Retail Vérité: Vancouverama
- A Maior
The coffee shop was still in complete disarray. The staff hadn’t returned to work. The front door had been left open and two pigeons had crawled in. They pecked the crumbs of an unfinished croissant by the chair where Bill found the wig. Strawberry blonde, shorter at the back, the wig sported angular cascades that made it quintessentially Karen. It parted in the middle with the two longer sections draped to the sides. From its profile, a sharp diagonal cut left two chunks of hair dangling at a point in the front. They resembled fangs, or something dramatically gothic. They were styled to be the mane for a lioness ready to roar at the manager.
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.