5 Things to Do in Vancouver This Week (January 4-10)

Kitsilano’s Dark Table Restaurant is looking a lot brighter—the team behind the dining-in-the-dark experience has opened Yasma, a Syrian and Lebanese takeout spot, in the same location. They’re truly upping the pandemic dining game with dishes (like the toshka, a grilled pita stuffed with minced lamb and halloumi cheese and the shish burger, made with grilled chicken, garlic sauce, red cabbage, tomatoes and housemade pickles) that are specially crafted for carryout. There’s plenty of vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free options, too.

When: Reopening from holiday closures on Tuesday, January 5
Where: Yasma
More Info: yasma.ca

Don’t cry over broken teapots. Reincarnation: The Second Life of Antique Japanese Teakettles is on now at Sunzen Art Gallery, and it’s proof that new life can be given to the shattered (how’s that for a 2021 mood). Local East Van artist Naoko Fukumaru has restored damaged ceramics using Kintsugi (the ancient art of Japanese gold joinery) with truly beautiful results. Fukumaru herself says that the art “helps us to recognize and process and release our own internal pressures and experiences”—that sounds like healing we could all use. Admission is by donation.

When: On now through Thursday, January 28
Where: Sunzen Art Gallery
More Info: sunzen.ca

Now’s the time to check out your local community’s 2021 art classes—and if nothing tickles your fancy, peruse offerings around town (nearly all classes are virtual, anyway, so you don’t have to factor in the commute). We’ve got our eye on this Drawing for Mental Health class taught by Shermond Wong through North Van Arts—it’s open to all ages and abilities and is all about de-stressing.  

When: Drawing for Mental Health Class on Saturdays starting January 30
Where: Online
More Info: northvanarts.ca

If you missed Monkey Beach at VIFF this year, no fear—it’s streaming on Crave starting this week. The film, directed by Loretta Todd and based on the book by Eden Robinson, stars Vancouver local Grace Dove as Lisa, a young Indigenous woman who returns to her hometown to face haunting visions and to save her brother from a tragic fate.

When: Premieres Wednesday, January 6
Where: Online
More Info: crave.ca

Get the first look at the work of emerging artists from here and beyond at the Polygon’s freshest exhibitions: A pot lid for the sky, Everything Leaks, and Miradas Alternas. The first highlights self-parody, irony, and absurdist humour and brings together the works of local artist Christopher Lacroix and pioneering American conceptualist John Baldessari. The second is a collab from Vancouver artists Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes and Maya Beaudry that incorporates fabrics, sculpture, and printed photographs. And the third (pictured above) reimagines photographic representations of violence in contemporary Mexico. It’s the work of five lens-based artists from Mexico: Juliana Alvarado, Alejandra Aragón, Koral Carballo, Mariceu Erthal and Sonia Madrigal.

When: Through Sunday, February 7
Where: The Polygon Gallery
More Info: thepolygon.ca