Harambecouver Kickstarts 2019 Campaign With Jace Kim, Live Painting, and Creative Marketplace

Featured on 2018’s HMC18.ca Jace Kim kickstarts the 2019 Carnival with a free live painting community networking mixer for Professionals and Creatives.

What started as a Vancouver based multicultural programming filled with parades, festivals, conferences and a weekend of Creative networking is evolving into an organization focused on bringing the multifaceted Canadian grassroots arts and cultural community together to create. Although the organizers of Harambecouver had struggled to pull off it’s scaling second year, which arguably might have had a larger draw amidst it’s diverse range of issues with pouring rain. Albeit all that, 2018 saw remarkable stories of Triuph, from students overcoming their mental health challenges and getting back into University, to near death Fentanyl experiences of people who thought they couldn’t go on, but are now growing Entrepreneurially. The focus of 2019 has become making sure the diverse range of investments from it’s various stakeholders for this remarkable 2018 production is not in vain! While it’s not everyday a Government project is saved by private equity, African Great Lakes Networking Foundation would be unable to secure their projected 2018 government funding for it’s intended presentation and, as opposed to the event dying. Production walking away while contractually still requiring its settlement balance due to the handful of angry tradespeople who would now be out of work with the next six months, the diverse range of legal complications, e.t.c Kayode Fatoba a Toronto based organizer and one of the CoFounders behind the platform would took up the bills, investing his personal savings to keeping the platform alive. According to Fatoba, I took on this initiative because I believe in the vision, being able to bring together the public and private sector is what multiculturalism should also be about, but often times it’s not. I do not believe race politics is the only divide that keeps us isolated from one another, learning and having platforms in which we can confront classism by bringing the private sector together with the public to discuss and celebrate ways in which we can all support and promote Indigenous Canadian, Urban grassroots driven arts and multi culture. While the young Creative Producer said he assumed it was all over for him, citing near death experience. He didn’t really not know what he was doing. According to Fatoba, he was stuck. I just knew I needed to keep meeting with everyone, face to face, updating them, and working with the various production associates to make sure expenses we’re being prioritized and payment reallocations were being prioritized for all workers scheduled to be part of Harambecouver 2018. Putting all my savings into a free event because of roses and butterflies wasn’t really a smart decision, and with the cost of Vancouver living, the Torontonian would also need to be able to afford his transportation back to his city. “I thought I lost everything” said Fatoba, but KPU Professor by the name of  Charles Quist-Adade thought different. Sharing sentiments of buying into Kayode investment, within starting work to structure both a repayment plan within the programming outgrowing the organizational capacity of the African Great Lakes Networking Foundation, it was obvious Harambecouver 2019 required experienced B2G representation. Someone capable of navigating the various deadlines, Bilaws, Policies, Agreements, Permitting, Granting Guidelines and Various lawyering involved in negotiations and defence. There’s a wide range of social development areas associated with this project, from it’s impact on bringing children together to the growing non for profit stakeholders of whom are stepping up to support the need for resources and public funding. To see this initiative growing out of pocket without Government investment shows there’s demand from the people and visionaries behind this to keep it alive. The marginalized community should not be risking their savings to invest in a platform that brings them together to  heal, and celebrate their subcultures confidently as an equal part of the Canadian mosaic. While conversations have commenced with Kombii Nanjalah, Founder and Executive Director of the African Great Lakes Network and the inspiration behind what would evolve into Harambecouver due to her role in commissioning the organizing and brand development contract for this initiative, the organization has an important responsibility to make sure the financial investments made towards supporting the social health of the various workers, artists, contractors, food vendors of whom are composed of members from the DTES community are not in vain. Taking liability also means taking responsibility and that’s where Charles believes his voice as an arbitrator between public and private becomes impactful. With experience in sociology, as opposed to what can become a long settlement battle, as we’re seeing with the Fyre festival, Harambecouver has decided to press forward with it’s growing list of partners while advancing all expenses as part of the ongoing investment needed to build this emerging platform. With a priority on growing into Vancouver’s Multicultural Carnival more professionals partnerships are being developed from it’s 2018 programming to support it’s 2019 activation and launch. HMC19.ca kickstarts with it’s awareness campaign with a free live painting and a day time, community showcase with Jace Kim on March 1. With the high cost of living in Vancouver, some like Jane Swanson have correlated the move out of local creatives out of the Vancouver as the at-risk sample population of whom often have to take the brute of that expensive “basket of goods”. Harambecouver however, places a special focus on diversity and reconciliation working with localized grassroots platforms to curate undiscovered talents within it’s carefully selected lineup of commercially viable attractions. Although the entire programming had been free for the community at large for the last two years, Fatoba is considering an hybrid model of paid and free programming for 2019. There’s a need to start recovering the growing expenses of producing this Vancouver based programming. It needs to start becoming a sustainable tripple bottom line venture. We want to bring in Sponsors, connect with Government early, Increase our volunteer capacity, work develop a youth driven strategy by partnering with Universities and Highschools. Building the right promoter infrastructure. This prelaunch event is meant to curate and encourage more community networking between otherwise isolated communities and invite that culture to come out and connect. Supported by #Cxxlaid, a local hiphop platform in Vancouver focused on curating and promoting grassroots talents in Vancouver, “our goal is expose our artists as part of the many stages at Harambecouver. The choice of choosing Jace Kim as an headliner for this platform came as a result of the versatility of the artist. From being commissioned to capture the launch of the African Descent Festival, to going up against Ethiopian Canadian Yared Nigussu, Jace Kim’s abilities to connect with various subcultures outside his own Korean-Canadian community through his art pieces is unquestionable. Although Cxxlaid conventionally selects Rappers to headline it’s hiphop showcase, the idea of seeing visual arts as hiphop, as an integral part of the multiculture in ‘hiphop as a lifestyle’. This is part of what we want people to experience at this creative pop up event.

We’re opening up invitations to Photographers who want to set up their prints, fashion designers or Painters like Jace Kim with already painted pieces who simply want to show them off, Harambecouver is making booths available for free on a first come, first served basis! We want to target the professional community, we want to invite YMCA to come out, The Hive, Vancity Banking Executives, TD Lunchtime Workers in the area on their breaks and various organizations to come out and build with the city’s creative networks. Not to mention enjoying a free live painting experience within a platform supported by renowned artists from Vancouver’s thriving yet struggling arts and creative community. With Rising Youth fund being the first of the many grants that’s now accessible towards the continued growth of this platform, this priority of the organizers according to Professor Charles is making the event free, and inviting the community at large. Jace Kim is a Product of Emily Carr University and also a successful entrepreneur living of his art and negotiating with platforms like Harambecouver for adequate compensation. Meeting and learning about ways to support, speaking to and connecting with the creatives is part of the process of grassroots community building. An open house for Creatives and community networking. We want to engage professionals to see this prelaunch event series as part of the ongoing fundraising work being invested into supporting the ability to produce 2019 successfully. From marketers coming to engage with photographers who can be part of their next project. Models connecting with Directors looking to talents for their next Ads or shoots, this #HMC19 prelaunch event is part of free series the community can look forward to bringing creatives of diverse backgrounds together to work on to beautifying the Vancouver landscape. Jace Kim’s Live Painting and headline exhibition for Harambecouver 2019 kickoff coupled with a community networking and pop up mixer takes place on March 1st from 12pm – 6pm!