creative forces

Blog # 54…February 2016

We’re so lucky in Canada to have a number of national treasures…natural resources that aren’t found in the ground, growing in the forests or under the sea. Everything from pop stars to comics, novelists and actors - we see their names in the news, smile to ourselves and whisper to the person next to us “they’re Canadian you know”. When George Elliott Clarke was recently named Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, it seemed a good time to celebrate some of my favourite treasures, he's first up... 

 I was introduced to  George's folk opera Beatrice Chancy in Dartmouth in the 90’s and have followed the journey from his native Nova Scotia to Toronto, where he just completed a 3 year term as our poet laureate….”imagining words of beauty and  emotion to mirror and echo the cultural mosaic that is Toronto”.  His Influences range from Miles Davis to Ezra Pound, with Irving Layton, Malcolm X and Pierre Elliot Trudeau thrown in for good measure.  Moving to the national level will give him a chance to bring his fresh voice to our government and our identity…I can hardly wait.

Sophie Milman was a nineteen year old business student at University of Toronto when she began to have success as a jazz vocalist and decided to switch careers. Born in Russia and raised in Israel, she makes use of her rich exposure to the languages and cultures of many countries to bring depth and variety to her performances.  The intangible cultural property that is her voice can be sampled online in her 2007 Make Someone Happy or 2009 Take life Easy. (couldn't resist that delicious phrase).

The Gardiner Museum of Ceramics took off in an intriguing direction when it invited Kent Monkman to mount an exhibition. He was prompted by the bone china in the collection to centre his undertaking on the source of the bones…the buffaloes that had roamed the plains of his native Manitoba. Themes in his art often explore the way indigenous history has been presented (or misrepresented) by19^th and 20^th century artists.. The Rise and Fall of Civilization that appeared at the Gardiner late last year gave us a whole new look at the connection between the harvesting of buffalo to make fine china and the dwindling resources available to native people.  

Too late to see that show, but watch for his work elsewhere.

No news of the family we’re supporting but they appear to be safe and are taking advantage of the waiting time to learn English - we correspond with them regularly through our Arabic speaking member. In the meantime we are benefitting from the experiences of the groups who have welcomed their families already, honing our sensitivities to their situations and learning how to be supportive in ways that are helpful and not smothering.  More to come.