50: Half a Century of UNIT/PITT
and
UNIT is U
November 7, 2025 – February 15, 2026
Opening event:
November 7, 2025, 7-11PM
2954 West 4th Ave
!! U/P turns 50 !!
The opening night of 50: Half a Century of UNIT/PITT, and the launch of the Unit is U 50th anniversary publication took place on November 7, 7-11PM.
The evening featured live audio and visual archival interventions by Kaila Bhullar and Jefferson Alade, reimagining artist david-george extensive audio and video archive of the Pitt of the Past. Jefferson also finished the evening with open decks.
50 will be open for viewing from November 8, 2025 – February 15, 2026. The exhibition provides an opportunity to witness a glut of historical records from our extensive archive, documenting Vancouver’s early artist-run culture from 1975 onwards. 50 will also be accompanied by a special events series, including a Visioning Palestine Revisited gathering hosted by Noor Ghazal, a collage workshop with Sam Olsen, a film night hosted by XINEMA, and the first of our recurring monthly jazz night c.a.f.f (calling all friendly faces) curated by Ben Frost.
November 7 was also the launch of our 50th Anniversary publication UNIT is U, designed by the brilliant Shafira Vidyamaharani. Edited by Catherine de Montreuil, Kira Saragih, and Alison Bosley, the publication features contributions by Dana Claxton, Lauren Han, Reece Metcalf, Katayoon Yousefbigloo, Emma Sommers, Kay Higgins, Sara Ellis, and many more. UNIT is U presents an essential history (and future) of UNIT/PITT through musings and mishaps spanning five decades of the organization’s particular brand of messy, oft absurd, yet fiercely community-minded artist-run culture.
Jefferson Alade (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist and DJ based on the traditional, unceded Coast Salish territories (Vancouver, BC). Working with sound, music, and collective experience, his practice explores how listening can open pathways to emotional resonance and soulful connection. Through Du sets, sound design, and spatial interventions, Jefferson treats music as both medium and method-translating sonic material into soundscapes that hold memory, movement, and encounter.
He holds a Master of Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where his thesis explored facilitating collective listening experiences, and a BA in Communication with a minor in Music Industry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Jefferson is the founder of JOMA Studios, where he leads The Ryze, a platform for mixes, radio, and events that weave community through sound.
His work often crosses between art spaces and nightlife, having held roles such as Guest Curator at UNIT/PITT for their Sound Art project, while also cultivating spaces for gathering on the dance floor. Across all forms, Jefferson approaches sound as a language of care and connection-an invitation to listen more deeply, together.
Kaila Bhullar (She/They) is a queer Indo-Chilean experimental filmmaker + multimedia artist based in the traditional territories of the Xwmalkwayam, Skwxwú7mesh, and Salílwata?/Selilwitulh. Informed by digitally-based art forms, Bhullar explores various dispositions concerning identity and perception, including contemplations around the existential and political implications of images and technology. They use moving images and sound as a means to express the abstractions within these intersections, rendering their inquiries to often manifest as collages of varying forms, video or audiovisual works, and multimedia installations.
Some of their recent exhibition and screening history includes New Forms Festival, Centre A, Gallery Gachet, What Lab, XINEMA, The Polygon Gallery, Massy Arts Gallery, UNIT/PITT, and The Small File Media Festival.
david-george‘s work defies easy definitions. Having experimented with a wide range of styles and subject matter, using diverse materials and techniques, his artistic multiplicity and his resistance to any form of categorization can be seen as the consistent theme in his visual expressions. Preferring to explore the visual effects of mechanical technology by hand, david-george’s work refers directly to the enigma of metamorphosis and his imagery whispers to the subconscious coaxing it to the surface. The richness of his symbolism and the elusive nature he evokes in collective memories reveal the depth of his ambitions – which combine to make new resonances.