Retail Vérité: Vancouverama
- A Maior
Alas, the Sun didn’t fully come out that day. The enticing bursts of light through the cloudy cracks were only a tease. With 173 days to go, she, the Sun, was saving her energy for the sensuous dusk of the warmer months. Dusk, the stretch of time between the exhaustion of a day’s work and the carnal promises of the night. She longed for the dalliances with the river, the bay, and the swimmers. To give them a kiss that would thaw their hearts and love all things in bloom: flowers, fruits, puppies, kittens, babies, brunches, frappuccinos, babyccinos, arts and crafts, sex, anal sex, oral sex, side sex, frontal nudity, butt stuff, threesomes, foursomes, orgies, GoFundMe campaigns, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Met Gala, Airbnb, Uber, UberEats, Google, Firefox, Safari, iPhone, iPad, iMac, Samsung, beer belly, pot belly, love handles, baby fat, BBL, breast augmentations, breast reductions, et al. The Sun had her eyes set on glory, so she tended to skip Januarys. The lack of any direct sunlight meant @munchenwithmili could lower their screen’s brightness and save some battery. Their outfit change seemed to have worked. @munchenwithmili had slipped back to the strip mall, trying to get back the missing wig.
Western Front is pleased to present the launch of Retail Vérité: Vancouverama, A Maior’s second novella and the outcome of writing workshops led by A Maior at Western Front in February 2025. Through a blend of improvisation, LARPing, and speed dating, the participants sketched the fictional characters, narrative, and setting for a supernatural mystery in real time. Operating in the spirit of exquisite corpse, the workshops were led by improvisational exchanges triggered by prompts. As a result, the collective writing process generated its own distinctive, internal logic that navigates thoughts on commerce, fashion, and popular culture to draw a portrait of contemporary retail phenomena.
The workshop included James Albers, Kathy Feng, Manon Fraser, Fiona Glen, Tiziana La Melia, Ben Lickerman, Trey Le, August Mesic, Nina Ortiz, Paige Smid, Kiel Torres, and Yasmine Whaley-Kalaora.
The book launch will take place off-site at Sweet Cereal Mountain, with a reading by Bruno Zhu of A Maior, followed by a reception upstairs in the Robson Public Market food court. Retail Vérité: Vancouverama ($25) is available for pre-order during online registration, and for purchase at the event.
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, a launch event will take place at Art Metropole, Toronto with a conversation between Bruno Zhu and writer Derek McCormack.
About the Artist
A Maior is a clothing and home goods store located in the outskirts of Viseu, Portugal. Since 2016, an eponymous exhibition program has been hosted within the shopping environment. A Maior is managed by the staff, the artist Bruno Zhu, and his family. A Maior has been featured in exhibitions at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem; Kunsthalle Freeport, Porto; X Museum, Beijing; Life Sport and BQ, both Berlin. In 2022, A Maior was the writer-in-residence at San Serriffe in Amsterdam, who commissioned Retail Vérité, A Maior’s first novella.
Accessibility
What to expect: The short reading will take place on the ground floor, and will be standing-room only. ASL interpretation is available upon request. If you require a reservation for an access requirement, please contact us at info@westernfront.ca. or +1 (604) 876 9343. We will make our best endeavours to help you.
Acknowledgements
Presented in partnership with Art Metropole, Toronto; Bierke Verlag, Berlin; and Sweet Cereal Mountain, Vancouver.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.