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Maraya Project: The Seawalls of Vancouver and Dubai

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 to Sunday, May 20, 2012

Maraya is an art project that looks at the relationship between urban waterfronts in Vancouver and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Through photography, video, public art, public programmes and an interactive online platform, new forms of urban living pioneered in both countries are explored, showing how we are connected in ways that are both familiar and surprising. Maraya — from the Arabic m’raya for “mirror” or “reflection” — connects the glass and steel residential towers that line the seawall walkways of Emaar’s Dubai Marina and Concord Pacific Place along False Creek, looking at these two cities that are leaders of 21st century urbanism.

Public presentations include exhibitions at Museum of Vancouver, Art Dubai 2012, Jam Jar Gallery (Dubai), and Centre A (Vancouver). A Canada Innovation Fund / Department of Canadian Heritage supported website with state-of-the-art online visualization tools invites interaction and participation with the project. Collaborations with UAE-based universities will catalyze dialogue and international exchange about culture, education and contemporary art.

Led by Henry Tsang, M. Simon Levin, and Glen Lowry, Maraya draws on expertise from artists, educators, scientists, theorists, urban planners and architects. Project sponsors include BC Arts Council, Social Sciences Humanities Research Council, Roundhouse Community and Arts Centre and Emily Carr University of Art & Design.

Learn more about the Maraya Project:

Visit the Maraya Project website
Read a review in the Georgia Straight (from when the project was at Centre A)

March 08, 2012 / 6:30 PM

Networked Urban Flows: Maraya = Reflection

Join the researchers and artists of the Maraya Project for an in-depth discussion of the inspiration, challenges, and aspirations that gave rise to their innovative media art installation. Taking its name from the Arabic word m’raya, meaning mirror, reflection, or mirage, Maraya uses network technology to create visual and conceptual links between Vancouver’s False Creek and the Dubai Marina.

Maraya explores the nexus of an emerging global geography and new forms of urban living. Taking its cue from the glass and steel residential towers that line the upscale urban waterfronts of Emaar’s Dubai Marina and Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver, this project focuses on the urban innovations that have become the cornerstone of new and rising economies, and it invites participants to reflect on their involvement in the creation of a new 21^st century city.

Led by M. Simon Levin, Glen Lowry and Henry Tsang, Maraya’s creative team draws on expertise from artists, educators, scientists, theorists, urban planners and architects to provide unique opportunities for urbanites to share experiences and develop meaningful dialogue and cultural exchange around questions of global development and mobility. This dialogue-based project sets out a model for how cutting-edge technology combined with cutting-edge public art might come together to promote international, intercultural exchange.

Support to date includes the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council, Emily Carr University, British Columbia Arts Council, Banff New Media Institute, and the City of Vancouver. Project partners include Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A), Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Interactive Fund. The Maraya Project is on view in the MOV Studio from February 29 through May 20, 2012.

$12 includes admission to feature exhibitions Art Deco Chic & Neon/Ugly Vancouver

Members Free | *doors open 6:00pm, talk at 6:30pm. Reception to follow.

March 30, 2012 / 7:30 PM

Songs of the False Creek Flats: Reflections, with Veda Hille & Annabel Vaughan

Doors at 6:30PM
Performance at 7:30PM
*music and reception to follow

MOV Members $15 | General Admission $17 | Student rate $10 (*with valid ID)

Limited Advance Tickets available online: http://falsecreeksongs.eventbrite.com/

Explore geographic areas included in the Maraya project in this intimate performance of an original song cycle by local folk musician and city singer Veda Hille, accompanied by a visual narrative by Annabel Vaughan (intern architect and city thinker). The work and performance animate a vast area of the city that currently lies dormant — The False Creek Flats.

Veda and Annabel have been looking into the history and mythology of False Creek with the aim of presenting a fresh look at the area in music, talk, and pictures. Audience members will also be given a hand-drawn artist map in order to take themselves on a local walk after the show, at their leisure.

Songs of the False Creek Flats offers a natural complement to the MOV Studio exhibition, Maraya, where visitors are invited to view the remarkable similarities between Vancouver's False Creek and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Learn more about the Maraya Project., which opens Feb. 29 at the MOV.

April 19, 2012 / 7:00 PM

Behind the Mirror: Stanley Kwok in Conversation with Trevor Boddy

Go behind-the-scenes of the planning behind the development of False Creek North and the Dubai Marina in this talk with Stanley Kowk, architect/developer, facilitated by Trevor Boddy, architecture critic and curator. Discover how Vancouver has been situated in the nexus of emerging global geographies and new forms of urban living.

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Stanley Kwok was President of BC Place Corporation from 1983-1987 where he oversaw the management of BC Place Stadium. Later, he was instrumental in developing two significant master plans: the 160 acre, $3 Billion Concord Pacific Place along False Creek on the former Expo '86 grounds, and the 1,000 acre waterfront development for Emaar Properties known as the Dubai Marina.

Trevor Boddy has written on architecture and cities for the Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Seattle Times, Georgia Straight, Architectural Review, Architectural Record and global design magazines published in German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Arabic. Boddy lectures globally on contemporary design and city-building, and his art criticism has appeared in Canadian Art and Vanguard magazines plus numerous exhibition catalogues.

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This presentation is part of The Maraya Project, which focuses on the urban innovations that have become the cornerstone of new and rising economies, as it invites participants to reflect on their involvement in the creation of a new 21st century city. Maraya Project: The Seawalls of Vancouver and Dubai, is on view at the Museum of Vancouver between February 29 - May 20, 2012.

Doors: 6:30PM
Talk begins: 7:00PM
Reception to follow, with cash bar and light refreshments.

Tickets: $15 | MOV Members, Students & RAIC* Members $10 *please bring ID
*eligible for 2 Core LUs
Advance tickets online: http://behindmaraya.eventbrite.com/

Event registration for Behind the Mirror: Stanley Kwok in Conversation with Trevor Boddy @MOV powered by Eventbrite

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