Al Neil [1979]
Mudflats Living [1972]
Pleasure Faire [1972]
Whey-ah-Wichen: Facing the Wind [2006]

Delve into the world of squatters and artists on North Vancouver's waterfront during the 1970s. View slide images, hear first-hand, see some films, and explore the bounds of outsider culture in Vancouver.

Every Friday night through April 19 we run outsider art film night! By donation, tea/coffee served. Popular and lesser known films profiling a range of outsider artists and their work. Check out the films and stay for the discussion. Scheule online at www.gachet.org

March 21 Program:

Al Neil: A Portrait [1979]
"Al Neil, the musician, poet, sculptor and `shaman,' has been virtually an institution in West Coast art mythology. He was considered an inspiration to many artists in the sixties ... Whether he is a recluse, mystic or Dadaist is only of historical concern. The task facing Rimmer was the creation of a portrait of both an institution and a friend ... Al Neil: A Portrait is more than a documentary profile of a man engaged in a life and death struggle with his genius and his obsessions. While the narrative thread is centred around pathos, the film represents a coming to terms with what these generalizations really mean ... the many personas of Al Neil: the private,intoxicated, and poetic man; the public performer and musician; and the family outcast. Rimmer's integration of these levels is masterful." (Al Razutis) A film by David Rimmer. Awards: First Prize, Ann Arbor; San Francisco Art Institute

Mudflats Living [1972]
Life from the inside of an artistic community, a "counter-culture" group living as squatters in the mudflats area in North Vancouver. Having rejected drugs, they now practise a philosophy of love for the universe as expressed in the poem Desiderata, quoted in the film. In their view the values of "straight society" are represented by the mayor of North Vancouver, who favors clearing the area for the building of a shopping center.

Pleasure Faire [1972]
Short NFB film exploring counterculture pleasure and country art faires taking place in Vancouver's lower mainland in the 1969-1973 period.

Whey-ah-Wichen: Facing the Wind [2006]
Also look at Tsleil-Waututh Nation culture and use of their territory by settler artists and squatters. Presentation by Irwin Oostindie, Curator and Artist.