This year’s theme for the What The Plus (+) festival will be creative self-portraits – beyond the selfie.
Featuring a group LGBTQ2S+ art exhibition, artist talks and writers’ workshop, the festival will run from July 22 to August 7 at The Art Centre – qathet public art gallery, above Powell River Public Library.
Opening night will begin on July 22 at 5:30 pm with a welcoming introduction from Koosen Pielle and an artist talk by Prashant Miranda.
The big event of the festival will be on July 31, from 2 to 4 pm, with an LGBTQ2S+ memoir writing workshop (space limited) hosted by Andrea Bennett. The workshop will be titled: Writing the Self, When the Self is in Flux.
Bennett will be running a two-hour workshop for local LGBTQ2S+ artists and writers who are interested in learning more about writing their stories.
“We’ll start with a writing exercise to write a scene from life,” said Bennett. “We’ll chat about research techniques for memoir. And finally, we’ll talk about pitching and publication.
“Basically, oftentimes when we realize we’re queer, there is a process of becoming that occurs, where that has to do with gender, or sexuality. And it maybe takes us longer to figure out our life paths, how to build queer family and community, how and where we fit into society. Sometimes, where we arrive is just embracing that sense of being in flux. How to write through that, and identify memoir pieces that arise from that, is something we’ll talk about.”
Bennett, a national magazine award-winning writer (one poetry book, two travel guides, one book of essays) and editor based in Powell River, said it will be a relatively small, in-person workshop, with masks required. All skill levels are welcome and encouraged.
During the festival, at the art gallery, there is also what is called the Q(uee)R Zine, which is an interactive gallery guide/mini fanzine with submissions from all over.
Featured artists include Brian Baxter (painting, sculpture), Alfred Bolster (photography, installation), Erika Gail (fibre arts, embroidery and tapestry) Angelica Hamilton (mixed media and painting), Miranda (painting and illustration), Kathryn Neun (mixed media), The Noise (mixed media, painting, installation), Kate Parkinson (illustration), Chris Roberts (painting), Giovanni Spezzacatena/rabideye (curator, painting, animation), Jenny Taves, (painting), Earle Thompson (photography) and Makaila Wenezenki (painting, video).
Speakers include Bennett (author and workshop leader), Miranda and Pielle.
According to a media release, this year’s LGBTQ2S+ art festival is moving beyond the inaugural event in 2020, where the gradient implications of the + was the focus. The release states that this year’s theme of creative self-portraits – beyond the selfie-themed show celebrates the queer self-portrait as a way to further develop the local queer conversation, as efforts are made to strive toward greater queer visibility and understanding.
The gallery hours, for those wanting to see the exhibition, are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from noon to 5 pm. Attendance is free of charge and public health orders are to be observed.
For more information, email [email protected].
