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CURRENT 2023
JULY 21 - 23

EVENTS all by-donation

About

CURRENT is an intersectional, multidisciplinary, music and electronic art initiative which began in 2017 as an annual multi-day event featuring artistic and educational programming for and by women, trans and non-binary people, and BIPOC artists. In 2019, CURRENT evolved into a mentorship program to nurture more cultural producers in Vancouver and beyond.

ARTISTS + COMMUNITY

Colloboh

Dax Heaven

Eli Muro

Feven Tesfay

Lunr Girl

Maya Preshyon

Publik Secrets

Pearl Wong

Reylinn

Russell Chiong

Simon Grefiel

T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss

Image of the artist Colloboh

Colloboh

Colloboh (a portmanteau of Collins Oboh) is a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based experimental producer and composer who has spent the past several years cultivating genre-spanning modular wizardry. A self-taught synthesist, Colloboh’s DIY recording diaries (still archived on Instagram) quickly amassed a dedicated online following, eventually catching the eye of Leaving Records founder, MatthewDavid, who wasted no time tapping the then-twenty-six-year-old to perform at the monthly Leaving showcase, Listen to Music Outside In The Daylight Under a Tree. In 2021, Colloboh permanently relocated to Los Angeles from Baltimore, dedicating himself to music full-time, and quickly becoming a fixture of the city’s vibrant experimental scene. Whereas Colloboh’s debut EP Entity Relation (released that same year) dove headlong into club beats, Saana Sahel, out May 5th 2023 on Leaving Records, showcases the breadth of the fledgeling composer’s ambitions.

Image of the artist Eli Muro

Dax Heaven 許雅慧 (Chinatown Today)

Dax Heaven 許雅慧 (they/them/theirs) is a first-generation Chinese settler and multidisciplinary artist, writer and photographer raised on Snuneymuxw territories. Their practice is informed by their continuous curiosity on the phenomenon of boundaries. Through the joining of a variety of mediums, their multi-media work highlights the interconnectedness amongst all things in the universe. They currently live and work on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Image of the artist Eli Muro

Eli Muro

Eli Muro is a music producer , DJ and artist , creating genre blurring instrumental electronic music. As a cofounder of Chapel Sound he has helped facilitate the growth of the local Vancouver music scene for over a decade. As a DJ and live performer,a vast set of influences has led to sharing the stage with artists across the spectrum of sound and style from Mndsgn to Hudson Mohawke. His studio productions incorporate instrumentalists and electronic music techniques to create a unique blend of serene and dance ready beats with worldly influence.

Image of the artist Feven Tesfay

Feven Tesfay (VBL)

Born and based in East Vancouver. Feven Tesfay is an Ethiopian community organizer, writer and student. She is currently serving as Vancouver Black Library’s community outreach coordinator.

Image of the artist Lunr Girl

Lunr Girl

Lunr Girl is the stage name of Keira Madsen, an electronic musician, producer, and performer currently based in so-called Vancouver. Her beat-based ambient music often incorporates semi-intelligible vocals that shift in form from evocative harmonies to rhythmic accents and fragmented phrases that hint at enigmatic narratives. Inspired by the rhythms of Four Tet and the dreamy pop vocals of Kelly Lee Owens, Lunr Girl blurs genre boundaries, merging introspection with dancefloor energy. Keira graduated from Emily Carr University of Art & Design in May 2023 and was the recipient of the John C. Kerr Chancellor Emeritus Award for Excellence in Media Arts.

Image of the artist Maya Preshyon

Maya Preshyon (VBL)

Maya Preshyon (she/they) is a 22-year-old undergraduate prospective Social Work and Indigenous Studies student at UBC and community/arts organizer. She was born on Vancouver Island on the traditional territories of the Wei Wai Kum Nation and now resides in so-called “vancouver” on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Sel̓íl̓witulh people. She is the founder and Executive Director of the newly opened Vancouver Black Library Foundation. As a Black person who has struggled to find their place in predominantly white spaces, Maya was motivated to cultivate a safe space, resource centre, and workspace for the often overlooked and underserved Black community locally. VBL, centred in the historic Hogan’s Alley area, is a space for BIPOC and by BIPOC.

Image of the artist Maya Preshyon

Pearl Wong (Chinatown Today)

Pearl Wong (they/them) is a new immigrant in "Vancouver" who currently serves as Vice President of Chinatown Today and co-chairs Lunar New Year For All (NYC). They are a social justice advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility. Their organizing experience is shaped by their work in SF Dyke March (2012-2014), NYC Dyke March (2016-2019), and Q-Wave NYC (2017-2021).

Image of the artist Publik Secrets

Publik Secrets

Publik Secrets is the umbrella for a constellation of multi-disciplined projects led by Robyn Jacob and George Rahi. Currently in residence at the Hadden Park fieldhouse, their work has included a variety of public space interventions, performances, installations, and ephemeral gatherings thematically connected to the idea of the soundscape (or acoustic commons), as a participatory space. Their projects frequently involve collaborating with artists and community members in open ended activities to spark critical conversations and take creative risks. Some of their ongoing projects include the ensemble Gamelan Bike Bike and the interactive installation 'Musical Playground'.

Image of the artist Reylinn

Reylinn

Reylinn is a Vancouver based audio/visual artist and technician, DJ, and radio host. They’re a founding member of Acceleration Radio, an open format FM radio, live stream and events collective with a focus on audio/visual experimentation. Attracted to the contrasting aesthetics of the natural and synthetic, their live performances recontextualize audio and video recordings captured in daily life for spaces of catharsis.

Image of the artist Reylinn

Russell Chiong 陳永強 (Chinatown Today)

Russell Chiong (he/him) is a Cantonese diasporic settler residing on unceded xwməθkwəyəm, Skxwú7mesh, and səlilwətaʔɬ territories. Chinatown has shaped not only his family history, but his cultural identity as well. He is currently studying environmental law, and has a background in environmental science and Asian-Canadian and Asian migration studies. Russell joined the Chinatown Today board of directors in 2020 as Treasurer, and is excited to step into this new role as President.

Image of the artist Reylinn

Simon Grefiel (VBL)

Simon Grefiel is an artist, cultural worker, and a woodworker currently based on unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh). Grefiel is the Strategy Coordinator for Vancouver Black Library and has worked at non-profits such as Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A) and 221A. As a visual artist, Grefiel’s work has been exhibited and screened at Vancouver Art Gallery, Libby Leshgold Gallery, Will Aballe Art Projects in Vancouver and Gallery TPW in Toronto, ON.

Image of the artist Cease Wyss

T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss

Dr T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss is an Indigenous Matriarch of the Skwxwu7mesh, Sto:lo andHawaiian people. Through her work as an ethnobotanist, artist, activist and community-based educator, she strives to share Indigenous customs, teachings, and futures and to connect with other Indigenous peoples. Wyss’s thirty-year career encompasses a vast array of practices, from weaving, developing traditional indigenous remedies, medicine  and cultural walks to the realm of Indigi Digital Futurisms. T’uy’t’tanat’s interactive, community-based work is insightful and informative of their contemporary conditions. Wyss is a collaborator, deeply involved in community building and finds dialogue with communities crucial in exchanging knowledge and critical in preserving Indigenous understanding of the land and ecosystems. Wyss has shared these teachings in public institutions and organizations and has participated in creative and collaborative projects that share the many different methods of indigenous cultures in stewarding this effort in preservation.

PARTNERS

TEAM

Alanna Ho

Co-Producer CURRENT +
INTER/MEDIATE

Soledad Fátima Muñoz

Co-Founder, Co-Producer
CURRENT

Nancy Lee 李南屏

Co-Founder, Co-Producer
CURRENT + CHAPEL SOUND

Muro Studio

Web Design
CHAPEL SOUND

Venom–s Studio

Graphic Design