EDITOR CAITLIN O'FLANAGAN | THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 | THE VOICE 3 Campusnews Langara students rewrite Wiki history Art history classes join in a global edit-a-thon to boost female content = By SASHA ZEIDLER tudents are helping rewrite history by adding to the Wiki- pedia pages of female artists in Canada. The Art+Feminism Wiki- pedia Edit-a-thon, a world- wide event held annually on International Women’s Day for the last three years, focuses on adding content to the pages of otherwise underappreciated fe- male artists. Less than 10 per cent of Wikipedia contributors iden- tify as female, the reason for LL this event, according to Art+Feminism. Langara College students from two art history classes participated in the edit-a-thon, the first at Langara, and featured Canadian female artists in their edits. Gathered in the library com- puter lab, students worked individually or in small groups to expand and add — MICH PRINS LANGARA FINE ARTS STUDENT new information to artist pages, or cre- ated entirely new page entries. Alena Buis, an art history teacher and interim department chair, has “We're... bringing these voices to light because our society ignores people who are different.” been planning the event since Novem- ber. She hopes students take away two things from the experience: “a knowl- edge of an artist that they may not have had before, but also their power as makers of knowl- edge themselves.” Mich Prins, a first-year fine arts student, said that a feminist approach in the classroom may help build solidarity among those who do not conform to “the system, or traditional Eurocentric narrative.” "Women artists in gen- —! eral are underrepresented in the media,” Prins said. “But then we're talking about white women.” They still feel that transgender wom- en, transgender women of colour and people with disabilities are especially underappreciated in many aspects of our culture. “We're kind of bringing these voices to light because our society ignores peo- ple who are different.” Second-year general arts student Hafsa Mohamud hopes this event helps to bring a female perspective, which she feels has been erased in art history. "T'm really happy to have had the op- portunity to do this,” Mohamud said. “It is more than just doing an essay assignment: you really are making an impact in the art world by putting this information out there." This year the event was just for stu- dents and was graded as an in-class assignment. Buis hopes that next year, the event will be open to everyone at Langara. CANADIAN ARTISTS SOME OF THE EDITED WIKI PAGES Paraskeva Clark Born in Russia in 1898, a painter who believed art should focus on politics and societal issues. Janieta Eyre Photographer born in 1966. Award-winner who's exhibited in Iceland, Spain and the U.S. Frances Loring Born in 1887. Created some of Canada's most famous sculp- tures, with a variety of materials. SOURCE: PARTICIPATING STUDENTS Latin America Week showcases cultural diversity m™ By CASS LUCKE mother-daughter duo taught Langara College students about their Ecuadorian heri- tage and the importance of discovering new cultures. Colours of the Andes, a presentation by Dolores "Lolita" Gambroudes, assistant department chair of modern languages at Langara, and her mother Rosario, part of Langara’s annual Latin America Week, showcased stories, instruments and food from South America. “We are proud of our rich culture,” Rosario said, adding that they try to Ecuador experience: food, music & art dominating the other.” Students who attended the event said exposure to the culture helped to better understand themselves within society. = “The culture is so represent :— that pride in “There's a respect for different from ours; all aspects . . I think the only way of life. diversity and nature to learn more about She also . yourself and our believes that that I wish people here species is to explore Vancouver ” all the different ways could gain would adopt. we interact,” Ayan a lot from —LOLITA GAMBROUDES, EVENT HOST Abdirahman, Lan- her Latin ~— ~~ gara social service American heritage. worker student, said. “There’s a respect for diversity and nature that I wish people here would adopt,” Lolita said. “South Americans managed to maintain culture and diver- sity instead of one culture completely Jessie Smith, coordinator of Latin American studies and creator of Latin America Week at Langara, uses events like this to help students recognize the culture’s history, economics, politics and Clockwise from left: Lolita Gambroudes shows students an Ecuadorian rainstick, wearing clothing and jewelry from Ecuador. Different embroidered works showcase the many coloured threads used to represent elements Mother Nature has given to humanity. Lolita and Rosario Gambroudes serving traditional Ecuadorian food to Latin American stud- ies students. cAss LUCKE PHOTOS bravery against injustice, aspects she has always loved. “A lot of Canadians think of Latin America as Mex- ico, but there's a lot more to it than that,” Smith said. “Events like this, where we bring a little extra like de- licious food, help make an important : . Ayan Abdirahman and interesting cul- ~“sogyai SERVICE ture more promi- WORKER STUDENT nent on campus.” Smith hopes students will attend fur- ther multicultural events and register for Latin American studies classes. She feels this will help students learn about the world and its many cultures. Holi-days overlooked Students want to celebrate Hindu festival of colour on campus = By JASON GILDER here was no Holi, the Hindu festival of colour, event at Lan- gara College, despite the large Indian and Indo-Canadian community. The festivities started on March 12 and last two days. The ancient religious festival is celebrated primarily in India and Nepal, but also around the world. People smear colourful pastes and pow- ders on each other as they welcome the arrival of spring. Last year, 10 per cent of all Langara students were from India. While the college has hosted Diwali events in the past, many students wanted a chance to celebrate Holi as well. In India, second-year computer sci- ence student Jagmail Dhillon, always celebrated the holiday and said that with such a high East Indian popula- tion at Langara, it doesn’t make sense to him that there is no Holi event. “They have events here for Christmas and other holidays,” Dhillon said. “Why wouldn't they have one for Holi?” He also said it is confusing to him, because the school uses student fees to raise funds for events like this. Harman Singh, of Langara’s South Asian Club, said their group is aware of the absence, but feels the school doesn't have the funding to hold a Holi event. “To host a Holi event can be very expensive,” Singh said. “I do not feel Langara has a large enough space to ac- commodate such an event.” “Everybody in India celebrates [Holi].” — GURJINDER SINGH, LANGARA STUDENT He said that Langara should promote cultural diversity by focusing on a vari- ety of groups and that there are many cultures on campus that should receive their own events. The club is contributing to the pro- motion of a Holi event at UBC, being organized by the UBC Indian Students Association and taking place March 18. Second-year computer science stu- dent Gurjinder Singh made it clear how important Holi is back in India. He said the entire country engages in the vibrant festival. “Everybody in India celebrates it,” Singh said. “It’s a big part of the cul- ture.”