This is a message from CASSA (Council of Agencies Serving South Asians). Please contact CASSA directly for more information. Shaunga: shaunga@cassa.on.ca
Council of Agencies Serving South Asiansand the Brown Canada Project Presents:Legacies of the Komagata Maru: Letters to our Elders
Letters to our Elders is a 6-week creative workshop series for self-identified youth of colour, Indigenous and mixed-race youth. It includes workshops on various forms of storytelling (writing, digital, theatre, movement, oral and visual) and anti-racist arts education.
This workshop runs from March 5 to April 2, 2012, and will happen on Monday evenings from 5-8pm at 377 Dundas Avenue (across from the AGO).
The workshops are dedicated to exploring different themes and legacies that result from the Komagata Maru historical incident as well as dedicated to give participants opportunity to build their storytelling skills in a variety of artistic mediums.
Read more about the Komagata Maru here: http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_komagatamaru.htm
Tentative Workshop Breakdown:
Migration, Displacement, Movement (March 5)
-why do people migrate?
-how is migration forced upon us? how is it policed?
-exploring personal and collective migration/movement stories
Nationality and Identity (March 12)
-contextualizing the Komagata Maru: white nation-building, anti-Asian riots, precarious labour, residential schools, racist immigrant exclusion…
-what was going on in Canada in the early 20th century, and how does it all fit together?
-what are the consequences for today?
Violence, Apologies, Healing (March 19)
-looking at official government apologies for the Komagata Maru incident and other instances of historical violence
-what are the purposes of these apologies, what do they accomplish or leave out?
-exploring apologies and healing in our own lives, and the connections to larger events
Memory, Forgetting, Silence, Expression (March 26)
-what are the gaps of what we know of the Komagata Maru and other histories?
-what do we remember and forget in our own personal/familial histories?
-what can we imagine about what we don’t know? What can we create?
Collective Storytelling (April 2)
-bringing our individual stories and work we’ve been developing over the previous weeks and creating a collective performance
*Note: This workshop series is a part of the larger creative component of CASSA’s Brown Canada history project. Other parts of the project will involve developing alternate and travelling creative workshops that are specific, relevant and accessible to ethnic, social/cultural groups and individuals unable to attend this series. If you are interested in being involved in these workshops, but have needs and requirements not reflected in this series, please contactshaunga@cassa.on.ca for more information.
Email Shaunga at shaunga@cassa.on.ca to receive a participant application form ASAP!
Tags: Brown Canada, CASSA, News
