08/01/2026
The Pacific Rim Arts Society’s annual Cultural Heritage Festival highlights individuals and communities that are integral to life on the west-coast of Vancouver Island. This year, PRAS is collaborating with Coastal Q***r Alliance to celebrate “Q***rs of the Coast”. As part of this celebration, the Orange Door Gallery will host a special three-week show featuring the art, voices and visions of q***r folks on our coast.
“Interidal: Q***r Explorations of Fluidity in Coastal Ecosystems”
“The intertidal zone is a marine ecosystem that exists in coastal regions between the highest high tide and the lowest low tide. In each tidal cycle, this region sees full water coverage at high tide and complete sun exposure at low tide. Marine life that calls the intertidal zone home are well adapted to these extremes, able to survive intense heat and sun exposure as the tide falls or pounding waves on the shoreline as the tide rises.”
Creatures that call the tidal zone home must be comfortable in both the water and the land. We might compare this to q***r folks’ ability to traverse between cis-heteronormative environments and communal q***r spaces. Coastal living reveals a kinship with the resilience and fluidity of the intertidal zone and how q***r folks see themselves represented in these fluid, non-binary ecosystems.
Therefore, “Intertidal” can be viewed through multiple lenses in the context of this exhibition. One could be a literal interpretation of the Ocean zone that nurtures life. But it is also a metaphor that refers to the lived experiences of q***rness as something that is fluid, resilient, and as ancient as the tides.
Curators would also like to extend special acknowledgment and gratitude to the Nuu-Chah-Nulth peoples who have stewarded the coastal lands and waters since time immemorial - in particular, the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ, ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ, hiškʷiiʔatḥ, tukʷaaʔatḥ and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ.
