I am a community organizer, artist, and facilitator living on Musqueam, Squamish and Tsliel-Waututh territories. I am the Artistic Director at Vines, and have grown with the festival since it’s beginning over the past seven years. I am so grateful to have been learning with the community of artists who percolate the work we do. I am committed to my responsibility to imagine and co-create nurturing creative spaces for artists. Outside of Vines I utilize my Somatic Education training from Tamalpa Institute to facilitate movement and expressive arts classes. In the past I have worked for Raven Spirit Dance, PuSh International Arts Festival, Dancing on the Edge and the Firehall. I love to garden at Harmony garden, X̱wemelch’stn pen̓em̓áy, hang out by a river and eat good food with community. I can sometimes be found performing in unexpected outdoor spaces with the collective Pressed Paradise.

Hiiii, you can call me Suna. I am an artist, arts educator and new mum of mixed Indigenous and settler ancestries.  On my mother’s side I am Tamang clan from the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal.  On my father’s side I am Dene Métis from Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan (Dënesųłinë́, Scottish and French), with Jewish-Ukrainian and German-speaking Dutch bloodlines.  I currently live as an uninvited and deeply grateful guest on the unceded Coast Salish homelands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations, where I was born.

My land-based practice centers around investigating the capacity of art to function as ceremony and the body as pedagogy, within the context of displacement from one’s traditional homelands.  I work through the lenses of clown, hide tanning, birthwork, and astrology as tools towards reclamation of ancestral, physiological and communal wisdom. 🩵

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in an act of rebellion, fanny walked away from nearly a decade as a social worker and headed west to pursue lifelong dreams. fanny fuses her experience as a social worker and lived experiences as a marginalized human to express her artivism through means of poetry, storytelling and community advocacy. in 2021 fanny won the Harold Green theatre monologue competition. they sit on the Curtain Razors arts board. her first book, umi's prayer was released June 2023. fanny is a Black, Sapphic, Jewish settler working towards land & relational justice.

Hi! I’m a young neurodivergent, disabled, queer and trans person from Iztacalco mexico city living in Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam territories since 2012. I joined Vines in 2019 and have been a resident grump ever since. I believe that we all deserve access to art, and that art is a powerful form of protest against oppression. Outside of Vines I also consult, facilitate, and develop programming and resources, focusing on 2STN healthcare access and disability justice in art. I strive to build strong and healthy relationships amongst marginalized communities through centering lived experience and anti-oppression.

Hi, I’m Xavier. I came to ‘Vancouver’ otherwise known as the ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territory including the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations six years ago, from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. I’m a theatre, dance and drag artist with a dense background in Musical Theatre holding a Diploma of Musical Theatre from Capilano University.

As a mixed race adoptee to a metis family I hold authenticity and intersectionality at the core of who I am and my work in the arts. I am passionate about self advocacy, and showcasing positive, dynamic stories told by BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+  voices all while doing my part in creating space for these stories to be told.

jaz is a mixed secwe̓pemc & scottish interdisciplinary artist who embodies anti-professionalism & anti-colonialism as a way to move toward a future where indigenous knowledge and ways of being are not only respected but valued & revered. using a range of materials, forms and mediums they work to investigate and express their lived experience and understanding of spirituality, resistance, ancestral connections, and community care.

jaz’s ancestry ties them to cstálen “adams lake” in unceded secwepemcúl’ecw in the southern interior of so-called “british columbia” where they had the privilege of being raised close with the lands and waters within their territories & beyond, and it informs their work expansively.

living predominantly on the west coast since 2017, the bulk of their work has bloomed within the traditional territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ, xʷməθkwəy̓əm, and Stó:lō where they have been overwhelmed with the warmheartedness, & generosity of the host nations and allied communities.

Senaqwila Wyss is from the Squamish Nation, Tsimshian, Sto:lo Hawaiian and Swiss. She is completing her Bachelors in Communications and First Nations studies at SFU. She is an ethnobotanist and warrior entrepreneur. She co-owns Raven and Hummingbird Tea Co. With mother T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss using Indigenous plant teachings to share with people of all ages. She is also sharing her knowledge to the next generation with daughter Kamaya. Senaqwila facilitates indigenous plant knowledge workshops and has experience in professional communications and coordination and event planning.

Jay (they/them) is a non binary filipinx settler in so-called "Vancouver". They work mainly as a live sound tech and dabble in DJing as well as other creative outlets when they're not mixing. Their goal in all spaces is to learn, listen, hold space and give back to the community with the skills they've acquired throughout the years.

Ivan So is a multidisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and educator who is currently working in Vancouver, BC. He has exhibited artwork at the Audain Gallery and created graphic art for Arts Club, Vancouver Playhouse, Gateway Theatre, and more. Ivan’s art practice focuses on mental health, empowering the marginalized, and environmental justice. As an educator, he is interested in integrating good pedagogy in his work and encouraging the use of art to deliver meaningful messages. Ivan So studied at Simon Fraser University and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He is currently studying Graphic Design and UX/UI design at British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Corvin Mack is a 2 Spirit artist and activist from the Wet'suwet'en nation, whose primary focus is towards building and uplifting their community around them through mutual aid, and artistry in an effort towards liberation and freedom for all through connected understanding, and self expression.

I am an immigrant from Bangladesh residing on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional lands of the musqueam, squamish andtsleil-waututh first nations. As a community advocate and activist at Downtown Eastside, I am currently responding to the opioid andfentanyl crisis, and work with the most marginalized, exploited and vulnerable population in the area. I am also a documentary photographer, artist and farmer in progress, find myself consumed in food sovereignty and involved in land justice resistance movements.

I explore what it means to be an embodied being, living in relationship to seasonal rhythms & tides while living & working in an urban setting.  A life-long interest in movement has led me to become a kinesiologist and somatic movement educator.

I embrace the perspective that nature is our true nature and that dance, movement, art, and sound are essential ways to experience and express this interconnectedness. I am honored to be a part of Vines - to participate in the co-creation of spaces and places where we get to learn, heal, and remember this together.

As a fourth-generation settler to Turtle Island, I am grateful to live on this unceded land.

Two dance pieces continue to echo in impression: Bill T Jones’ “Fete” and Liz Lerman’s “Small Dances About Big Ideas” are with me still.

Amanda is an arts producer and administrator, born and raised on the stolen lands of the Kwantlen, Tsawwassen, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations to Filipino immigrants. With a background in theatre and dance production, Amanda joined Vines as the Festival Producer at the start of 2020. Growing with Vines led her to the role of Managing Director from 2023-2024. She has since pivoted to the world of healthcare, studying as a Rehabilitation Assistant at Capilano University. Amanda is immensely grateful for the 5 years she spent on the Vines staff and for the people who made it so special—she is excited to be part of the community in a new capacity!

Cheyenne Dawn Seary is an indigenous artist of the Mi’gmaq Nation.Born and raised on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, she has aspired since her youth to create movement, dance, and to sing with diverse communities.

Having a love for dance, Cheyenne joined All Bodies Dance Project in 2015. In 2017, she performed for Vines Art Festival in an All Bodies Dance piece “Spare Parts” choreographed by Harmanie Taylor. Cheyenne is very honoured and excited to be a board member of Vines Art Festival.

Nathalie Lopez is an artist and cultural worker who mainly works in film production. Committed to issues of social justice, she also works part-time as a facilitator carrying-out workshops in schools for youth, based on the issues of systemic bias explored through short films and theater namely issues regarding gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and/or age.

Recently, she also wrote and directed two plays (in 2021, 2022) based on the lived experiences of marginalized groups using Theater of the Oppressed methodology. Her work explores topics of cultural and linguistic identity and is greatly drawn to stories around migration, gender, motherhood and exclusion.

As I’m in the world of film, I have to say that the film that most impacted me recently is Bones of Crows by Marie Clements, it is not only magnificently shot, it is a film that tells the story of Residential Schools, spanning over three generations, it shows the impact of systemic racism and cultural genocide in such a powerful way. It is hard but also full of hope for the future-greatly recommend it!

Eunice Kajoba (She/They) is an equity, diversity and inclusion consultantwith a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from York University. They haveextensive experience working within the human resources space in a variety ofindustries but most notably in the consulting and technology sectors. Eunice isa highly knowledgeable advisor, workshop facilitator and public speaker to bothinternal and external groups at local and national levels.Shecombines her knowledge and experience of HR practices, intersectionalframeworks and equity focused strategies in all elements of her work in orderto help organizations achieve impactful and long-term success.

Contact Information
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekajoba/
Consulting Website: https://www.monachopsisconsulting.com/