Date Nights: Palimpsest Photography

with Solange Abdala

• Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026 
• Time: 6:30 - 8:30 PM
• Cost: $40 each or 2 for $70!
• Venue: Cityscape Gallery(335 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7M 2G3)
• Age: 19+

 

About Solange’s Date Night

Join interdisciplinary visual artist Solange Adum Abdala for a hands-on exploration of photography, light, and layered storytelling. This Date Night draws on her work in our Experiments in Photography: Image and Object exhibition, which will be on display in our gallery alongside the workshop as part of this year’s Capture Photography Festival.

A palimpsest is an ancient manuscript that has already been used, with the original text erased or scraped away for another. This was often done because writing materials were scarce or expensive. In this Date Night, we will creatively explore printed materials, books, magazines, encyclopedias, and more as palimpsests that accumulate layers of information.

Working with light, thin pages and cutouts, we will activate printed materials, discovering what publications conceal and seeing the revealed in new ways, like a three-dimensional collage. Using flashlights, lamps, and a lightbox, we will create photographs and interventions that engage with photography, archives, writing, and memory. The workshop will provide a playful and reflective space to rethink how we see and what lies beneath the surface.

By the end of the workshop, participants will take home a set of digital photographs, along with their own intervened book containing cutouts, overlays, and illuminated discoveries that capture the layered effects explored.

What to expect

• Explore hidden layers in printed materials.
• Transform books into illuminated, interactive works that combine photography, archives, and writing

Skills Learned

• Combine photography, archives, and writing.

Who should attend

• Anyone interested in photography, writing, archives, or hands-on creative exploration
• People curious about experimenting with light, texture, and layered storytelling

What you need to bring

• Old books, magazines, or notebooks (optional, we will supply)
• Camera or phone camera

About Date Nights

Since launching in 2022, our monthly CityScape Date Night series has become a familiar part of the arts and cultural scene in Lower Lonsdale. Held inside an active gallery, these evenings are about discovering something new, new connections, new creative habits, and fresh ways of seeing the world around you.

Each month we invite a different local artist ,both emerging and professional to bring their own artistic stories, techniques, and inspirations.

We explore a range of mediums: From Textiles to Sculpture, Watercolour to Digital Art, Creative Writing to Drag Life Drawing, Kintsugi to Recipe Zines.

Many of our workshops use eco-friendly, low-cost, and accessible materials, making it easy to continue the practice at home if you fall in love with it. From paper mâché sculptures to Gelli printing to plant-based weaving, you will try creative techniques that are sustainable, affordable, and hands-on.

In 2026,  we’re expanding the series to include even more digital and experimental art forms. We’re partnering with the Capture Festival, offering two photography workshops, one digital, one analogue, set alongside our own photo sculpture exhibition. These immersive sessions explore layering, manipulation, and visual storytelling through both modern and traditional photographic approaches.

Whether you’re here to explore a new creative practice, start a hobby, meet others, or enjoy an evening out, each Date Night brings a fresh artistic experience with a different artist every month.

Registration closes at midnight on the Tuesday before the strat of the event.  (2 days before the class begins.)

Terms of Service & Refund Policy – North Van Arts