"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
- George Bernard Shaw
I used to be a big city dweller. I spent most of my adult life in Toronto, and then a few years in Vancouver, before heading north.
But truth be told, I'm actually a country boy. That's where my heart is. I was raised in a scrappy rural area of the Canadian Shield, part of an enclave made up of Irish Catholic farmers in Eastern Ontario. I was the youngest of 58 first cousins, almost all of whom lived within a 10 km radius of one another.
I think this is why when I came up to Prince George, there was something about the connections with people, and the immediacy of it all, that seemed to resonate with me, and reminded me of the small-community values that I was raised with, but had lost over the years through the huff and puff of an urban lifestyle.
And over the past year or so, beginning to learn about local indigenous people and their cultures has been something that I believe that has personally benefitted me.
Recently I attended a major arts conference in Ucluelet and Tofino, where I heard a lot of people from other B.C. communities talking about the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I had to admit to myself that while I recalled hearing about these over the past couple of years, I hadn't ever really considered what role these could play in the sphere of community, grassroots arts, let alone in my own personal life. I am, however, coming to learn that this is about a process of change. It's about a new way of thinking and a new world view. And it is very much about revealing, renewal and rediscovery.
At the Community Arts Council, I feel like we have started on this path but have only just scratched the surface. For example, we have formed an Indigenous Arts Support Steering Committee (with the support of the Prince George Community Foundation), comprised of some of the most recognized artist names in our community, including Ivan Paquette, Jennifer Pighin, Kim Stewart, Clayton Gauthier, Len Paquette, Shirley Babcock, and Carla Joseph. Their work in advising our organization is going to prove invaluable, perhaps even ground-breaking.
These recent revelations have also made me come to better appreciate some of the themes and narratives that we are seeing emerge in local artistic programming. Take for example Theatre Northwest. Last weekend they presented a new piece entitled Isitwendam (an understanding). This one-man work is truly virtuosic. To be blunt, I thought it was amongst some of the best theatre I've seen in a long time. And I want to congratulate Theatre NorthWest for presenting something that takes a dark chapter of our history and bravely offers it with an honest and balanced narrative, in a way that sparks conversations that lead to new connections and a reconciliatory mindset.
I have a lot of curiosity to be part of a process that is about changing perceptions that no longer work. And I have much motivation to participate in a process that will change how people could potentially participate in, influence and even dominate local arts and culture.
The way I see it, I figure if we don't allow ourselves to be challenged in how we see the world, we will miss out on some amazing life experiences.
After all, this could be the experience of a lifetime and I'm down for the ride.
