Event Spotlight – Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society

Jeremiah Mari Gan Carag (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator living on unceded Coast Salish territories. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, he received his artistic training in opera performance at UBC under the tutelage of J. Patrick Raftery and Peter Barcza. His artistic practice is community-based and rooted in the Filipino experience back home and in the diaspora. The Filipino music genre called Kundiman is his primary medium of storytelling.

Instagram: @jeremiahcarag

https://www.fb.com/jeremiahmaricarag

Email: jeremiahcarag@yahoo.com

Amir Aziz is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the intersection of art, perception, and technology in light of sacred traditions and world cultures. Using a variety of manual and computer techniques and equipment, he is best known for his unique three-dimensional acrylic artworks. His work uses both traditional and digital mediums to explore the overlap of perception and aesthetics at the intersection of emerging technology and transcendental culture.

Liana Tang was born and raised in Hong Kong, she is a teen writer who has been published or is forthcoming in 60+ publications. She is the co-author of a YA novel, a professional screenwriter for several feature films coming out in 2024 and 2025, and a university guest lecturer. She has recently been invited to Vancouver for a book event and accepted into a Paris writing workshop, and her works have been translated into Chinese.

Instagram: @lianatang.yantung

Email: lianatangwrites@gmail.com

Celia Leung has admired Chinese Art since she was a child. Since 1998, she has been learning alongside her sister and brother from Professor Yukman Lai who taught them his studies of three traditional art techniques – Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting, and stone-seal carvings. Celia has exhibited at the Asian Centre Auditorium of UBC, the Vancouver Point Grey, Lions Charity Art Sale at Blue Lotus Art Gallery, and throughout the years at the Annual Exhibition of Chinese Canadian Artists Federation.

Instagram: @leung.celia

Website: (Coming Soon)

Rosa Cheng, an accomplished performer in Cantonese Opera, founded the Vancouver Cantonese Opera Society (VCO) in 2000 to promote and preserve the art form’s excellence in Canada. Under her leadership, VCO has produced renowned Cantonese Opera repertoires, gaining charitable status in 2005 and offering affordable outreach activities. VCO’s unique productions in British Columbia feature English and Chinese subtitles.

Austin Aan’yas Harry, hailing from Vancouver BC, is a digital artist who creates stories using modern tools and ancient teachings. As a proud member of the Squamish Nation, his lineage forms an integral part of his artistic practice.

Having grown under the guiding hand of his father, Xwalacktun Rick Harry, Austin’s early years were steeped in the rich tapestry of the Squamish people’s history and culture. Influenced by the vivid tales spun in movies, the fantasies of comic books, and the adventures of video games, he yearned to see more of his culture reflected in these mediums.

Esmie Gayo McLaren is a Filipino-Canadian visual artist based in Vancouver, BC. Using acrylics, oils, or watercolours, she paints everyday life scenes by emotive use of color and light. She earned BSc in Biology/Psychology from the University of Alberta and artistic training froms Emily Carr University. Highlights of her exhibitions are milestone achievements in 2018: “Expanding Horizons”, a solo exhibit in New York City, and “Essence”, a small-group exhibit she presented to empower women held both at Art Space in North Vancouver and at the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa.

Website: https://esmiegayomclaren.com

Instagram: @esmiegayomclarenart

Jacky Lam was trained in the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe in his youth and became skilled in all aspects of the opera performance techniques. In recent years, through the encouragement of friends and expert tuitions from opera teachers, he has been able to retrace his artistic footsteps and has gained invaluable stage experience and recognition performing in Vancouver, Calgary and Malaysia.