Chosen Family Portrait Exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver (extended to Nov 6th)
Friends are the family you choose. And there are very few artistic exhibits that embody this sentiment more eloquently than the Chosen Family Portrait Project. I wanted to get my own Chosen Family Portrait but with my schedule, you can imagine it never happened. And I’m quite sad about that. But the fact that I didn’t get to have my Chosen Family Portrait doesn’t mean that you can’t check the exhibit, which now has been extended.
You can check the exhibit up to November 6th at the Museum of Vancouver.
There are the families we are born with and there are the families that we choose.
The term “chosen family” refers to the formation of non-biological families; many lesbian, gay, transgender and queer people, especially those with problematic relationships with their birth families, have friends and often lovers they consider part of their chosen family.
During August 2010, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival conducted a community-based art project called, Chosen Family Portraits. This photography and oral history project invited local queer and allied community to model with their chosen family and share their stories.
Photographer Sarah Race and radio journalist Sarah Buchanan are the lead Chosen Family Portrait artists. 118 people posed for this project, yielding these 28 family portraits and accompanying oral histories.
Presented with support from the City of Vancouver’s 125th Anniversary, the Arts Partners in Creative Development and the participation of the Government of Canada.
I love the Museum of Vancouver, and I love them even more for supporting this amazing exhibit.
Museum of Vancouver
1100 Chestnut Street (Vanier Park)
Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9
604.736.4431
Open Stat. holidays except Christmas Day. Call 604.736.4431 for more info.
Wed – Sun 10 am – 5 pm, Thurs 10 am – 8 pm, Mon-Tues Closed
For a quick overview of the exhibit, check this post.
