The National Transformation Project

What would it take to transform our society for the betterment of all?

This is a national project in which live performance companies from across Canada are asking some of their favourite artists to approach the above question in whatever way they see fit. These artists have been asked to imagine a path between now and a better future – to imagine if that’s even possible, and, if so, what it might entail. Works are being gathered and showcased on the National Arts Centre website.

The Chop commissioned three works by four incredible artists:

Kathleen Duborg & Piril Sesli
Disturbed Places :: a Dialogue

K. Ho
dreams of whiteness

Katie Voravong
What we Make

We encourage you to check out the above works and the many others that are a part of the project.

Neighbourhood Originals

West End Originals
Summer, 2018

The first of our live interview series about everything from living in small spaces to dreaming big dreams.

West End Originals was a live interview series hosted by Omari Newton that we debuted in Summer, 2018. The Chop ran 8 weekly episodes that were free and open to all people of all ages with coffee, tea and snacks provided. The event took place in a wheelchair accessible venue, Three Quarters Full Cafe, a Taiwanese coffee shop in the Denman Place Mall.

We set out to learn about the most dense and colourful neighbourhood in Vancouver, so we asked things like: what’s a regular West End day? What makes a good neighbour? Where’s the best place to get pants hemmed? What are you most proud of? Is all this construction noise driving you bonkers? What brought you to this neighbourhood? What does the future hold? We heard from elders, newcomers, evicted residents and our local MP. The event grew in popularity and by the end of the series, we were having to turn people away at the door!

The backstory of Originals…

After years of being on tour and spending lots of time out of town, AD’s Anita and Emelia found that we were not as connected to their own neighbourhoods as they wanted to be. Out of that concern cane the idea to create the Originals series (way before Netflix debuted LA Originals, just for the record) with the goal of getting to know their neighbours. They hope to keep the project moving through lots of our beloved city neighbourhoods.