Mayworks Kjipuktuk-Halifax

Rope Making
2019-05-25 14:00 - 18:00 (America/Halifax) | Nova Scotia
Presented by Xiaocheng Li & Leesa Hamilton
Textile Artists, Xiaocheng Li and Leesa Hamilton will make rope from discarded shirts. The Fashion and Textile industry create a lot of waste that takes decades to breakdown. Donate your old shirts that would otherwise end up in landfill. This hands on activity will call on you to turn waste into something beautiful and functional.
All of the rope we make will be installed in the Bus Stop Theatre until the end of the Festival and then auctioned off.
Presented in partnership with

Mi'kma'ki 2030: Hope and Fire
2019-05-23 - 2019-05-25 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
May 23rd to 25th | 8:00pm-9:00pm
What are the possibilities for Mi’kma’ki?
In this dynamic, multi-disciplinary installation-performance, indigenous and black artists dream, hope and create a different way forward for this land. The artists individually and collectively articulate their visions through a provocative sharing of film, visual art, music, word and dance. Hope and Fire invites people of all ages to immerse themselves in the most pressing questions facing our collective existence on this land.
The Mi’kma’ki 2030 Collective:
Sarah Brooks is a Textile Artist and Craftsperson. Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Sarah is inspired by natural elements deriving from the landscapes that surround her within Mi’kma’ki. Always working with her hands, Sarah chooses to work creatively in as many tactile building ways as possible and is constantly looking at and exploring different avenues through materials, mediums and methods, using fabrics, colours and textures, weaving, sewing, dyeing and screenprint. Sarah continues to build upon her skills and methods and concept ideologies through her studies at NSCAD University, majoring in the Textiles field with a Minor in Art History and deep interest in Indigenous Studies.
Catherine Martin is a Mi’kmaq person of the Millbrook community in Truro, Nova Scotia. Catherine’s professional and academic interests have been influenced and driven by her passion for the lives and stories of Aboriginal women. As an independent filmmaker, director, and writer, Catherine’s repertoire of work includes the animation film Little Boy Who Lived with Muini’skw (2004), and Spirit Wind (2000). In 2006, Catherine added the NFB online documentary Bringing Annie Mae Home to her accomplishments. Fittingly, Catherine’s contributions to film, television, and digital media in Atlantic Canada were recognized in March 2015 with a WAVE Award from Women in Film and Television Atlantic. Catherine has acted as the past Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and as the past Chair of the Society for Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry.
Cynthia Martin’s ultimate desire is to celebrate the beauty of nature, believing it is a gift of peace, joy and healing from the Spirit of Grace, Glory and Renewal. She is inspired by the indigenous beauty of Nova Scotia and hopes to reflect it in her work as a Mi’kmaq textile and ceramic artist. Cynthia is a member of the Mi’kmaq First Nation of Millbrook. She has a BFA from NSCAD, and is currently enrolled in their Visual Arts Certificate Program.
Bria C. Miller was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Bria is a Queer, Black, Indigenous mixed media visual artist, arts educator, musician, graphic and community facilitator. She participated in Bridging Bus, connecting with the Washington, DC chapter of Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project in 2016. In April of 2018, she participated in Emergent Strategy Immersion training with Adrienne Maree Brown, a Black femme author and social justice facilitator in Detroit. These international relationships continue to strengthen and build Bria’s capacity to organize, which in turn allow her to improve how she offers various art programs or events in Halifax. Through her dedication to building equity and relationships in community, she is working to create spaces where racialized and LGBTQIAP+ artists can be centered.
Tayla Fern Paul is a Mi’kmaq artist, activist and metal fabricator currently living in Eskasoni, Unama’ki. A member of Pictou Landing First Nation, she grew up in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). She has a painting at the Dalhousie Weldon Law building, a relief clay tile currently on display at the Museum of Natural History, is currently finishing a steel and copper tree sculpture for Eel River Bar First Nation, and is teaching art on reserves in Cape Breton. Born in Kjipuktuk and raised in Wolfville, Tayla returned to Kjipuktuk after traveling as a youth to remain on homeland. Tayla has also done public speaking on issues of social and environmental justice. She has four children, and is the daughter of artist Leonard Paul.
Liliona Quarmyne is a dancer, actor, singer, community organizer, and activist committed to progressive social change. Her eclectic background and experiences have taken her through many performance styles on four different continents. She choreographs and dances across Canada and internationally, creates and performs original works as an independent artist, facilitates community programming, is the Artistic Director of Kinetic Studio, and works as the Community Catalyst at Mocean Dance. Liliona sees her body as a link to past and to future generations. Her scope of work is broad, but is particularly focused on the relationship between art and social justice, on the body’s ability to carry ancestral memory, and on the role the performing arts can play in creating change.

Sign language interpretation will be provided during the May 24th presentation.

Black Feminism: Sistas of the Struggle
2019-05-22 19:00 - 21:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
We marched, sang, protested and supported the feminist movement, we fought for maternity leave, employment equity, flex time, and society stands on our shoulders.
A panel discussion examining the story of Black women who have led movements for social change during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Although Black women have played an important role – both behind the scenes and on the frontlines – in struggles for equality, women’s rights and social justice, they are generally excluded from historical narratives of the feminist movement. It is time their stories were told and their contributions to social justice acknowledged and recognized.
Panelists:
Delvina Bernard, Lynn Jones, Dolly Williams and Carolann Wright-Parks
Panel Moderator: El Jones
With opening poetry by:
Dr Afua Cooper and Martha Mutale.
“When we speak of feminism there almost always is the tendency to assume that this is something that was created by white women.” Author and Feminist Civil Rights Leader, Angela Davis

Biographies:

Delvina Bernard is an educator, songwriter and human rights advocate. For twenty years she led the nationally acclaimed female acapella quartet Four the Moment gaining international recognition for her award winning compositions themed around gender justice, anti-racism, and wider social justice issues. A founding member of the Black Arts Network (BANNS) and African Nova Scotia Music Association (ANSMA) Bernard has shared the stage with artistic giants such as Maya Angelou, Pete Seeger, Buffy Saint Marie and Oscar Peterson. As principal founder of the Africentric Learning Institute of Nova Scotia (ALI), Bernard has been at the forefront of the Canadian Afrocentric education movement.

Dr Lynn Jones is a a community and labour activist from Truro, Nova Scotia. From the time she was a child, she struggled against racism, sexism and discrimination. Jones became a strong labour activist with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and then became the first person of colour to be elected Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress. She has been active in the movement against environmental racism and helped craft the first environmental racism bill in Canada. She presently chairs The Global Afrikan Congress-Nova Scotia Chapter, a global organization who seeks reparations for the atrocities of the trans -Atlantic slave trade.

Dolly Williams is from the community of East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada. She has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Congress of Black Women Preston and Area Chapter, East Preston Ratepayers, the Halifax Senior Council, the National Action Coalition of Canadian Women, the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia, the Black Educators Association and Southeastern Capital Health Board, among many others. She currently sits on the Nova Scotia Community Links Board, is Chairperson of the Preston & Area Housing Fund Board, and a member of the Women Inter-Church Council of Halifax. In 2007, she published the book Black Women Who Made a Difference in Nova Scotia for the Congress of Black Women of Canada.

Carolann Wright-Parks was born and raised in Beechville, Nova Scotia. She has 30 years of experience in community development in Toronto, South Africa and Halifax. While working with communities in Toronto, she ran for Mayor in 1988 as the first (and still only) Black woman to run for Mayor of Toronto coming second against the incumbent. In 1994, Wright-Parks returned to Halifax and is now the Director of Community Economic Development and Strategic Engagement at the Greater Halifax Partnership. With a specific mandate to assist, support and enhance African Nova Scotian communities, Carolann brings lifelong passion and experience for community development to her work.

El Jones is a poet, educator, journalist and advocate. She grew up in Winnipeg before moving to Halifax where she studied English at Dalhousie University. She was the fifth Poet Laureate of Halifax from 2013 to 2015, and currently holds the 15th Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University. El is a co-founder of the Black Power Hour, a radio show developed collectively with prisoners.

Dr Afua Cooper is Halifax’s current Poet Laureate. She has published five books of poetry, including the critically acclaimed Copper Woman and Other Poems, and two historical novels. Her creative work has been recognized with national and international awards. In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognized Dr. Cooper as one of the women who are changing Canadian society for the better. Cooper is also the 3rd James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian studies at Dalhousie University. An academic leader, she is the founder of the Black Canadian Studies Association, and also created the Black and African Diaspora Studies Minor at Dalhousie, making it the first of its kind in a Canadian institution of higher learning.

Martha Mutale is a Zambian-born poet, organizer, and advocate. Martha was a 4th Wall participant for the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, where she submitted a poem called No Justice No Peace which talks about the global issues surrounding Black and Brown bodies. She has been performing poetry for several years, she took part in the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2016, as well as the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in Vancouver in 2017. She co-founded a non-profit called Poets 4 Progress which was active for two years and now spend her time working as a Program Coordinator for a Parent Resource Centre. She believes in collaboration, building relationships, and finding ways to better herself.

Presented by

Remembering the Winnipeg General
2019-05-20 - 2019-05-21 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
May 20th & 21st | 7:30pm-9:00pm
DaPoPo Theatre presents a staged reading of a new play by Thomas McKechnie.
“So what do we do in divided, fearful times? What do we do with the howling, hopeless, yellow tinged guts in our frail little bodies?”
Winnipeg, 1919. Massive unemployment and inflation. In the wake of the Russian Revolution, workers, many of them newcomers to Canada, unite and effectively shut down the city. Thousands of women act as strikers and strike-breakers. The Citizens’ Committee, representing the city’s ruling class, along with the police, respond with force.
Toronto-based theatre artist Thomas McKechnie, known to Halifax audiences from A Wake For Lost Time and 4 1⁄2 (ig)noble truths, asks us to remember Canada’s landmark strike and consider the price of state-sanctioned violence and systemic oppression.
Halifax actors Madeleine Tench and Kristi Anderson lend voices to the over 40 characters in a staged reading of this rousing new play directed by GaRRy Williams and Keelin Jack.

Sign language interpretation will be provided during the May 21st presentation.

the effects were cumulative and i almost didn’t notice
2019-05-18 11:00 - 15:00 | Nova Scotia
By the year 2100, port cities should prepare for a 250 centimetre rise in sea levels*
Where do our habits – as humans, as workers, as individuals, as a society – lead us? The things we do every day. The things we don’t do, every day. Small actions with eventual results. Time ceaselessly crashes on, and the tendency of it all to add up can catch us by surprise. What do we tend to? What do we neglect? Tides slowly rise within us, the world changes around us, and we forget what a tiny pinprick of perspective we see it all from. How soon we are engulfed. How unwittingly we build our own prisons.
For 250 minutes, performer/creator Colleen MacIsaac constructs an examination of how easily we can paint ourselves into a corner, get in over our heads, alter our circumstances until they are no longer safe for us. A durational exploration of what a long time it can take to arrive at what seems preventable in action yet feels inevitable upon arrival.

*The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2017 report.

Graphic History Collective: Drawn to Strike
2019-05-15 19:30 - 20:30 | Nova Scotia
The Graphic History Collective presents two new book published by Between the Lines:

1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike commemorates one of the most important moments in Canadian history.
Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada chronicles the history of the strike as a powerful tool that has and continues to propel progressive changes in our workplaces and society at large.
GHC contributors Robin Folvik and Orion Keresztesi will be in attendance presenting the books and Bookmark will be selling copies on site!

The Big Picture: Working Conditions of Independent Animators
2019-05-11 17:00 - 18:00 | Nova Scotia
What is it like to be an independent animator? What challenges do independent Animators face finding funding for their work, conveying their visions to producers, and scrounging for the vast amount of time needed to make films frame by frame? What supports are available from arts organizations? And how can we put our heads together to improve living and working conditions for these independent artists?
This panel features special guests Michael Fukushima (Executive Producer of the National Film Board’s English Animation Studio), laura jeanne lefave (Program Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts), and award-winning independent animators Steve Woloshen and Sam Decoste.
It is for aspiring independent animators, commercial animators who want to know how the other half lives, and members of the public who would like to see behind the curtain on the process that has brought us some of the greatest Canadian films ever made.
Biographies:
Sam Decoste is an independent animator, curator, and educator who believes in the power of stories. Decoste directed and animated the documentary short Mary & Myself (National Film Board prod. Annette Clarke 2013), which was nominated for a 2014 Best Short Documentary Canadian Screen Award and won the Shelagh MacKenzie Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust. Their installation, Cahun: Framed (2015), was featured at the Animation Festival of Halifax last year. This year Decoste is the curator and mentor of the four- person installation project entitled Under the Rug.
Michael Fukushima is the head of the National Film Board of Canada’s world-renowned Animation Studio, in Montreal. He has been making films since 1984, which is a lot of water under the bridge. Fukushima joined the NFB Animation Studio in 1990 as a filmmaker, then became a studio producer, and is now executive producer and studio head, with a lot of films (and some awards) under his belt. He now mostly produces the producers and offers up sagacity and wise-cracking bon mots.
laura jeanne lefave is Program Officer for the Explore and Create program of the Canada Council for the Arts. The Canada Council is the national funder for the arts which supports individual artists and arts organizations through grants, services, prizes, and payments. Lefave is herself a dedicated champion of the arts who assists artists, curators, and organizations with specific advice through information sessions and grant-writing workshops across the country and by responding to individual questions.
Steven Woloshen has created over 50 abstract films and time-based installations for festivals, galleries and museums. His accolades include the 2016 René Jodoin and 2015 Wiesbaden Lifetime Achievement Awards and two Governor General’s award nominations. Woloshen is a teacher, film conservationist, animator, craftsman and the author of Recipes for Reconstruction: The Cookbook for the Frugal Filmmaker (2010), a hands-on manual for handmade, analogue film techniques, and Scratch, Crackle & Pop! A Whole Grains Approach to Making Films without a Camera (2015). As Scratchatopia, Woloshen has hosted solo retrospectives and workshops in Europe, North America and Northern Africa.

Under the Rug: The Invisibility of Art Labour
Under the Rug is an animation exhibition that reflects on the often laborious process of creating art, and the disconnect between art’s consumption and creation.
The show features the work of performance and multimedia artist Annie Onyi Cheung, visual artist Angela Henderson, film and theatre artist Tara Taylor and interdisciplinary artist Tom Elliott. Each artist has created an animated response to the theme through the lens of their respective practice.
Their individual installations can be seen throughout the festival grounds: in the board room, the hallway, the coat room and the screening room, making the exhibition a part of instead of an addition to the festival.
Dedicated viewing times: Launch 5pm-6:30 Thursday May 9, & Installations Cocktail Social 5pm-7 Friday May 10

Presented in partnership with

Songs of Resilience: Bringing Voice to Protest Music (NSGEU Convention)
2019-05-09 20:00 - 21:30 | Nova Scotia
May 4th, 7:00pm @ St-Andrew’s United Church | May 9th, 8:00pm @ Halifax Convention Centre
Celebrating song as a tool for social change movements with Polaris Choir
Featuring chants, protest songs, contemporary choral works, and a choir-created arrangement, listeners will be transported throughout the past hundred years and invited to reflect on social movements that have impacted the Nova Scotia region.
Polaris is Choirs for Change’s high-intensity adult community choir led by Jack Bennet, Sanford Hare, and Emma Norton.
*A special second performance of this event will take part during the NSGEU Convention at the Halifax Convention Centre. The performance will be free for attending NSGEU delegates and open to the general public through the purchase of $15 tickets.
Presented by

With support from

Songs of Resilience: Bringing Voice to Protest Music
2019-05-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Nova Scotia

Opening Reception
2019-05-01 18:30 - 20:30 | Nova Scotia
BREAD & ROSES!
Treat yourself to some FREE bread from LF Bakery and Raspberry & Rose flavoured ice cream and sorbet from Dee Dee’s Ice Cream. Yum!!
Our opening reception will feature a medley of short presentations giving a glimpse of what’s to come in our 2019 festival.
Luyos MC
You’ll also be treated to the precolonial kulintang (southern Philippines) sounds of artist and musician Luyos MC. Based in Southern Ontario, Luyos MC explores the traditional Indigenous music of particular Maharlikan islands (a place currently known as the southern part of colonized Philippines) to revitalize the appreciation of these disappearing traditions.

With thanks to

Canadian Labour International Film Festival
2018-11-28 19:00 - 20:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Mayworks Halifax presents
a film screening curated by the
CANADIAN LABOUR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
CLiFF takes place this November in locations across Canada. Selected international films celebrate workers from around the world and shed light on issues that affect us all.
Admission by donation – PWYC!
FREE Popcorn!
***FILM PROGRAM***
Total run time: 75 min
KAMPUNG TAPIR (Indonesia/Malaysia, Drama, 17 min)
One Sunday afternoon, migrant workers Anne and her husband leave their five-year-old daughter from Kampung Tapir (Tapir Village), Malaysia. On the way to Singapore, their bus hits a wild Malayan tapir crossing the road, but no one is eager to save it. In the struggle of choosing a country to settle down in, Anne finds that she is like this endangered species, drifting between places to find a better life.
TRABAJADORES (USA, Documentary, 10 min)
55 years later, Arturo S. Rodríguez, President of the United Farm Workers of America, continues the task that César Chávez started, with the upcoming threat of the new Trump administration and the negative impact it may have on undocumented workers’ jobs and rights.
LIFE OF DEATH (Indonesia, Animation, 5 min)
Death, while struggling to balance his work and family life, talks about his existence, his job, and his opinions on human beings in an interview from the documentary ‘Life of Death’.
HAUNTED WITNESS (Canada, Documentary, 10 min)
Trauma suffered by crime reporters is an under-reported and stigmatised issue. It is often forgotten or widely unacknowledged that like policeman and paramedics, journalists are first responders to daily scenes of horror. Admitting to experiencing trauma to newsroom colleagues, however, is widely denounced within the industry.
EAST: A RELATIONSHIP (Canada, Poem, 2 min)
EAST, is where Noor Khan comes from, the Middle East and South Asia, and it is also her location in relation to Toronto, i.e. Scarborough. EAST communicates the crisis of having been robbed of a homeland, while also settling and being complicit of the destruction of the home of Indigenous peoples.
OUR STORY (Italy, Animation, 5 min)
Emigration is a common territory that has involved many people all over the world. The stories of today’s emigrants are the stories of our past. Their ‘story’ is our story. It is everyone’s story.
BELONGING TO UNTOUCHABLE GOD
(India, documentary, 26 min)
The story of Ramkali Devi and the remarkable work of a group of Musahar women in Bihar. Breaking traditionally bonded labour for upper caste landlords where they were subjected to exploitation and violence, workers undertook the struggle to fight for their rights and justice which lead to significant changes in their lives.

2019 Call For Submissions
2018-10-01 | Nova Scotia
Be a Part of the 2019 Festival
Help us Celebrate our 10th anniversary!
Mayworks Halifax seeks proposals that will speak of the working class experience. This can be extremely varied and can be contemporary or historical. Both amateur and professional performers may apply.
Submissions need not be directly focused on work, labour or unions. Mayworks Halifax programs works of art that adress broad themes of social and environmental justice. Any submissions that adress issues of inequality and injustice, or give voice to marginalized communities will be considered.
Under-represented groups and those disadvantaged at work and in society are particularly encouraged to apply. Material is particularly sought from youth, women, people with disabilities, African Nova Scotians, First Nation Communities, Indigenous artists, people of colour, newcomer (immigrant) populations, 2SLGBTQ+ folks, Acadian or other under-represented cultures in Nova Scotia.
Proposals must be submitted in English or French for consideration.
DEADLINE: October 1st, 2018
Download Application Guidelines and Forms: 2019 Mayworks Call for Submissions (PDF)

The NS Federation of Labour presents Si Khan
2018-05-18 18:00 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
An Evening with Si Kahn
International Songwriter | Activist | Organizer
Si Kahn has worked for over 45 years in both the USA and Canada as a civil rights, labour and community organizer and musician.
Stay for a reception at 8:00pm where you can meet Si!
The theatre will fill up fast and there are no tickets to this event, come early and let’s fill the place!

NS Federation of Labour | 902.454.6735
info@nslabour.ca

Presented in partnership with the Mayworks Halifax Festival

Hip Hop vs. Capitalism
2018-05-12 20:00 - 23:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
This festival mic drop closes our 2018 program through a night of beats and rhymes that speak truth to capitalist power.

Test Their Logik
Using hip-hop to inspire political action and to deliver potent messages of social and environmental justice, TEST THEIR LOGIK has developed a following amongst activists and hip-hop heads alike. For 9 years they’ve toured this planet, supporting social movements and freedom fighters at the frontlines of struggles against the tyranny and violence of the powerful, as well as rocking parties, festivals, and stages on every continent. Their most recent album “BE” was well-received on campus radio across Canada, staying in the top 10 on the hip-hop charts Nationally for 10 weeks straight and hitting #1 at various stations across North America. They are currently working on their third full-length Album “See”.
testtheirlogik.bandcamp.com

Lee Reed
Kanadian HipHop’s oldest and grumpiest radical left loudmouth, and a respected veteran of the nation’s indie music scene. For over 20 years he’s been stomping stages and studios, spewing his unique brand of fiery, anti-capitalist rant-hop. From mouthpiece for the legendary punk-hop greats Warsawpack, and throughout his solo work that followed, Reed’s musical legacy remains committed to the fight for a better world. Voicing anti-oppressive politics through HipHop, and soundtracking and signal-boosting the efforts of communities and organizers struggling on the frontline for social and environmental justice. His latest album, 2015’s anti-colonial/anti-state anthem “The Butcher The Banker The Bitumen Tanker” spent 14 weeks on the national campus & community radio Top-10 charts, ending the year as Kanada’s #6 HipHop album. Hide your bankers. Hide your cops.
leereed.bandcamp.com

DJ Fadzwa
Zimbabwe born and raised, Halifax praised. DJ Fadzwa is known for spinning killer afrobeat sets with visuals to match. Fadza recently won Bronze for best DJ at The Coast: Best of Halifax 2017 Awards. Bringing the sounds of the African Diaspora and more, be prepared to party.
www.facebook.com/kunyangwe18

Ray Reaves
Raised in poverty stricken parts of Atlanta, and Washington D.C., Ray uses his experiences witnessing police brutality, violent crime, and struggle in his communities to craft songs on these issues with a mix of melody and raw emotion.
rayreaves.bandcamp.com/

El Jones
El Jones is a poet, professor and one of the most influential activists living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She’s the former Poet Laureate of Halifax, the current Nancy’s Chair in Women’s studies and the co-host of the Black Power Hour on CKDU-FM, an educational program which provides information on Black history and culture aimed at incarcerated people

Party Brass
Party Brass is a RHYMETHiNK project featuring MC’s Testament (of Test Their Logik) and Lee Reed. No ballads. No slow jams. Just pure party-rocking soundtrack for peeps resisting the shytstem. Emma Goldman is famously quoted as saying “If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution”. In that spirit, Party Brass is looking to take revolution to the dance floor the way Emma woulda’ wanted. Beats and rhymes for radical minds.

Hip Hop vs. Capitalism is presented by the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union

Standing With Water
2018-05-11 20:00 - 21:30, 2018-05-10 20:00 - 21:30, 2018-05-09 20:00 - 21:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Standing with Water is a tribute to two bodies of water on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean – the Songor Lagoon in Ada, Ghana, and the Shubenacadie River here in Nova Scotia.
This suite of dance pieces brings the two bodies of water and the issues that surround them into dialogue, exploring questions of ancestral relationship, responsibility, teachings, and the sacred. The pieces are a tribute to water itself, and to those who work so hard to protect it. Standing with Water is an ode to what was, and to what could be.
Choreographed by Liliona Quarmyne and featuring dancers Susan Barratt, Kathleen Doherty, Kara Friesen, Denise John, and Liliona Quarmyne.

Standing With Water is presented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees – Nova Scotia

With support from the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group

iWitness
2018-05-11 19:00 - 19:30, 2018-05-10 19:00 - 19:30, 2018-05-09 19:00 - 19:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
“…a bold mover!” (Lisa Traiger, Washington Post)

Vincent E. Thomas/VTDance contemplates acts of humanity in the deeply moving, multi-layered work- iWitness. “I Pledge” explores simple truths in human behaviors and implied truths in human documents. “Render & Proceed” investigates the convolution of media and its impact on the human spirit. “Come Change” considers the past and present for a hopeful tomorrow.

Collaborators include: Dwayne Hess (video), Cecylia Barcyzk (cello), Daniel Jose Older (sound design, text), Jodi Ozimek (costume)

Photo credit: Marie Falconer

iWitness is the solo work based on the award-winning, evening length- Witness. Witness was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of 2008 Performing Arts for Everyone and the Millennium Stage.

“There is no doubt that Vincent E. Thomas is an ambitious choreographer.“(Washington Post)

Photo credit: Paul Emerson (same credit for feature event photo)

The True Cost of Coal
2018-05-08 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Part visual art installation, part spoken word storytelling, The True Cost of Coal examines the cost of coal-powered electricity, while celebrating stories of struggle from communities in the Appalachian mountains. A collaboration between the Beehive Design Collective and hip hop duo Test Their Logik, this event features large scale murals and stinging rhymes that will resonate loudly in Nova Scotia.

The True Cost of Coal graphic uses mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia as a lens through which to understand the historical and contemporary story of energy and resource extraction.
With a gigantic portable mural teeming with intricate images of plants and animals from the most biodiverse temperate forest on the planet, the Bees will share (and seek) stories of how mountaintop removal coal mining affect communities and ecosystems throughout Appalachia and beyond.
Long exploited as a resource-extraction colony within the US, the Appalachian mountains are home to a fight for survival which has determined, in part, the industrial power of this country. Without coal, mined at a great cost to Appalachian communities, there would be no ‘cheap’ electricity. Today’s energy corporations and government bodies are continuing to show the extent of their greed and short-sightedness as they push their extractive agendas in the “New Coal Rush.” We will expose the deceptions of “clean coal” technologies and bring to light the root causes of the climate chaos the planet is facing today.
The True Cost of Coal examines all of our connections to coal, while celebrating stories of struggle from mountain communities. The last chapter of the story also looks to the future, raising questions about alternatives, remediation, and regeneration.

Presented by the Service Employees International Union Local 2

It's A Girl!
2018-05-06 18:30 - 19:30, 2018-05-05 18:00 - 19:00, 2018-05-04 20:30 - 21:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
I had a dream again the other night…
Sex, love, and identity: the life of one trans woman.
Created by Michelle Raine and Alexis Milligan
It’s A Girl! is a 60min performance piece created to engage public conversations about trans identity, and to provide opportunities for discussions about the new language of gender identity emerging in our society.
*Content warning:
Discussions about gender, transphobia, mental illness, assault, harassment, and marshmallows. Marshmallows everywhere

Heavy
2018-05-06 16:00 - 17:30, 2018-05-05 20:00 - 21:30, 2018-05-04 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Gain 100 pounds, then lose that 100 pounds in six months.

Body shaming, self loathing, eating disorders, and parenting as an obese Dad are part of his fight on the journey to self love, body positivity, and becoming a superhero Dad.

Credits:
Written/ Performed by Taylor Olson
Directed by Sansom Marchand

Bio:
Taylor Olson: Since finishing the Dalhousie Acting Program in 2014, Taylor has worked locally on film and stage. He is one half of Afro Viking Pictures and part of Interwoven Theatre Collective. A multiple ACTRA award nominee, select screen credits include: Pure, Mr. D (CBC), Halloween Party, Hopeless Romantic (Northeast Films), Black Cop (Blac Op Films), Ariyah & Tristan’s Inevitable Break Up, Hustle & Heart (Afro-Viking Pictures), You Ruined Our Life!, Your Money or Your Wife (Shut Up and Deal), Haven (Syfy), Sex & Violence (Emotion Pictures). Selected theatre credits: Redfish (HTYP/ Boom Boom Pow), For the Taking (Festival Antigonish), David for Queen, Two in the Coop (HTYP), and Catherine Bank’s Bone Cage (Matchstick Theatre).

The Sankofa Singer/Songwriter Circle
2018-05-03 18:30 - 21:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
“Sankofa” teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.

The Sankofa teaches us that we must go back to recognize what was before us while moving forward in the future. As part of this looking back, a stellar roster of African Nova Scotian singer/songwriters will be paying tribute to the internationally known a capella group Four the Moment. Each of them will also showcase their new works and stories of inspiration and growth.
Singer/Songwriter circles give the audience a glimpse into the inspirations of these talented artists. Each creative process is unique, exciting and special.
Our MC for the night will be Folami Jones.
Featured Singer/Songwriters:

Cyndi Cain

Pat Watson

Kwento

Zamani

The Artists:
Cyndi Cain
She’s got the kind of voice that’s capable of giving you goose bumps on the most sweltering of summer nights. The Halifax-based soul singer has shared the stage with Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Sharon Jones Naturally 7, Charles Bradley and in 2010 was selected to perform for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Cyndi’s release Essentially Cyndi earned her an East Coast Music Award nomination, as did her follow up, 2013’s Soul Food, a more old school sounding record that’s filled with passionate songs of both beautiful joy and pain. Arguably the east coast powerhouse of soul, Cain’s taken home the Galaxie Rising Star Award, the African Nova Scotia Music Award for Best R&B Artist and this year and has been named ANSMA’s Artist of the Year.
Pat Watson
Classic jazz, silky smooth with a gospel touch, that’s the music in Patricia Watson. The purity of Pat’s voice, combined with her style and grace won her the Rising Star Award for 2009 from the African Nova Scotia Music Association. She has been singing most of her life and became serious about her music when she retired in 2009. In addition to singing with her band and the A Capella Women’s Choir, Pat has directed gospel music workshops for The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival and
various churches in Nova Scotia. She has also conducted jazz and gospel workshops for The Harmony Bazaar Women’s Festival of Women and Song and various fund raising events. Patricia has performed for different churches in Nova Scotia, Vancouver, Arizona, California and New Mexico as a guest soloist, speaker and workshop facilitator.
Kwento
Originally from the Preston Township, Kwento is a product of self discovery and reclaiming her African roots. She wishes for her presence to tell a story that validates and offers comfort to the silenced. Formerly known as Kirsten Olivia, Kwento is not your typical R&B singer – her unique sound can be described as a cross between Neo soul and Experimental R&B; bringing genres together in a fusion that’s familiar yet stretching creative boundaries. Her performances are full of emotional honesty and empowered femininity and her vocals leave audiences speaking of her effortlessness. She boasts an impressive list of stages she has performed on, from Harlem New York’s Carribbean Music Festival, Halifax’s Jazz and Tall Ships Festivals, Nova Scotia Music Week, East Coast Music Week, and The African Nova Scotian Music Awards stage, where she won the award for Best Emerging artist. Her musical exploits have seen her become an ECMA Nominee for Best R&B Recording and The Coast’s Best R&B Silver winner.
Zamani
At just 17 years old, Zamani’s music is described as captivating, satiny-soulful and refreshingly pure! Greatly inspired by the R&B, pop, Jazz and soul divas of this era, Zamani, skillfully arranges, produces, writes, sings and performs original musical works. After a featured performance at Halifax’s popular “For the Love of God Concert in 2015 and a debut jazz performance at the prestigious Halifax TD International Jazz Festival – which won the praise of vocalist Sharon Jones – Zamani was invited to give a featured performance at the 18 th Annual African Nova Scotian Music Awards which launched her into the African Nova Scotian music scene. Zamani was recently named co-recipient of the 2018 ANSMA Portia White Youth Award; She is a recipient of the 2018 Jongleur Productions Performance Award and a nominee of the Jongleur Youth Arts Scholarship. She is currently working on an EP of original compositions to be released in 2018.
Four the Moment

Four the Moment‘s career spanned several decades and began as a direct action response against the Ku Klux Klan planning to establish a base in Halifax. They have an incredible story that we Nova Scotians should never forget. Their songs spoke to the African Nova Scotian experience and the fight for justice, freedom and equality for all.

The Sankofa Singer/Songwriter Circle is presented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees

Reel Justice
2018-05-02 18:30 - 20:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Our 2018 program of short films will examine Maritime landscapes and waterscapes through various themes including mental health and our connection to land.
Total run time: 80 min

Bound
By Daniel Boos (2015)
11 min

When a mysterious group of workers appear at his brother’s sawmill, a struggling shopkeeper must face a troubling decision. Winner Best Film: A&E Short Filmmakers Award (2017). Winner Best Short Film: Screen NS Awards (2016). Nominee: Best Canadian Short Film – CBC Short Film Face Off (2016).

Canada Vignettes: Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton
By Sandra Dudley (1973)
2 min

This short NFB vignette features coal mines in New Waterford and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, along with traditional Cape Breton folk songs sung by Men of the Deeps – a miners’ choral group.

Snow Shovelling
By Maritime Bhangra Group (2016)
2 min

Maritime Bhangra Group found a new way to clear snow while doing bhangra. Wanna learn?

Kreb
By Tim Tracey (2013)
7 min

A faceless factory worker fuses nature and technology until he discovers a dark truth. Winner Best Short Film: 2015 Screen Nova Scotia. Winner Platinum Remi Award, Best Animated Short: 2014 Houston World-fest. Winner Best Animated Short: 2013 Atlantic Film Festival.

Horizontal Concavity
By Koumbie (2017)
8 min

With the help of his therapist, a young man struggling with depression and anxiety finds himself at a party where he discovers he may not be as alone as he feels.

Matt: Forensic Mental Health Success Stories
By Stephanie Young (2017)
6 min
“Matt’s” story, written/preformed by spoken word artist Andre Fenton, is part of a collection of narratives gathered for the Forensic Mental Health Success Stories project, which aims to increase understanding and awareness about people who have achieved success after being found ‘Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder’ by a court.

Pearls
By Shelley Thompson (2017)
9 min

Miranda realizes her son Donald can only become the woman she is by defying her father and leaving their farm, in an outfit Miranda provides that includes a much-loved heirloom.

29 Hours
By Stephanie Young (2016)
2 min

Internationally, a trans woman is killed very 29 hours. Although hate crimes and violence affect the LGBTQ community at large, trans women, specifically trans women of colour, are at a much higher risk of becoming victims of hate-motivated violence.

Floating Warren Pavilion
By Zachary Gough (2017)
6 min

A playfully-autonomous floating art pavilion serves as a shared vision where artists come together to conjure a responsive space through experimentations that are guided by values of care and solidarity.

We Story the Land
By Martha Stiegman & Sherry Pictou (2016)
27 min

The Bear River reserve boundary cuts the people of L’sitkuk off from their ancestors’ hunting and fishing grounds. But there are old canoe routes that leave from the reserve, and cross the territory; and people here are working to reclaim them.

Under the Surface
2018-05-01 18:30 - 2018-05-12 23:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Under the Surface is a group exhibition featuring works by Kim Cain, Tina Roberts-Jeffers and Katie Toth.
Together, their works ask us to take a closer look at their subjects, unearth the obscured and reconsider our assumptions about home.
Opening Reception
May 1st at 6:30pm
following the May Day rally

FREE ice cream will be on offer at our opening reception immediately following the May Day march thanks to Dee Dee’s Ice Cream!
Sign language interpreters will be present during our opening reception.
Visiting Hours
The exhibit will remain viewable for free to anyone attending festival events at the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op.
Visiting hours will also be held on the weekend of May 5th and 6th from noon to 5pm each day.

Seeds of the Seven Year Harvest
by Kim Cain

Through her painting, Cain pays homage to the arduous agricultural labour through which African Nova Scotian communities have survived despite obstacles set against them. Today’s generations of African Nova Scotians are the harvest of seeds planted long ago by tenacious and hard working ancestors.

In Full View
by Tina Roberts-Jeffers

She is
Possession
Commodity
Life
….I mean wife

In Full View is a photo exhibit that explores the unpaid labour of women, and more specifically Black women, in and around the home. The stills and self portraits point to the work needed to sustain households.
Labour that is often invisible is presented here in large, oversized photos that ask viewers to think about the physical and emotional weight of people and things on women.
In Full View wonders aloud who and what can be set aside until tomorrow, when the struggle demands so much of us today.

Face Control
by Katie Toth

What makes a refugee?

Canada is held up as a bastion of multiculturalism for many Romani people in Europe, who say that they are subject to a kind of “face control” that prevents them from finding employment and being treated as full citizens in their current nations. National and international laws try to draw borders between refugees fleeing persecution and immigrants seeking better financial futures. But for people who are prevented from participating fully in civil society because of discrimination or who are denied a chance to find meaning through their work, those lines aren’t so easy to draw. Material concerns are also political ones.

The Artists:
Kim Cain
Kim Cain’s work explores the African Canadian existence here in Canada and how it relates to the larger global African Diaspora. Growing up in Ontario, her concept of cultural racial identity felt watered down and irrelevant. Since relocating to Nova Scotia in 1995, she began an exploration of using Art as a means of claiming identity. Since her studies at NSCAD, Kim has shown her work in numerous exhibitions including In This Place (1996), Skin (1998), Sistervision II (1998), Far and Wide (2000), Beyond 2000: Art of Bob Marley (2000), Sistervision III: Through Others Eyes (2001), Africville Reunion (2010), Freedom Festival (2011 & 2012) and SisterReVision: Reclaiming the black female body (2014). She has had two solo exhibitions at the Anna Leonowen Gallery: The Bridge: a Visual Biography (1999) and Artmomma Resurrected (2008).

Tina Roberts-Jeffers

Tina Roberts-Jeffers is currently a stay-at-home mom to three beautiful, bright children. A former school counsellor, she arrived in Nova Scotia in 2010. Tina is committed to community and believes strongly in progress through collective action.

Katie Toth
Katie Toth is a multimedia journalist who has been featured in Teen Vogue, NPR and the Village Voice. She is interested in the boundaries between journalism, art and documentary. This is her second display for Mayworks Halifax. Photo credit: Mary-Dan Johnston.

Under the Surface is presented by the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union
