Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts
Festival & Conference Spring 2021
May 19 – 21, 2021 via Zoom
The Gathering Divergence Multi – Arts Festival and Conference | What Have We Learnt: Approaches, Lessons and Future Strategies towards Anti Black Racism, Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Digital Support in the Arts is envisioned as a space to gather, diverge with diversity and intersect on the many aspects of the performing arts and the Arts sector. The festival and conference invites participants from across the world and the Canadian arts sector investigating intersections of artistic / organizational practices grounded in EDIP (Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity towards Pluralism) Divergence is a critical manifestation in critical thinking. We encourage attendees to think together.
Register today on Eventbrite!
https://gathering-divergence-spring-2021.eventbrite.ca
The Gathering’s schedule is available: https://tinyurl.com/555fpsy6
DAY 2: Post Covid IBPOC Programming Implications and Financial Wellbeing in the Arts
Keynote by Mark V. Campbell
Mark V. Campbell is a creative and scholar. His research explores the relationships between Afrosonic innovations and notions of the human. As co-founder of the Bigger than Hip Hop radio show and founder at Northside Hip Hop Archive in 2010, Mark has spent more than two decades embedded in the Toronto hip hop scene as both a DJ and a Curator. He has published widely, with essays appearing in the Southern Journal of Canadian Studies, Critical Studies in Improvisation, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society and the Journal of World Popular Music. His recent books include the edited collection Still Here: Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel and the exhibition catalogue, …Everything Remains Raw: Photographing Toronto Hip Hop Culture from Analogue to Digital. Mark is Assistant Professor of Music & Culture at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Morning Sessions:
Festival Planning / COVID19 and Programming implications on IBPOC / Equity Seeking Artists / Arts Organizations
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has significantly impacted the performing arts sector across Ontario. Arts festivals have also been severely impacted . How is this impact further influencing festival planning, programmers and the sector. In this session we will speak to the impact of the pandemic, new considerations for festival programming and the potential impact of these programming on IBPOC / Equity seeking artists and arts organizations and what festival programming and curators should be thinking about when addressing Anti-black and other aspects of marginalization of IBPOC Arts Workers.
Panellists:
– Paola Gomez Paola
– Peter Toh
– Parul Pandya
– Laura Nanni
– Pam Patel
Bios:
Paola Gomez Paola is a trained human rights lawyer, community organizer, public speaker, Community Artist and a writer. A member of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile and an advocate, Paola is involved in causes such as ending violence against women and forced migration. Paola is the co-founder and Director of Muse Arts and the Creator, Director and Producer of HAPPENING Multicultural Festival. Paola’s work with refugee and newcomer communities have been greatly recognize in Canada, where she arrived as a refugee. Paola’s community arts work focuses on community and peace building. Paola is currently a professor at Centennial College and the 2021 Toronto Public Library Artrepreneur in Residence.
Peter Toh is an entrepreneur, business consultant, and cultural connector who has worked with multiple organizations including: The Government of Canada, Ryerson University, Rogers Communications, and currently with Music Africa of Canada Inc.
Though he was always connected to the presentation of cultural events, Peter started his professional career in 2009 as an Entrepreneurship Mentor at Ryerson University. He later joined the Government of Canada as a Business Analyst and Senior Project Officer. While working with these organizations, he was also the President of Music Africa of Canada Inc. – organizers of AFROFEST, which is the largest free African festival in North America. In 2016, he received hundreds of emails from various citizens within the city of Toronto appreciating the work he led in the African and diaspora communities and encouraging him to carry on. Based on the strength of these emails, and his passion for promoting African music and culture, he decided to make his work with Music Africa his career.
Founder of Community Impact Consulting, Parul Pandya has been skillfully working in non-profit in various roles through the past decade, including as a community builder, consultant, programmer and producer. After managing in community granting for the largest government funder in Canada, she received much interest for continued collective impact by being asked to serve organizations in a variety of capacities.
Her attraction to advocacy emerged with her work as a Queer South Asian freelance writer/poet, over two decades ago. She has a deep passion for ethics and social justice, which she teaches at Centennial College.
Her approach to exchange is a high-engagement approach, encouraging participation through self-reflection, empathy, creativity and common understanding.
Laura Nanni, Artistic & Managing Director, SummerWorks
Laura Nanni (she/her) is a curator, producer, and artist, known for her successful leadership of initiatives focused on artistic experimentation, community building, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public space. Since 2016, she has led SummerWorks through a significant period of growth and transformation. Past roles include: Programming Supervisor for Nuit Blanche Toronto; Rhubarb Festival Director for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; as well as Curator and Program Coordinator for the HATCH mentorship and residency program at Harbourfront Centre. Her artistic projects and collaborations, often site-specific, have been presented across North America, Europe, and the UK. More info at laurananni.com.
Pam Patel, Artistic Director, MT Space / IMPACT Festival
Pam Patel performs with numerous Canadian companies, touring nationally and internationally. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s music program, Pam specialized in new music and improvisation, establishing a career as a multidisciplinary artist. Pam is currently the Artistic Director of MT Space where she pursues her passion for centralizing racialized voices through theatre. Pam was formerly the President of local new music organization, NUMUS, and is currently the Chair of Arts Awards Waterloo Region. In line with efforts to advocate for the arts on a local level, Pam also sat on the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee for the City of Kitchener where she played an active role in voicing concerns on behalf of the larger arts community. In 2018, Pam was a recipient of Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellowship for Service Above Self in Arts and Culture, which was given at the Mayor of Waterloo’s State of the City Address. Most recently, Pam received the Emerging Leader in Performing Arts Award from Canadian arts presenting association, CAPACOA, and is a recipient of Zonta’s 2021 Women of Achievement Award.
Afternoon Session:
Strategies Towards Achieving Financial Health in the Arts
Ever thought of saving for a Rainy Day, thinking about the future, thinking about growing funds for grants? Financial precarity impacts the Arts. What does the financial health of artists, organizations, and the sector look like? How even in precarity can artists begin to think about retirement, investments and their financial wellbeing. How could an arts organization act as a supportive entity? The workshop will be both informative and explorative with a purpose to begin discussions about considering, solidifying Financial Well Being within the sector. Desired outcomes include how artists / arts organizations feel supported in thinking about what their financial health will look like. Understanding that it’s possible to Invest with a little money” through key strategies like (Investment Accounts, Advisors, Trading Accounts, Mylo and Wealthsimple)
Panellists:
– Nabeel Rahim
– Billie-Jane Bolton-Rojo
– Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony
Modearted by: Melrose Cornwall
Bios:
For the past 14 years, Nabeel Rahim has been delivering value to clients as a financial advisor, helping them plan for their short term need and long term goals. He is passionately dedicated to the financial wellbeing of his clients, he monitors financial market trends to inform clients and modify accounts, as necessary.
Nabeel started his career as a financial advisor at Freedom 55 Financial where he advised both corporate and individual clients, provided investment and insurance services unique to each situation. In 2016, he founded Southmead Wealth Management Inc., where he is the Managing Partner with his strong listening and analytical skill, he customizes services to suit the need of each client. He takes special care to ensure that he understands the needs of every single client, and is always there for his clients, whether it is the business day, or after hours.
Away from the office Nabeel has a passion for classic cars and giving back to the community by volunteering with organizations that help empower children.
Billie-Jane Bolton-Rojo, a mum of three children, has a passion to equip children to develop their gifts / talents FULLY and to live out their purpose boldly. As owner of PCAL Financial Group, Billie-Jane uses financial services to support parents in eliminating financial barriers that stagnate children’s dreams. She helps families save for their children’s education with RESPs and explore creative strategies to fill the gap, positioning their children to hone their gifts debt-free. Billie-Jane also challenges parents to expand their perspective beyond their own children, but multi-generationally, using personal insurance to protect and build their legacies.
Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony is an award winning Toronto artist, producer, arts educator, cultural connector and creative consultant.
A member of the League of Poets and associate member of the PlayWriters Guild, her high level accomplishments include being featured in When Sisters Speak, co-producing the Spoken Soul Festival, and representing Toronto as a 2x national team finalist in the Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word. In 2019 she was a TEDx speaker and in 2020 an excerpt of her play How Jab Jab Saved the Pretty Mas was featured as part of Piece of Mine’s Black Women in Theatre Festival. Paulina’s work has been featured in media on Bell Fibe TV, Huffington Post Canada, AfroGlobal TV, Metro Morning and CBC Morning and published in 3 anthologies and 1 book. Paulina was recognized as one of 150 Black Women Making Herstory (as featured on CBC) for her contribution to building the arts scene in Toronto.
Melrose Cornwall is a Toronto-based Financial Services Professional with nearly ten years of experience in the financial sector. While Melrose ended his studies in Aviation in 2011, he soon discovered his passion for helping the children in his community, particularly in regards to financial literacy. Melrose volunteers as the Chairperson of an Employee Resource Group at his company that aims to promote diversity and inclusiveness of the Black and Hispanic minority groups. His goal is to arm the group members with financial literacy education, by connecting them to both finance-based events and culturally relevant courses, classes and networking events throughout the city. He does so with the hopes that the learnings are passed down to members’ children and the overall community.
CPAMO Publication Draft Review:
Living in the Skin, I am In: Experiential Learnings, Approaches and Considerations towards Anti-Black Racism in the Arts, continues the conversation on anti-black racism in the arts, it’s impact on black artist’s use of digital technology and the implications one’s artistic / organizational practices. The featuring articles previously published or written along with articles from invited contributors working in all performing arts disciplines including visual arts, digital / media arts and arts administration. Offering resources, toolkits and an annotated bibliography readers will find value in the international, national and local scope of its contents.
Panellists:
– Kevin A. Ormsby
– Régine Cadet
– Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
– Akua Delfish
– Dwayne Morgan
Bios:
Kevin A. Ormsby
Program Manager of Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO), Kevin is also the Artistic Director of KasheDance, movement coach and Arts Marketing Consultant. The Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Fellowship recipient (2017), KM Hunter Dance Award Nominee (2016), Toronto Arts Council’s Cultural Leaders Lab Fellow (2015) and The Canada Council for the Arts’ Victor Martyn Lynch – Staunton Award 2014 recipient for outstanding achievement by a mid career artist, he has many interests in the creative practice and administration in dance. He has honed his passion for dance, advocacy, writing and education while performing with various companies and projects in Canada, the Caribbean and the United States.
Régine Cadet has been the Managing Director at Theatre Passe Muraille (TPM) for the past 7 years. She came to TPM after twelve years with MAI (Montréal, Arts Interculturels), a multidisciplinary incubator for the development of intercultural art, where she held the position of Artistic and Executive Director. Régine is currently the Chair of the TAPA (Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts) board of directors and she is the cofounder of EKSPRESYON a Montreal based dance company focusing on Haitian dance.
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor is the Founder, Artistic Director and conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada’s first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation and performance of Afrocentric music of all styles. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, Mr. Blyden-Taylor immigrated to Canada in 1973. He founded The Chorale in 1998, in response to a musical void in Canada; there had never before been a professional ensemble dedicated to the dissemination of Afrocentric choral music. The response that The Chorale has received in Canada and the United States since its inception has certainly given credence to Mr. Blyden-Taylor’s vision.
Mr. Blyden-Taylor has conducted several university, youth and concert choirs, most notably completing a 25year tenure with The Orpheus Choir of Toronto. In addition he works frequently as a guest conductor, having appeared with organizations such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hannaford Street Silver Band, Nova Scotia Youth Choir, Ontario Youth Choir, Central Manitoba Youth Choir and the New Brunswick Choral Federation Youth Sing. He has also worked as artistic director and advisor for the Algoma Festival Choir, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir and the Chatham-Kent Roots Festival.
Akua Delfish is the Co-Founder of D’LYFE Dance Company & GoLEFT Creatives. She holds an M.A. in Communication, Culture, and Technology and an Honours B.A. in Fine Arts Cultural Studies. Akua has been involved in the arts for over 32 years. Her dance specialty is Afro-Caribbean folk, trained under the tutelage Scarborough Caribbean Youth Dance Ensemble and Caribbean Dance Theatre. She is currently a senior member of La’Riatsila Dance Theatre. In 2006, Akua received a special 25th Anniversary of Independence award from the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda’s for her contribution to arts in the Caribbean community. In other capacities, Akua is a Communications Manager in the federal Public Service and an Event Production Manager with CaribbeanTales Media Group.
Dwayne Morgan began his career in the spoken word in 1993. Morgan is the author of 13 published and 9 audio collections his work. Morgan is a 2016 finalist for the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and a 2013 inductee into the Scarborough Walk of Fame.
Register today on Eventbrite!
https://gathering-divergence-spring-2021.eventbrite.ca
Accessibility: all sessions will be via Zoom. We will have Otter.ai live transcribed available for all panels (except the breakrooms section). ASL will be provided for the Digital Session on May 21. Please let us know if you have any questions or accessibility needs.
The Gathering Divergence is in partnership with CanAsian Dance Festival, Mass Culture and ArtofFestivals.
Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. As Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University, she is the first black and black female dean of a faculty of design. She leads the Cultures-Based Innovation Initiative focused on using old ways of knowing to drive innovation processes that directly benefit communities.
Nathaniel Hanula-James (he/him) is a queer, mixed-race, settler artist. He holds a B.A. in drama studies from McGill University, and graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada’s acting program. Recent performance credits include The First Day Project (Talk is Free Theatre), Tiny Treasures (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), and A (Musical) Midsummer Night’s Dream (Driftwood Theatre). Nathaniel is also a creator and a producer. His object theatre piece Untitled Flamingo Play was featured as part of the Centaur Theatre’s 2019 Queer Reading Series and has received support for further development. He has studied podcasting with Fixt Point Arts and Media, producing at the Paprika Festival, and arts administration at Humber College. The program at Humber led him to participate in Mass Culture’s Woven Histories project with some amazing collaborators. He is so excited that their findings will be presented at CPAMO’s ‘Gathering Divergence’.
Kelly Straughan is currently the Executive Artistic Director of Workman Arts- a multidisciplinary arts organization that promotes a greater understanding of mental health and addiction issues through creation and presentation. She is also the Vice President of the board for the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). Kelly is the former Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe Festival and President of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals. She previously held the position of Associate Artistic Director at Nightwood Theatre and was the Assistant Artistic Director at Tarragon Theatre for three seasons. She holds a Masters in Theatre Directing from the University of British Columbia.
Celia Smith is the CEO of Luminato Festival Toronto. She is a strategic leader in the Toronto arts and culture community with proven expertise in directing significant organizational growth, social enterprise and charitable expansion, and executive management of complex, multi-stakeholder environments. Her entire career has been in the arts & culture sector, leading significant non-profit organizations, or in the private sector creating social enterprises.
Ilter Ibrahimof is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Fall for Dance North, Toronto’s Premier International Dance Festival. Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Ilter moved to North America in 1998, first to attend Emerson College in Boston and then living and working in New York City and Montréal before settling in Toronto. Ilter’s own dance touring agency Sunny Artist Management was active from 2004-2020, representing dance companies & artists of the highest caliber from around the world. As a creative mind in the dance field, Ilter is regularly invited to participate in various festivals and conferences in Canada and around the globe as a curator and speaker. In 2020, Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame awarded Ilter the Sandra Faire Next Generation Award. He lives with his partner Lucas and their two puppies Ginny and Myku.
Barry Hughson joined The National Ballet of Canada as Executive Director in 2014, partnering with Karen Kain to accelerate the company’s trajectory of artistic growth, fiscal responsibility, community engagement and international acclaim.
Cynthia Lickers-Sage is a Mohawk, Turtle Clan visual artist from Six Nations and is currently the Executive Director of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance. Following her graduation at the Ontario College of Art and Design she Co-Founded The Centre for Aboriginal Media, imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival and is the sole proprietor of Clickers Productions. She has spent the last 25 years working in the not-for-profit arts sector as the former General Manager of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Executive Director at the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts and Executive Director of imagineNATIVE. She has worked within the governmental sector at the Ontario Arts Council (Acting Aboriginal Arts Officer and Community and Multidisciplinary Arts Officer) and the Canada Council for the Arts (Flying Eagle Coordinator) and OP (Fresh Start Officer).
Shannon Litzenberger (she/her) is an award-winning dance artist, embodiment facilitator and experienced cultural leader working at the intersection of art, ideas and transformational change.
Renata Soutter. A co-founder, co-director, choreographer and teacher at Propeller Dance, Renata has dedicated her professional career to socially-engaged dance innovation through creation, performance and education. Renata co-developed (with Shara Weaver and company dancers) a methodology of collaborative creation that focuses on the unique aesthetics of artists with disability and the primacy of self-expression. Her influences include the natural world, and a strong belief in the power and beauty of diverse cultural expression. She is a Diamond Jubilee recipient (2012) and Finalist for Ottawa Arts Council mid-career Artist award. Her creations Living the Desirable Life and Flesh and Spokes have been presented by DanceWorks, GCTC, National Arts Centre and other works have been self-presented in parks, schools gyms, community centres and youth centres. 
Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) 
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