Annual Report

INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL 2015 Mayor Robertson declares second week of July 2015 Indian Summer Festival Week

Highlights 2 015

CELEBRATING DARING ARTISTIC COLLABORATION, INSPIRING CONVERSATION, AND CREATIVE EXPLORATION OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS.

Nobel Prize-Winner Dr. Harold Varmus comes to Indian Summer Festival

YANN MARTEL & TABU SHARMILA TAGORE RAJASTHAN JOSH ORIJIT SEN

2 011 2012 2013 2014 Partnerships formed 255 days of free ·· Indian Summer Arts Society ·· Lit & Sound Cabaret ·· Rajasthan Josh & East ·· Indian Summer Arts Society with major institutions: public art is born presents a Rungh Magazine Vancouver artists wow becomes a registered Vancouver Art retrospective, bringing audiences with their charity & establishes a Gallery, VSO, Banff ·· Simon Fraser University together local South Asian collaboration permanent office with year- Centre, Surrey Art joins as a festival partner thinkers and artists round team Gallery & Vancouver & the festival hub is ·· Film legend Shabana Biennale established at SFU ·· Dinner by Starlight is held Azmi gets an honorary ·· Arundhati Roy comes to Woodward’s at East India Carpets degree from SFU & four Vancouver for 1st time, and warehouse, with film icon declarations of love at ISF is received by sold out ISF ·· Life of Pi author Yann Sharmila Tagore event crowd Martel & Bollywood star Tabu meet for the first time ·· Filmmaker Deepa Mehta ·· Graphic artist Orijit Sen’s on the ISF stage & Booker Prize nominated mural showcases the author Jeet Thayil chat on folk tales, mythology & Indian Summer stage about identity and art landscapes of Punjab Festival launches year- – on display in Vancouver round Supper Club & Surrey Anniversaries are a time to reflect on where we’ve come from and articulate goals for the future. Sirish Rao and I co-founded Indian Summer Festival in 2011 with bright eyes and big ideas. We Looking Forward saw an open space in Vancouver’s cultural landscape for smart, daring, contemporary global dialogue. After celebrating five years, it’s clear that Vancouver has embraced Indian Summer OUR VISION IS FOR AN INCLUSIVE, DIVERSE, wholeheartedly. AND CULTURALLY-RICH SOCIETY. Over five festival editions, we’ve grown by 400% overall. Our growth has not only been exponential, it has also been steady across all measures each year. We’re seeing that funders, LAURA BYSPALKO, patrons and partners want to invest more each year, and so do our audiences. Box office sales MANAGING DIRECTOR and attendance soar alongside this investment that the community makes in the festival. And the Indian Summer is a multi-arts festival where worlds meet in Vancouver. Founded in 2011, arts community, both here and internationally, has come to regard Indian Summer as one of their the festival features some of the finest artists and visionaries from Canada, South Asia and favourite forums for creativity and discussion. beyond, and is produced by Indian Summer Arts Society, a not-for-profit charitable arts Our success has been entirely fuelled by people who share our values for a diverse, inclusive organization. Our mission is to offer daring, multi-arts events that catalyze and inspire and culturally-rich society. Propelling us forward are our incredible board, tireless staff, audiences and artists in a spirit of dialogue and global citizenship. enthusiastic volunteers, supportive partners, visionary community shapers, and funders who recognize the value of cultural innovation. I am often asked at the end of each edition: “How are you going to top this?” I take this not just as a compliment, but as a challenge to keep us moving forward with the same level of excitement and ambition that has brought us this far. See you at ISF2016!

This year marked the 5th annual Indian Summer Festival and we have another success to celebrate. It takes many people with diverse skills to make this festival the wonderful experience that it is, and we have the pleasure of working with many talented and committed individuals and organizations. As a Society, we have achieved much this year. We received charitable status from Canada Revenue Agency, which means we can issue tax receipts for individual donations. We also established a permanent office and hired staff to support fundraising and communications. Our goal is to expand our brand reach and make this a “destination” event. This year, we moved CAROLINE NEUFELD, closer to that goal when Westjet Magazine named Indian Summer Festival as one of five in BOARD CHAIR Canada “worth planning your travels around.” We also expanded our visibility and reached new audiences with several public art exhibits throughout Metro Vancouver, including a travelling photo booth and a Translink bus wrapped in Indian and Pakistani truck art. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of our staff. Without their vision and hard work, Indian Summer Festival would not be the unique and exciting event that it is. I also want to thank our dedicated volunteers, including my fellow board members, our partners, patrons, sponsors, and members. We couldn’t do it without all of you. “By far the most meaningful event that I have done since The Ever After was published. To be able to speak frankly and in depth about these subjects, before a well-informed audience, was an enormous Curatorial Vision and rare privilege, an opportunity that I don’t even think I realized I was craving until it presented it s e l f.” – PADMA VISWANATHAN, WRITER RISK TAKING. ECLECTIC. DIVERSE. ENGAGING. ACCESSIBLE. Our programming is rigorous and quirky, with an appetite for deep thinking, curiosity and experimentation. We offer a model for dialogue, a possibility for an inclusive community that is unafraid of striking up conversations – both cheerful and difficult ones. Together, we hope to shape a society that is robust, creative and just. The festival’s byline, ‘Where Worlds Meet,’ speaks to our focus on artistic collaboration. We create what we like to call ‘good friction’ by looking beyond the easy middle ground in order to foster true curatorial risk-taking.

2015 INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL ARTISTS

Abhijeet Banerjee Christian Coleman Jagdeep Mangat Marco Panascia Rup Sidhu Abhishek Roy Curtis Andrews Jagdeep Raina Meeru Dhalwala Sirish Rao Adham Shaikh David Robertson James Coleridge Mohamed Assani Surya Brass Band Amaan Ali Khan Devyani Saltzman Jason Apple Naresh Fernandez Suzanne Siemens Amber Dawn DJ Anjali Jason Kamoh Naveen Girn Tai Keattivanichvily Ustad Amjad Ali Khan DJ Goddess Jason Rigby Nicole Li Tim Cuff Anupam Kher Dr. Harold Varmus Jaspreet Singh Nish Thaver Uwe Neumann Aradhana Seth Dr. Patrick Stewart Jeanette Bernal Singh Nisha Sembi Vikram Vij Arcoiris Sandoval Frank Pabst Jessica Jackley Orijit Sen Vineet Vyas Arunachalam Greg Van Poppel Kalyani Pandya Padma Viswanathan Yule Ken Lum Muruganantham Gurpreet Chana Keith McKellar Pav Nagra Ayaan Ali Khan Helen Potrebenko Larry Claypool Reena Saini Kallat Chris Duggan Jacob Varmus Mandeep Patrola Reza Aslan 2563 BIODEGRADABLE PLATES SERVED AT OPENING GALA

Celebrate & Collaborate

INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL IS A HUB FOR ARTISTIC COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AUTHORS, THINKERS, DJS, CHEFS,

97 WORLD-RENOWNED ARTISTS FROM 20 CITIES AT ISF2015 AND CURATORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

“ISF has a curatorial vision that is unique, eclectic and as delicious as the food conjured up by the master chefs at the gala. The festival deftly destroys any divides between high art and popular culture,

and initiates a creative and whimsical conversation with the city.” –ARADHANA SETH, ARTIST

Over 10 days, thousands of audience members and visitors from near and far experienced a multifarious mix of arts events around Metro Vancouver. This year, we developed new relationships to present a mix of literary, musical and public art programming with some of the OVER 108,000 PEOPLE ENGAGED IN PUBLIC ART & FREE PROGRAMMING country’s leading institutions:

VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA THE BANFF CENTRE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

68 PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS 5,332 TICKETS SOLD

SURREY ART GALLERY CENTRE A GALLERY VANCOUVER BIENNALE 75 0 195 5,332

CANADIAN ARTISTS PUNCTUATION MARKS IN ISF DAYS OF ORIJIT SEN’S MURAL TICKETS SOLD

PERFORMED AT THE FESTIVAL SPEAKER PATRICK STEWARTS FROM PUNJAB WITH LOVE A T

52,000 WORD THESIS SURREY ART GALLERY 20 K 255 9 61

BLOCKS TRAVELLED BY THE DAYS OF ISF PUBLIC ART ECLECTIC IDEAS SERIES TALKS MUSICAL STRINGS ON

ISF BUS WITH INTERNATIONALLY- STAGE AT ORPHEUM Catalyze & Inspire RENOWNED THINKERS CONCERT

OUR PROGRAMMING HAS THE POWER TO SPARK DIALOGUE,

TO INSPIRE, AND TO TRANSFORM.

Brainy, electric and creative, Indian Summer’s Ideas Series presents some of the brightest minds from Canada, South Asia and around the world. Featuring thinkers, authors, tastemakers, and artists in thought-provoking discussions, from social entrepreneurship and genetics, to sub-continental jazz and the future of the Middle East, and much more.

“I should be able to explore, “Here in the Downtown be able to break conventions, Eastside, poetry is used as a be able to test things.” means to resist erasure.”

–DR. PATRICK STEWART –AMBER DAWN

“I never got educated, so my “Only a fool would look for mind is always clear.” advice in a samosa!”

–ARUNACHALAM MURUGANANTHAM –KALYANI PANDYA

“80% of the world’s population eats bugs. Protein, iron, zinc, Omega oils. Crickets are healthy!”

– MEERU DHALWALA Building new relationships and being part of the community is an important part of our work. This includes presenting free public programming, inviting new audiences to the festival, and making our events more accessible to diverse audiences.

This year we made sure all venues were wheelchair and scooter accessible, and we shared this information in our event program and on our website. We provided complimentary tickets to community groups who face financial and social barriers, and we offered a special prayer room for those observing Ramadan so they could break their fast. For 2015, Indian Summer Festival presented five free public art projects across Metro Vancouver that took art out of traditional Accessibility, galleries and to unexpected places. These ranged from a Vancouver city bus dressed in riotous Indian graphics; to a curious travelling photo booth by a Hollywood set designer; to young artists reimagining Chinatown’s history and South Asian resistance movements. Inclusion & Community Engagement

MAKING ART ACCESSIBLE TO COMMUNITIES ACROSS METRO VANCOUVER.

·· 144 volunteers ·· 314 tickets donated to ·· 113,338 people engaged ·· Estimated 5.9 million community organizations in the festival exposures to 5 free public ·· 5693 volunteer hours for art projects the festival ·· 50% discount offered to ·· 68 community, government SFU students & funding partners ·· 3 free dance classes

“I just want to thank you once again for offering such a wonderful opportunity to our community. It brought me so much joy last night to see so many of our kids and their families present. It was such a treat for them and you could tell how special they felt. It was such a brilliant show. [Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and sons] had so much class and musicianship. Anyways, you’re all so kind. Thank you thank

you thank you for your generosity and love!” –SHADI TOLOUI-WALLACE, SARAH MCLACHLAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC The Table is Set @ANITABATHE

p h o t o b y n i c k s i u l a s t y e a r ’ s d i n n e r b y s t a r t l i g h t . Wonderful night celebrating Indian Summer is an annual festival where worlds meet dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building public awareness of artists of South Asian origin in the performing, visual, literary and folk arts #Whereworldsmeet at the #ISFGala

b u y t i c k e t s @IndianSummerCND. #TheTablaGuy f i l t e r b y d a t e Visual Arts Ideas Music Food Free Events is unreal!!

WEBSITE RE-DESIGN

Opening Gala, July 4 v i k r a m v i j , s u n - y a t s e n g a r d e n s

free

Hip-Hop Yoga, July 6, 7, 8, 10 Genes and Jazz, July 10 w o o d w a r d ’ sw oa to r d i wu ma, r dAMJAD’ s a t r ALI i u m KHAN & SONS g o l d c o r p c e n t e r f o r t h e a r t s , AMJAD ALI KHAN & SONS

BUY $25-50 TICKETS Creating Dialogue PROVOKING CONVERSATIONS THAT ECHO INTO THE DIGITAL REALM.

ISF INSTAGRAM ISF AD CAMPAIGN

Hip-Hop Yoga, July 6, 7, 8, 10 s h i a m a k d a n c e , w o o d w a r d ’ s a t r i u m 475% 2.2 M 124,988 $175,000 @CULTURITE @BISU Spellbound by Ustad Amjad Ali “Memory and forgetting is GROWTH IN INSTAGRAM OVERALL REACH OF CURRENT YOUTUBE VALUE OF AD CAMPAIGN FOLLOWERS OVER 7 MONTHS MARKETING CAMPAIGN VIEWS Khan & his sons, who played the about power and manipulated most incredible concert tonight by political leadership” 214 instagram posts, 101 instagram posts @INDIANSUMMERCND –Jaspreet Singh 250+ 1M 96 tweets 59 tweets #ISFIDEAS #WHEREWORLDSMEET MEDIA MENTIONS AND OVERALL SOCIAL #WHEREWORLDSMEET #ISFGALA

50 FEATURE STORIES MEDIA REACH

@JESSIEKAUR1 @ L I N T R O P Y “One of the city’s most ambitious cultural festivals, bringing in literary stars and intellectuals from Last night’s Ustad Amjad Ali Just watched @Kiva founder Jessica around the world, as well as some stunning musical events. Artistic Director Sirish Rao consistently Khan and @VSOrchestra shed light on myths in narratives surprises audiences with a smorgasbord of delights.” – THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT concert was magnificent. of poverty and entrepreneurship. We take the conversation beyond our events and into the digital world with dedicated social media #SOULSTIRRING Wow! #WHEREWORLDSMEET @SFU_W campaigns, online engagement, and media relations targeting ethnic and mainstream media. Timed with our 5th anniversary, this year we saw our brand evolve with an updated logo, a new website, and an innovative

TRANSLINK POSTER approach to visual marketing, which brought elements from the Sound Horn OK Please public art project to life across the city with bus shelters, posters, postcards, event programs, and social media.

@NAVEEN_GIRN @BERSONPHOTO The great @AnupamPkher regaling us with Terrorism, as a term, says more his stories #NOTAMRISHPURI #NOTPREMCHOPRA about the term’s user than the act

itself @REZAASLAN @INDIANSUMMERCND

#ISFIDEAS Cultivating FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AT A GLANCE Ni Hao Sat Sri Akal Salut Culturally Engaged & Ethnically Diverse 97% Diverse Audiences w i t h a u d i e n c e s f r o m a c r o s s t h e g l o b e p o s t - s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t e d SPEAKING TO THE INTERESTS & SENSIBILITIES 56% 63% 34-54 OF DIVERSE CULTURAL COMMUNITIES. e a r n 75 K+ v a n c o u v e r r e s i d e n t s m a j o r i t y a g e

KEY AUDIENCE MEMBER PROFILES

trailblazing d i s c e r n i n g b u s i n e s s c u l t u r a l

tastemakers intellectuals i n s i d e r s c o n n e c t o r s

··Young multi-ethnic ··Highly educated and ··High net worth executives ··Young South Asian influencers informed and entrepreneurs professionals ··Engaged in arts and culture ··Writers, academics and ··Relish the opportunity to ··Value the festival as an ··Active on social media media network with peers and opportunity for cultural entertain clients reconnection ··Enjoy the festival buzz and ··Interested in high quality red carpet experiences content and discussions ··Enjoy one-of-a-kind ··Bring parents and/or ··Attend concerts, talks and experiences children to events literary events ··Attend the opening gala, ··Highly educated and concerts and high profile upwardly mobile events

*BASED ON 2014 FESTIVAL STATS This year, we’ve seen tremendous growth in investments from our funders, partners and patrons, which is reflected in an increase in box office sales and attendance. The expansion of our free public programming in 2015 resulted in soaring attendance since 2014. We continue to plan for consistent growth in 2016 and beyond, positioning our festival and organization as a sustainable and influential member of Vancouver’s arts & culture community.

·· 258% increase in patronage ·· 26% of this year’s sponsors were ·· 1033% growth in audience since 2011 new to Indian Summer Festival attendance since 2011 ·· 77% increase in sponsorship ·· 511% growth in government since last year funding since 2011 Growth

BUDGET PATRON’S CIRCLE FUNDERS WE’RE A FESTIVAL WITH SUSTAINABLE,

MEASURABLE GROWTH EACH YEAR.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

PARTNERS BOX OFFICE AUDIENCE “It is you guys that we need to thank for: a. Putting Vancouver on the map b. Making us proud of our 4000 years of cultural history and tradition c. Creating a platform where a variety of people can soak in such differing views/ideas

KUSH MALHOTRA, FESTIVAL PATRON

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

SUSTAINABLE SOURCES OF REVENUE

40% Individuals (Box Office & Patronage) 31% Par tners 29% Government

Our Circle

A RAPIDLY GROWING NETWORK OF COMMUNITY LEADERS AND SHAPERS.

“My husband and I started Nature’s Path Organic Foods over 30 years ago here in Vancouver, and we could not have nurtured and grown our family or business without this community and its shared appreciation and passion for global citizenship. These attributes are cultivated beautifully as part of the Indian Summer Festival and thus we feel the urge to support the festival.”

RATANA STEPHENS, CO-CEO & CO-FOUNDER OF NATURE’S PATH FOODS

I am thrilled to support the Indian Summer Festival, which brings a unique diversity and culture to Vancouver. The selection of events were of varied interest and I particularly enjoyed the event

“The Wrath of God with Reza Aslan”, a truly passionate dialogue. —MONTY SIKKA, PATRON

We are fortunate to have the support of dedicated patrons, partners and funders, including several who have been part of our festival for five years. Our patronage and membership programs offer more benefits to our supporters, including our members-only Supper Club and other exclusive opportunities. Board of Directors Ananya Bhattacharya Sabrina Alcock Bharadwaj ASSOCIATE PARTNERS Angelo Esguerra Rana & Rupa Vig US Consulate Caroline Neufeld Chair Sacha Rudenko Angelynn Zhang Sujata & Praveen Asia Pacific Foundation Baljeet Basi Treasurer Sara Hammoudeh Anjlee Parmar Gupta Genome BC Ayme Sharma Secretary Satwinder Gill Ann Cheng Tracey & Anibal Valente LFG Naveen Girn Serena Bertola Annalisa Pareja Mandeep R. Dhaliwal Shalini Sant FRIENDS SUPPORTING PARTNERS Anne Wittman Shelly Dhawan Shiyue Wu Carol Dey Creative BC Asrar Ahmed- Flores Sienna Gan Dana & Joel Solomon VIA Rail Audrey Joanne Sophie Ni David Pais Indian Consulate Staff Briana Tong Stuart Mackinnon Farida & Gulnaaz Lalji Hari Sharma Foundation Brittney Lau Laura Byspalko Tajinder Gill Feisal Dedhar BCCIE Can Atalay Managing Director Taqdeer Grewal Fernanda Selayzin DVBIA Carina Hutter Sirish Rao Artistic Director Vivian Dang D’Souza Chelsy Greer COMMUNITY PARTNERS Shahaa Kakar Wesley Chin Laurie Neapole Chloe Liu VISAFF Development Manager Yoyo Liang & Peter Beresford Christelle Dychangco Banff Centre Manjot Bains Yurika Ono Lindsay Brown (Honorary) Our Community Tyee Constanza Munoz Communications Manager Mandeep & Koml Gonzalez Patron’s Circle Banyen Books IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO SUPPORT A MOVEMENT. Anna Bohn Dhaliwal Dalwinder Kang Asian Television Network Communication Designer LUMINARIES Priya Anand Darcy Zhang Kamal’s Video Palace Anoushka Ratnarajah Monty Sikka Randy Garg Divya Mukkavilli TiE Festival Administrator Ratana & Arran Rupa Gopinath “In these times, more than ever, we need the arts. Art has the power to create greater Esther Gee Luna Pads Roopa Mann Production Stephens & Dr Hiretkaur Evelyn Dias Vancouver Biennale understanding, to build bridges of peace. The Indian Summer Festival has a great vision and Coordinator Rita & Pankaj Sudha Kshatriya Grace Zhang SFU English Alexandra Mackenzie Agarwal has achieved so much to make this happen. I am proud of what they have done, and will Gurleen Kheeva VIBC Volunteer Coordinator Sandy Garossino Partners always be associated with the festival.” – USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN Gurpreet Dhillon Caravan World Rhythms Alice Fleerackers Sunita & Sukesh PREMIER PARTNER Hobson Lin Vancity Office of Design Assistant Kumar Simon Fraser University Ishita Kalia Hayer Community Engagement Bikki Sandhu Zena Henriquez FOUNDING CULTURAL Room to Read Social Media Assistant Jade Herrman BENEFACTORS PARTNERS Centre A Gallery Krysten Maier Social Janet Bisset Caroline Neufeld & SFU-Woodwards Queer Film Festival Media Coordinator Jennifer Au-Yeung Dan Jackson (Honorary) CINS Surrey Art Gallery Nitant Narang Jennifer Dolnik Jessie & Jas Sandhu Surrey Fusion Festival Content Writer Jianan Wang PREMIER MEDIA Ramesh Sahjpaul Vancouver Asian Film Paul Cohen Production Jihan Zhang PARTNERS Richa & Vik Khanna Festival Assistant Jim Huang CBC Rick Brar Vancouver Art Gallery Zain Mohsin John Oman Georgia Straight Vancouver Civic Theatres Artist Services Coordinator Jonny Ostrem FAMILY FRIENDS Spice Radio Vancouver Writer’s Festival Jozef Kowalewski Aarti & Shawn Goyal PRESENTATION Westbank Corp Advisory Council Jyoti Dhawan Andrea Hawkes & PARTNERS Kendal Crawford Hitesh Kothary FUNDERS Deepa Mehta Nature’s Path Lauren Hutchison Anuja & Praveen City of Vancouver Jas Sandhu UBC Lina Lin Varshney Heritage Canada Michael Stevenson Canadian Institute for Pankaj Agarwal Lu Li Ashwin Sood Citizenship & Immigration Studies in Publishing (SFU) Maika Nguyen Ayme Sharma & Noel Canada Ratana Stephens Nanak Foods Sharon Davis Matthew Battocchio McNally (Honorary) BC Gaming Commission Sukesh Kumar Megan Mattock Jaginder Girn MEDIA PARTNERS BC Arts Council Melinda Lim (Honorary) Telus Vik Khanna PHOTOGRAPHERS & Vikram Vij Melissa Norris-Jones Jan & Dave Omni VIDEOGRAPHERS Ming Tang Tourism India Ratnarajah Paneet Singh Miriam Eriksson Vancouver Observer Volunteers Jan Whitford & Gwenael Lewis Mulayam Singh Darpan Magazine Michael Stevenson Tom Delamere Abraham Cheng Nicole Choi Kush Malhotra & HOSPITALITY PARTNERS Charlie Zhang Ada Lee Nisha Mainra Sangeeta Kakar My Shanti Nick Siu Ali Najaf Peter Tang Lynn & Ashok Katey Volcanic Hills Joshua Berson Amar Menon Piero Castelo Arteaga Nishi & Pankaj East India Carpets Steven Shepherd Amy Jang Prajay Mehta Dhawan Kalala Winery Joe Carlson Puneet Sooch Nomita & Manish Join Us

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INDIANSUMMERFEST.CA

[email protected] 604 283 9172

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE 2016 FESTIVAL: JULY 7–16