HIM is a nonprofit society that aims to strengthen the health and well-being in communities of self-identified GBQ men and gender diverse people in BC.
Translating Knowledge Through Art
The Summit (organized by CBRC) is an annual two-day knowledge exchange and capacity building conference on the health of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and other sexual and gender diverse people (2S/LGBTQIA+) in Canada. Every year, the Summit brings together researchers, service providers, and community-based organizations from across Canada to exchange ideas and lead the conversation on 2S/LGBTQIA+ health research, programming, services, and advocacy.
BC CommA was a HIM capacity building program which aimed to bring community members outside of lower mainland from BC in for knowledge translation work. A component of BC CommA in 2020 and 2021 was to bring together GBQ and gender diverse artists from across BC to attend the Summit and create an art piece inspired by it. At HIM we believe that this was a powerful way to celebrate art and use it as a way to translate knowledge for the broader community.
2021 Art Creations
In 2021, BC CommA brought 12 GBQ and gender diverse artists and content creators to attend the 2021 Summit: “Disrupt and Reconstruct” and create art pieces inspired by what they learned and saw. In total, this year’s COMMA participants created 20 pieces ranging from acrylic paintings to multi-media drag performances.
This year’s showcase is dedicated to one of our artists, don trupp, whom we lost unexpectedly on October 5th, 2021. We thank his daughter, Cerise Trupp, who curated a series of portraits from don’s 2015 collection titled Friends of Dorothy. don made this collection in honor of the friends and lovers he lost to HIV/AIDS between 1987 and 2001.
In loving memory of don trupp, 1953-2021.
ART GALLERY
Read about the talented artists who contributed this year and see a selection of their beautiful work:
Artists and their artworks (in no particular order):
- DANA by don trupp
- DONNIE by don trupp
- JEAN YVES by don trupp
- KEVIN by don trupp
- PATRICK by don trupp
- (Dis)comfort by Ryan O’Lewis
- Finding Path by John Syd Waynest/ JS Waynest
- Goddess of Love, Under the Sea by Shannon Lester
- On Label by Kori Doty
- Glitching the Archive | video by Jesse Blanchard
- Conflict Revolution | video by Laurance Playford-Beaudet
- dialogue. | video by James Albers
- Nothing Set in Stone by Mateo Kreuz
- flow/mend/meld by Jean Baptiste
- No Binaries No Boxes by Brettley Mason
- Lares I by Dion Smith-Dokkie
- Lares II by Dion Smith-Dokkie
- Lares III by Dion Smith-Dokkie
- Lares IV by Dion Smith-Dokkie
- Lares V by Dion Smith-Dokkie
2020 Art Creations
In 2020 BC CommA brought 9 GBQ and gender diverse artists and content creators to attend the 2020 Summit and create an art piece inspired by it. In total, 13 amazing Summit-inspired pieces were created.
ART GALLERY
Read about the talented artists who contributed this year, and see a selection of their beautiful work:
Artists and their artworks (in no particular order):
- Reclaiming Vines by Jean Baptiste (Kihêw Mahihkan Âtayôhkan Iskwêw)
- Ambiguous Feelings by Ed Walwail
- Earth by Ed Walwail
- Poison and Cure by Ed Walwail
- Seed by Ed Walwail
- Me and Myself by Ed Walwail
- Realities and Potential of HIV & STBBI Testing by Mel Tsai
- Coming Out by Nathan Davis
- Two-Spirit Love by Shannon Lester
- Not Our First Rodeo by Chris Roberts
- Colours of Identity by Jason Pillay
- Whales in Captivity: A Pandemic Frockumentary | video by Freida Whales / Tyson Cook
- Untitled (being in my skin from east to west) | video by Alger Liang
