Sept. 23 Hip Hapa Hooray Gala
Hapa-palooza Festival's special gala awards evening, including live music, hapa-tizers by Open Sesame Foods, and mixed drinks.
Friday, September 23rd, 2016: 7-9 pm @ CBC Studio 700, 700 Hamilton St., Vancouver.
Doors open 6:30pm
Please register for free entry via this link! SPACE IS LIMITED SO RESERVE EARLY.
This special awards night will start the celebration for Hapa-palooza's 2016 festival! Guests can enjoy some delicious “hapa-tizers” by Open Sesame, mixed drinks and music. The evening hosted by comedian, Sean Yap Sei-Been Devlin, and will feature a keynote address by author and Roundhouse Radio host Minelle Mahtani. Three inspiring community members of mixed heritage will be recognized including esteemed Elder Larry Grant, author Minelle Mahtani and music video director Director X. Guests can mingle and enjoy a visual art display highlighting mixed identity by Maria T. Allocco and Lauren Brevner, live music, storytelling and comedy.
Keynote Address and Award Recipient (Community Builder Award) – Minelle Mahtani
Minelle is an author, journalist and Associate Professor of Human Geography and Planning, and the Program in Journalism at University of Toronto-Scarborough. She has written two books: Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality and Global Mixed Race. She has worked in the not-for-profit sector in Vancouver for the former firm IMPACS – Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society - and sits on the steering committee of UBC’s journalism school. She is former President of the Association for Canadian Studies and has won several awards, including a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award for her contributions to journalism. She is a former CBC TV journalist who worked on The National. Minelle took a sabbatical from University of Toronto to take on an exciting role at Roundhouse Radio.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Elder Larry Grant
Elder Larry Grant is of mixed Chinese and Musqueam ancestry. Born on a hop field as a premature baby in Agassiz, B.C., Grant was raised in Musqueam traditional territory. After retiring as a longshoreman, Grant enrolled in the First Nations Languages Program at the University of British Columbia to reconnect with his mother’s ancestral language, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. Through this transformational process Grant achieved his goal of learning how to welcome people to Musqueam territory using the language, discovered his aptitude for sharing stories, and developed a strong passion for revitalizing hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓.
He is featured in two short videos “Not Belonging” and “Intertwining Cultures” produced by Chinese Canadian Stories relating to his experience as a person of mixed heritage. Larry and his siblings are featured in the upcoming documentary "All Our Father's Relations" (2016), which tells the story of their journey from Vancouver to China in an attempt to rediscover their father’s roots and better understand his fractured relationship with their Musqueam mother. Larry is also the co-author of the multilingual Musqueam children's book "Let's Take a Walk!" with Sarah Ling.
Larry is presently assisting in revitalizing hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ in the Musqueam Language and Culture Department, and co-teaching the introductory hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ course through UBC. He is the Elder-in-Residence at UBC's First Nations House of Learning, a Faculty Fellow at St. John's College, and the inaugural Honorary Life Fellow for Green College.
AWARD RECIPIENT (INNOVATOR AWARD) – DIRECTOR X (ATTENDANCE TBC)
Director X was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and is of Trinidadian and Swiss descent. Moving to New York City he became the protégé of pioneering hip hop director Hype Williams, X has been noted for directing high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music artists, including Drake, Nelly Furtado, David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, Kardinal Off-ishal, Sean Paul, R. Kelly, Usher, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Rihanna, LL Cool J, Brandy, Diddy and Korn. His work has been nominated and awarded by the MTV music video awards and MuchMusic Video Music Awards.
Master of Ceremony - Sean Devlin 叶 世民
Irish and Filipino Sean Yap Sei-Been Devlin is a comedian, filmmaker, and activist. He has been performing stand up comedy since he was a teenager and has been active in the climate justice movement for 4 years. He is a direct action trainer and a thought stylist at the Yes Men's Yes Lab for creative activism.