This project supports Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) artists and youth.
Rising Together aims to boost the capacity of emergent BIPOC artists and to engage new immigrant and refugee youth in the arts sector. It will help build intercultural understanding between diverse communities through dance, foster diversity and inclusion, and provide equity-seeking people with more opportunities to fully participate in Canadian society. There are two principal streams:
BIPOC EMERGENT ARTISTS PROGRAM
The program provides structured support to a cohort of BIPOC emergent artists, enhancing their capacity to become future leaders and build sustainable careers in the dance and arts sector through tailored mentorship and training from experienced industry experts.
The artists will gain skills in curatorial processes, audience engagement, grant writing, project management, marketing, and fundraising, and create work in studio which will be presented in a performance at the end of the project.
Participating artists:
André Bessette
Kaili Che
Ysadora Dias
Jullianna Oke
Krystal Tsai
IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH PROGRAM
Workshops for immigrant and refugee youth, delivered in partnership with schools and other partners, will engage them in dance and spoken word exercises. Led by established local BIPOC artists, the workshops will help the youth explore Canadian culture and society and how their own cultural backgrounds can connect, fostering a sense of belonging, and developing confidence and friendships. The workshops will also introduce them to volunteer and employment options in the arts sector.
Facilitators
Alvin Tolentino is the Artistic Director of Co.ERASGA. He is renowned for his contribution as an arts leader, curator, cultural programmer, teacher and advocate for the Pan Asian diaspora in Canada over the last 30 years.
Karla Comanda is a poet, editor, translator, educator and arts administrator, and an MFA graduate of creative writing at UBC.
Born and raised in Mindanao, Christopher Nasaire is a queer writer, editor, and visual artist. He writes fiction and creative nonfiction, with his works appearing in W49 Magazine and in Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino Canadian Writing.
Partners:
Burnaby Neighborhood House
Coquitlam Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program
Langley Community Services Society
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House
Rainbow Refugee
Richmond Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada
