THE FORESHORE: SESSION 19
Presented as part of Flotilla: National Conference of Artist Run Centres. 152 Great George Street, Charlottetown, PE
[su_spacer size=”10″]September 23, 2017, 2:00-3:30 p.m
MARIE BURGE ON STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGEMENT: BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE (BIG) PROMOTION ON PEI & JOURNÉE SANS CULTURE ON CONSIDERING SUSTAINABLE ARTIST WORK
Burge will review the history and concrete engagement work of the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income to establish Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) as a formal public program in PEI. Her presentation will focus on the key communities to be engaged in order to establish BIG in PEI; the appropriate strategy for the engagement of each community; what works well and what needs improvement.
Four members of the organizing committee of Journée Sans Culture will discuss the methods, aspirations, and challenges that have shaped the group’s activities since 2015. Together they will try to take stock of how they’ve tried to give pause, to think, and to act in an artistic milieu often hobbled by tiredness and resignation.
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Marie Burge was born in Prince Edward Island. She is a staff person and a member of the Cooper Institute Collective and has forty-seven years experience in popular education, community development and participatory action research both in the Dominican Republic and in PEI, mainly. She has a BA degree (History), BEd degree (Psychology) and an MA degree (Sociology). Currently her work with Cooper Institute involves organizing and implementing specific community development and engagement programs to facilitate citizen involvement to influence public policy. She is especially involved with others in the preparation of information, interactive workshops, and media work around Basic Income Guarantee, Fair Employment Insurance, and Proportional Representation for PEI. She also works on issues relating to food sovereignty, land and water protection, and immigration. She is a member of Don’t Frack PEI and the Latin American Mission Program, and associate member of the National Farmers Union.
Journée sans culture is a self-run organisation, managed on a volunteer basis by artists and cultural workers from Quebec. The first initiative of the JSC was a collective event on October 2015 – a day of reflection that doubled as a symbolic strike uniting artists and cultural workers, during which key themes and issues were debated and defined according to our needs. Rather than a strike as a form of refusal, the day marked a collective pause to discuss what most matters to us, and to think about the current state and future of the arts.
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[su_spacer size=”5″]Image credits:
Arkadi Lavoie-Lachapelle
Jeff Alward — Produced for Cooper Institute to represent the goal of all Cooper Institute’s engagement work: having the community speak out for itself and thus to influence public policy. Originally used a program in support of the rights of migrant workers.
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ABOUT THE FORESHORE
The Foreshore is a collaborative pursuit and shared space between Access Gallery and Other Sights. The Foreshore is inspired by the deep influence of the waterways on our cities and societies on the West Coast. As a place of unclear jurisdiction, and thus of contestation, friction, and constant movement, those who dwell in this zone must continually adapt to a changing environment. As a site it conjures histories specific to this region: narratives of trade and exchange, habitation and nourishment, resistance and violent erasure. Considering the potential of this zone as both concept and site, the project asks the following: How do we generate conditions of emergence? How can we take up space differently? How do we support unruly practices and futures?
Over the last 7 months, the storefront adjacent to Access’ gallery space at 222 East Georgia has hosted bi-weekly open discussion sessions informed by invited artists, writers, curators, and activists. Adding to this exciting program, we have launched an artist-in-residence series to provide space and time to artists interested in addressing questions of the foreshore.
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Established as an non-profit artist-run centre in 1991, Access Gallery is platform for emergent and experimental art practices. We enable critical conversations and risk taking through new configurations of audience, artists, and community. For more information visit accessgallery.ca
Access Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and BC Gaming, the City of Vancouver, the Hamber Foundation, the Burrard Arts Foundation, the Contemporary Art Gallery, NSB Reederei, and our committed donors, members and volunteers.
Other Sights gratefully acknowledges the support of the British Columbia Arts Council, The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 15, and the Canada Council for the Arts.