For two decades, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (PuSh) has delivered radical, innovative, contemporary works of live art by local, national, and international artists.
PuSh expands our consciousness by bringing our bodies in proximity and creating space to think. – Gabrielle Martin
Featuring 17 original works from 15 countries, the works presented in this year’s PuSh include personal accounts of resistance and acts of vulnerability, examining our relationship to contemporary themes such as migration, displacement, labour, injustice, and artificial intelligence.
“PuSh expands our consciousness by bringing our bodies in proximity and creating space to think,” says PuSh’s director of programming, Gabrielle Martin. “It triggers creative and political stimulation through local-international encounters, and it fosters a transmission of knowledge unique to the ephemeral community of an international festival.”
In addition to a strong Canadian presence, PuSh will also present works from Mexico, Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, India, the United Kingdom, Palestine, Romania, Madagascar, Haiti, China, Brazil, and the United States.
In this edition of Before The Curtain Goes Up, Vancouver Presents contributor David C. Jones chats with Martin to learn more.
The 2024 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival runs at various venues across the Lower Mainland from January 18 to February 4, 2024. Visit pushfestival.ca for tickets and information.