The Powell Street Festival Society has revealed several artistic highlights at its upcoming celebration of Japanese Canadian culture.
In a news release issued today, the society said that the 48th annual Powell Street Festival will include a screening of filmmaker and artist Cindy Mochizuki’s documentary Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama. It’s described as “a multimedia exploration of the late Japanese Canadian photographer and 1960s civil rights activist”.
Back in those days, Wakayama joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. It gained international respect and admiration for shining a light on white racism in the U.S. South by supporting Freedom Rides and sit-in campaigns. A U.S. civil rights icon, John Lewis, was chair of the SNCC from 1963 to 1966.
The film about Wakayama screened at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival earlier this year. A Nisei born in B.C. in 1942, he also campaigned against the Vietnam War. Wakayama later travelled to Japan where he gained new insights about racism, his past, and his identity.
“Japan was a bridge that brought me back to the West Coast where my life began,” Wakayama said in an artist’s statement in the Japanese Canadian Artists Directory. “In Vancouver, I became part of the explosive creativity of the revitalization of the Nikkei community which gave birth to the exhibit and book A Dream of Riches: The Japanese Canadians, 1877-1977, the Redress Movement and the Powell Street Festival.”
Wakayama died in 2018. According to Mochizuki’s website, the documentary includes live action and animation. Milena Salazar is the cinematographer and editor, whereas Wen Wen (Cherry) Lu is the lead production artist and oversaw animation compositing.
Watch the trailer for Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama.
Music and literature at Powell Street Festival
Other highlights include an appearance by one of Japan’s master craftspeople of the bamboo shakuhachi flute, Ryuho Shakuhachi Kai.
In addition, there will be performances by local musicians. One band, Kotojiro, features Pico Masako, who sings vocals and plays the koto and guzheng. Her bandmates are Seira Hayakashi and Yujiro Nakajima and they integrate western instruments, such as guitar and piano, into their shows.
Kotojiro plays folk, Latin, New Age, and world music, drawing upon musical traditions from different cultures.
Another performer of Japanese ancestry is Vancouver hafu vocalist Kimiko Dorey, a.k.a. Kimiko. She will be making her third appearance at the festival. Proudly sensei, Kimiko is a soloist with the YVR Pop Choir, as well as a social-justice educator and plus model.
The festival also includes events for lovers of literature. Sisters of the Spruce author Leslie Shimotakahara will deliver a reading. As well, Mata Ashita, Michael Prior, and Leanne Toshiko Simpson will host an intergenerational creative writing circle.
All events are free at the Powell Street Festival, which will take place at several locations in the historic Paueru Gai neighbourhood on August 3 and 4. Like in previous years, it will include a large community gathering along with food and entertainment in Oppenheimer Park.
On July 18, the society will release its full festival schedule. For more information, visit the Powell Street Festival website.
Update
The full Powell Street Festival is now available online.
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