Letter to the City Council of Vancouver

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Media Presence, Talks
April 3, 2019/by
Below is a speech that I gave to the City Council of Vancouver during the council meeting of Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities on April 3, 2019, specifically for the 2019 Cultural Grants Allocations (Operating/Annual/Projects/Capacity) live audio recording: https://www.dropbox.com/s/smhv0frnq2bfhzm/20190402%20sammy%20city%20council%20speech-trimmed.mp3?dl=0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Sammy Chien, I am a Vancouver based interdisciplinary artist. I am also the artistic director of Chimerik 似不像 collective. I was...
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Flow(er) 蓅


Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Dance, Inspiring People, Life, New Media, News
September 12, 2018/by
Flow(er) 蓅
 After more than 2 years, Sammy Chien & Dong Mei are finally presenting their co-choreographed performance work, Flow(er). The idea behind the project was a bit wild; and, at the time, most of presenters didn’t see Sammy as a choreographer. They also didn’t know who Dong Mei was (a new immigrant dance artist from Beijing, but a pretty big deal in China). But,...
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Completion of SFU Student internship

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Dance, Inspiring People, Life, New Media, News
September 6, 2018/by
It was such a pleasure to work with SFU student, Kimia Yazdi, who just interned with Chimerik 似不像 for the Summer 2018 semester. Our first student intern! I'd like to share the report and some of the process, documented by Kimia. In Kimia's words... I was thrilled to see that there was an opportunity to have an internship with the collective that he co-founded. Chimerik is an...
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Community Formed from Displacement

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Inspiring People, Life, Love, New Media, News, Travel, Writing
July 3, 2018/by
After I flew into Nainaimo and did our first day of tech at the Port Theatre for The Sun and the Moon, I went to get some groceries to make dinner at the condo I’m staying at. I walked by the this Tent City thing, which seemed similar to what has been going on in the DTES but with a much higher concentration in...
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The Sun and the Moon

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Dance, Inspiring People, Life, Love, Media Presence, New Media, News, Uncategorized
July 3, 2018/by
Sammy's new video/projection design work for dance with Chimerik 似不像 (with design assistant Kimia Koochakzadeh), we premiere the work on July 5th in Nanaimo and then we're back in Vancouver for Dancing on the Edge Festival July 9 & 11, 2018. The Sun and the Moon Development, choreography and direction by Holly Bright based on a story of the same name by Snuneymuxw author, Celestine Aleck. Co-created...
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Proximity Remix at the Queer Arts Festival

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Dance, Inspiring People, Life, Love, Media Presence, New Media, News, Uncategorized
June 26, 2018/by
Proximity Remix opened last night at the Queer Arts Festival! MACHiNENOiSY Dance Society, has been working on the concept of this project for half a decade. Each project invites new LGBTQ2+ identified youth participants to workshop and create a performance based on their stories. As the project evolves, they are turning the dialogue from gender politics and integrating racism and other social issues as...
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Camera Obscura (Hungry Ghosts)

Activism/Social Change, Inspiring People, Life, Love, Media Presence, New Media, News, Uncategorized
June 21, 2018/by
I’ve waited a while to post about this project because the weight and significance of it is so tremendous. I wanted to focus all my energy on preparing for the show. The show has finally opened, beautifully and successfully. I’m so happy to finally announce this big, heavy project about this super important, pioneer in the artist community, whose work touches on issues of...
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Marathassa Free Performance

Activism/Social Change, Dance, News
June 2, 2018/by
This was a painful show but we’re doing this again! To stand against Kinder Morgan and the Trudeau government’s decision on using our tax dollar to purchase an old leaky pipeline that can potentially destroy our health and the environment. Sammy will be performing as part of this outdoor activism-performance with Pressed Paradise and many amazing local artists to raise environmental awareness on issues of...
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Open Letter to the Vancouver Art Gallery

Activism/Social Change, Arts Community, Feedbacks, Inspiring People, Writing
April 24, 2018/by
I wrote a letter to the Vancouver Art Gallery after attending an art tour in Mandarin Chinese for the Takashi Murakami show, I thought this letter might just be read by their costumer service, or might not even make it to anyone— I can’t believe that in the end, not only they read it so carefully, the letter even went viral in the VAG...
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