lines-of-flight-slide UBC Colloquium 2017

Lines of Flight: Improvisation, Hope and Refuge

June 24-25, 2017
Associated Concerts until June 29, 2017 (see listings below)
The University of British Columbia, Robson Campus, Room C400
10:00am – 5:00pm
Free and Open to the Public

In a world marked by social and cultural upheavals, what can the improvising arts contribute to hopeful forms of public mobilization? How do demonstrations, protests and marches build from spontaneity and spontaneity ? How do theatrical, musical and artistic practices of improvisation intervene the politics of belonging or of responsible citizenship? Does improvisation provide means of escape or means of hopeful transformation? How do the improvisational arts address the refugee crisis? Can improvisation shape forms of social justice? How might listeners and practitioners become what Dave and Iola Brubeck presciently called “Real Ambassadors”? How can music, as Jayne Cortez once put it, call you to fly home “when you didn’t have / a home to fly to”?

Schedule

Saturday, June 24th

10:00am         Welcome, Acknowledgement and Opening Remarks
Kevin McNeilly, University of British Columbia
Improvisation in Scattered Times

10:30am         Artist Presentation
Cat Toren(BC/USA)
HUMAN KIND

11:30am-12:30pm       Keynote
Sara Ramshaw, University of Exeter and University of Victoria
Hope, Refuge, Justice: The Ethics and Trauma of Improvisation

12:30pm-1:30pm         Afternoon Break

1:30pm-2:00pm           Website Launch
Janey Dodd, University of British Columbia
iicsi.arts.ubc.ca

2:00pm-3:00pm           Artist Keynote
Julia Ulehla and Aram Bajakian (USA/BC)
Dalava: The Book of Transfigurations

3:00 – 4:30pm             Panel 1: Emerging Scholarship
Zoe Laks, University of British Columbia
Seances:Investigating Mediated Memory and Self-Actualization in the Digital Age

Ian Thut, Ryerson University
Combatting Prejudice Through Free Improvised Music

Max Wainwright, University of British Columbia
“That’s Just the Way It Has to Be”: Reflections on Recording with the Vancouver Rock Band, Be Afraid

 Sunday, June 25th

10:00am-10:30am       Welcome, Acknowledgement and Opening Remarks
Kevin McNeilly, University of British Columbia
Improvisation in Scattered Times

10:30am-11:30am       Artist Interview
Les Fillesde Illighadad (Niger)
Fatou Seidi Ghali, Madassani Ahmoudou, Alamnou Akrouni

11:30am-12:30pm       Keynote
Tom Scholte, University of British Columbia
Improvising Reconciliation:Dancing with Complexity in Theatre for Living’s “šxʷʔam̓ət (home) 

12:30pm-1:30pm         Afternoon Break

1:30pm-2:30pm           Artist Keynote
John Hollenbeck (USA/Quebec)

2:30pm-3:30pm           Artist Presentation
Ig Henneman & Ab Baars (Netherlands)

3:30pm-4:30pm           Panel 2: Emerging Scholarship
Meena Kahlon, Simon Fraser University
Bonded Whether Bare or Bearded: Communities in Self Constructed Feminine Facial Hair in the Sikh Diaspora

Tobias Ewé, University of British Columbia
Disrupting Flow: Against an Aesthetics of Immersion

Associated Concerts (Free to the Public)

  • Les Filles de Illighadad     Georgia Stage @ VAG June 24 2:15 pm
  • IgHenneman/Lisa Miller/Jeff Younger/Ingrid Laubrock/Skye Brooks Ironworks June 26 5:00 pm

Associated Concerts (Ticketed)

  • Dálava Ironworks June 23 8:30 pm (Julia Ulehla and Aram Bajakian)
  • Perch Hen Brock & Rain Ironworks June 26 8:30 pm (IgHenneman and AbBaars)
  • Turning Point Ensemble  SFU Woodwards June 27 & 28 8:00pm (John Hollenbeck)
  • Claudia Quintet   Ironworks June 29 8:30 pm (John Hollenbeck)
  • HUMAN KIND   Ironworks June 30 8:30 pm (Cat Toren)

Associated Artist Presentation and Performance (Free to the Public)

Electroacoustic Aerials  UBC Robson Campus (Room C485) June 27 Noon (François Houle & Jeannette Hicks)