Suzhou Alley Women’s Mural – educational toolkit project manager/editor, 2024
The Suzhou Alley Women’s Mural is a community-driven commemorative mural and storytelling project celebrating the contributions and legacies of the women who helped shape Vancouver’s Chinatown and community.
Working closely with a team of secondary school teachers, we created lesson plans, activities, and extensive learning resources to introduce the lives of Chinese Canadian women. It is a free online resource for youth in grades 9-12. Check it out here: Suzhou Alley Women’s Mural Educational Toolkit
Firehorse and Shadow, 2022-2023, Andrea Nann & Sarah Chase of Dreamwalker Dance Co.
Collaborated with the artists at Dreamwalker Dance Co. to program a series of community workshops, filming sessions, and live events to uncover the matrilineal stories of Vancouver’s Chinatown. A short film featuring the stories (including me talking about my mother and grandmother!) is on view during open hours at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre’s Rogers Theatre.
Night Shift Cabaret, 2017-2018, MOA, Vancouver, BC
Conceived and directed a monthly cabaret series featuring diverse and experimental acts in dance, music, theatre, burlesque, virtual reality, spoken word, and comedy.
Highlights include:
Night Shift: Experimental Ink – live performances by Sammy Chien of Chimerik 似不像 , Assembly Dance Theatre from Taiwan, Kimura Tsubasa from Japan, and cellist Marina Hasselberg.
Night Shift: Asian Fusion – stand up with Julie Kim and Ash Dhawan, a preview of Tetsuro Shigematsu’s 1 Hour Photo, and musical performance by Kimmortal.
Night Shift: Untamed -Indigenous burlesque night with Virago Nation and DJ Kookum.
Night Shift: Quantum Futures -co-hosted with Curiosity Collider, dive deep into quantum physics through hands-on activities, dance, & virtual reality.
Night Shift: Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead Festival – interactive theatre and painting
Blackout Night Sky Festival, 2017, MOA, Vancouver, BC.
Inspired by the global dark sky movement, I produced & directed a week-long festival featuring Indigenous storytellers, astronomers, and diverse performers to celebrate the Perseid meteor showers.
Read more: “Meteor Gazing at the Museum of Anthropology” by Shawn Conner
Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia, 2017 program series, MOA, Vancouver, BC
Read more in Traces of Words, a full-length publication that includes a chapter I authored titled “Beyond Words: Visual Poetics in the Contemporary Arts of Asia” (2016, Fig. 1)
April Liu, PhD 