art Foundation, “A city with public art is a city that thinks and feels.” Read full story

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1.5 Generation?

the question of origin

Words by Sophia Kim Photos by Myungsook Lee

Growing up, so many people have asked me where I was from, and I never thought too much about it. I was from Korea if I were asked that question in Canada, and I was from Canada if I were asked that question in Korea. The contradiction was never an issue until two years ago when I was in England on an academic exchange. Read full story