Book Launch: Pedestrian Protest with special performance by Vanessa Goodman

Join us to celebrate the launch of the Gallery publication Pedestrian Protest and the community that brought it to life.  

Part artist book, part project documentation, Pedestrian Protest chronicles the contributions of more than twenty dancers, visual artists and activists who collaborated with Evann Siebens and Keith Doyle on their multimedia installation at Offsite in 2021. The book includes an introductory essay by Senior Curator Diana Freundl, a visual essay by Siebens, based on her archival research, and excerpts from interviews with each of the participants.

The event will begin in the Gallery with a performance of Soft Currents by Vanessa Goodman, Artistic Director of Action at a Distance. Inspired by the mesmerizing movements of starling murmurations, Soft Currents explores the concept of collective responsibility. 

Performance Journey: 

• Start: The performance will begin in the Gallery space at 2 PM.
• Midpoint: The audience will follow the performers to the Gallery Forecourt.
• Final Stop: Performance concludes on the 4th Floor in the Emily Carr exhibition space.

The full performance experience will run for approximately 40 minutes. 

Following the performance, attendees will be directed to Room 4East for the Pedestrian Protest book launch, which will conclude with an informal reception in the Rooftop Pavilion, where guests can mingle, enjoy refreshments and purchase copies of the book. Books are also available from the Gallery Store. Find out more »

This event is FREE for Gallery Members and Access Pass Holders or with Gallery admission. Spaces are limited. Registration is required to attend the book launch.

REGISTER NOW

Guests are welcome to attend the full event or choose to join just for the performance or the book launch segment. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Vanessa Goodman acknowledges that she lives, works and creates on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University and is the artistic director of Action at a Distance Dance Society. She is drawn to art that carries meaning beyond aesthetics, using choreography as a means to explore liminal expressions within the human condition. Her choreographic practice weaves together generative movement and sonic embodiment to create immersive performative environments. Through her work, she seeks to cultivate intimacy between the body and its surroundings, challenging conventional forms of performative hierarchy through collaborative approaches. She has received several awards and honours, including The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013), The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18), The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019 & 2024), the Schultz Endowment from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019), The Isadora Award (2025) and participation in the “Space to Fail” program (2019/20) through Hyde Productions (NZ), Critical Path (AU) and The Dance Centre (CA). Longstanding collaborations include “Graveyards and Gardens” with Caroline Shaw, “BLOT” with Simona Deaconsecu and multiple works with Loscil (Scott Morgan), Brady Marks and James Proudfoot. Her work has toured Canada, the United States, Europe and South America. actionatadistance.ca 

Evann Siebens and Keith Doyle collaborated with 43 artists for the making of Pedestrian Protest, both for the original public artwork at Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite in 2021 and now in book form. Siebens makes media, performance and photos with movement, with recent exhibitions at Trieste Contemporanea, Italy; Cloud Seven and Wil Aballe, Brussels; MACBA, Barcelona; and Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam. Doyle is Associate Dean, Associate Professor of Design + Dynamic Media at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He is a Co-Director of Material Matters, which was featured in the Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition Fashion Fictions in 2023. Doyle will be releasing the book Material Matters Lab: Here//Too//For in 2026.