By the end of the 2009-2011 exhibition (April 2011), the Vancouver Biennale will have installed and presented 40 works of art by 37 artists from 15 countries and 5 continents to residents and visitors of the city of Vancouver. As well as showcasing an international roster of contemporary artists, their sculpture of the 2009-2011 Biennale has been rendered in a multitude of different media including two digital neon installations. Three of the world’s top Performance and Environmental artists have also created site-specific works especially for inclusion in the Vancouver Biennale.

Spanish-born, Jaume Plensa is one such artist. The distinctive, 16 feet tall aluminum figure, ‘We’, is formed of a combination of letters chosen from 8 different alphabets. They include Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Arabic and Chinese. The letters have been placed in a haphazard arrangement so no sentence structures are discernible.  The human race is unique in communicating through an understanding of written language and ‘We’ disseminates a corruption of it in terms of comprehension. What is instead presented is a physical, cultural construction in and around which people are gathering together. Does it therefore represent in itself, an alternative mode of attaining cultural cohesion other than what is achievable through language?

When we go inside ‘We’, into its ‘womb’ or centre, we can see across Sunset Beach and out to the Pacific Ocean. Is it a coordinate from which an exploration of the frontiers of  artistic cultural-cohesion can set out? Plensa’s ‘We’ incorporates alphabets from each of the world’s seven continents. Hopefully The Vancouver Biennale will expand to a similar degree and so be able to obtain works from Africa and the Antarctic.

On a local level, you can help Vancouver’s art scene maintain its sensational performance on the global stage and you can do this now! We have the chance to gain funding with your help. With the acquisition of funding from the Aviva Community Projects initiative, we can carry on pioneering for art of the highest calibre to be accessible for all visitors to British Columbia.

We are inviting students to include their work in the world’s open-air museum. The money raised will be going straight back into the foundation and ensure that the youth of Vancouver can participate and leave their own stamp on its artistic expression, whereby conspicuous creativity  is not restricted to professional artists. The exhibition will be the last chance to perform as the 2009-2011 biennial comes to a conclusion. It will be an exciting addendum and will help foster the future visionaries of contemporary art!

Here’s one way to make it happen:

We need your votes and we need them right away! We have entered a community-supported competition for $25,000 to $100,000 in funding for our Lower Mainland Student Creative Art Project and exhibition, to happen in April, 2011. But hurry – we only have 10 days of voting left!

HOW

 1. Register: Go to http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7830 and go through a very quick and simple registration process to get the right to cast 10 votes.

 2. Vote:  Go to the tab marked ‘Explore Ideas’ (first on the left) then click on the ‘Medium’ size in the ‘Budget’ tab below. We on the 3^rd page there. Look out for the picture of the hockey player!

 3. Vote again!: Monday, Oct 25 to Friday, November 5 You could use all 10 votes for the Biennale project. Only 1 vote can be cast for the same project per day per person.

Once you have registered, you can click on this link to go direct to our initiative – idea # 7830 to cast your daily vote – http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7830 

Every vote counts! Please help us reach this goal. We need your support and it only takes one click per day for the next 10 days!

Please forward this pledge to vote and help get this project to the semi-finalist round.

Together ‘We’ can do it, thank you so much!