We are approaching that time of the year so infused with change and renewal; it might manifest as longer days, restored creative drive, or perhaps as a time charged with symbolic significance. We welcome these winds of renewal in all their forms. For the SCALE team, they manifest as new initiatives and new friends we are delighted to announce in this issue.
After careful reflection on SCALE’s mandate and the insights you shared with us in the survey, we’ll soon be launching a programming refresh. We believe these new offerings will help us weave connections both deep and broad as we continue to build a robust pan-Canadian climate+arts network. Expanding connections and deepening relationships is foundational to SCALE’s work: to foster a coordinated, artful and impactful response to the climate emergency, we must come together as a sector, as colleagues, fellow dreamers and change-makers.
- In the Assembly we will come together in knowledge sharing through webinars addressing diverse issues at the intersection of climate and arts. These sessions will be free and open to everyone.
- We are expanding the experience of the Roundtable through conversations led by affinity groups as they emerge within the Roundtable community. These conversations, self-directed by Roundtable members on specific topics, will be supported by guest facilitators. Curious about the Roundtable? Learn more here and get in touch with us to sign up.
- For those seeking one-on-one connections, support and collaboration in climate+arts, we’ll soon be offering a program of curated introductions for individuals or organizations who may not otherwise have found each other, opening doors to new perspectives and potential collaborations.
We look forward to learning more about your interests in order to help us form meaningful affinity groups and one-on-one connections. Please watch your inbox for more details, coming soon!
Speaking of renewal, we are so thrilled to announce Nadine Medawar, Executive Director of Regroupement québécois de la danse as SCALE Mission Circle member: Welcome, Nadine! You can learn more about Nadine under Meet a Mission Circle member, a new section we are pleased to introduce. Every month, we will profile a different Mission Circle Member and slowly introduce you to the fabulous folks guiding SCALE with ethical direction in its overall mission. Learn more about the Mission Circle here.
Last but not least, we want to leave you with another welcome dose of artistic inspiration. This time, building on the theme of renewal, we’d like to share with you “Reworlding”, a Serpentine Gallery podcast series that invites everyone to reimagine our world through everyday practices. As British artist Tai Shani cleverly puts it: “… what is imagination? Any language that you create as an artist is a form of worldmaking and creativity comes into play in many ways – in everyday tasks, all the time. Everyone dreams. Everyone has dreams, and that also is a process of worldmaking.”
Wishing you a spring season brimming with dream, connection and play.
Below are some recent highlights from the intersection of arts and climate.
Meet a Mission Circle Member: Nadine Medawar
Nadine is the Executive Director of Regroupement québécois de la danse, where she contributes to the advancement and recognition of choreographic arts, helping improve conditions and best practices in dance. She previously worked for the federal government on issues of culture, diversity, inclusion, and citizen engagement,as well as in the media sector. A musician by profession, Nadine founded a music production and performance company which toured the world with La La La Human Steps and has released two records as a singer-songwriter. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Administration and a Masters degree in Conflict Studies.Nadine is very excited to join SCALE’s Mission Circle so she can contribute to the advancement of this urgent cause. In her view, the arts sector has always been at the forefront of social change and can play a leading role in climate.
This month’s news
Creative Climate Leadership Canada participants announced Congratulations to the CSPA (Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts) and Julie’s Bicycle for their second edition of Creative Climate Leadership (CCL) in Canada. CCL is an international training and transformation programme to empower artists and cultural professionals to take action on the climate and ecological crisis with impact, creativity, and resilience. A few of us at SCALE had the privilege of participating in the first CCL Canada cohort in Kananaskis, Alberta (August 2022), and couldn’t be more excited for the new online cohort.Participants work in areas as varied as photography, music, virtual art, activism, research and curation.
The COAL Prize 2023 invites artists from all over the world – apply by March 19 With Plant! the COAL Prize 2023 invites artists from all over the world to sow the seeds of creation and action, to germinate new research and experimentation, so that an inventive and resilient plant-based way of thinking can flourish in the world to come. This Prize is a call to act, to transform, to heal, to revive, to hybridize. A call to feel the richness of plants, their balances and dynamics, from seed to calyx, from molecule to ecosystem. A call to try and, why not, to fail, because failure is the seed of growth.
Film + Digital Media Artist Call Out – apply by March 30 Becoming Praxis is calling filmmakers, video artists and storytellers whose work is intimately connected to or inspired by the land. Artists who work within the following modalities are welcome: filmmakers, video artists, graphic digital artists, documentary filmmakers and storytellers. You will be called upon to document private or public events, experiences and/or storytelling circles, usually outdoors and in nature. You will be asked to edit and produce video content (shorts or series) based on those events in artistic ways.
Listening to the Climate Emergency through The Tar Sands Songbook – March 28, Ottawa What role can listening play in addressing the climate emergency? Violist, composer, ethnomusicologist (and SCALE Co-founder and Mission Circle Lead) Tanya Kalmanovitch presents a performance of her documentary theatre piece The Tar Sands Songbook, addressing the complexities of life, culture, and oil-economics in her hometown of Fort McMurray, AB. Through text, ethnographic video, and Tanya’s original music, the work asks us to consider our personal relationships with oil. The performance will be followed by an audience talkback discussion.
Panel discussion: Creative Climate Action through Art and Design – March 25, Toronto How can artists, designers and scholars help the world address the climate crisis? Join OCAD University for a panel discussion on Creative Climate Action through Art and Design at the DemocracyXChange Summit #DXC23 on Saturday, March 25. The panel is organized by OCADU’s new Global Centre for Climate Action, moderated by Dr. Sarita Srivastava, with panelists Ranee Lee, Kazmy Chi Muñoz & Allie Rougeot.
Brian Eno launches Earth Percent You can now add “Earth” as a co-writer on your songs to raise money for climate causes. Earth Percent is a charity providing a simple way for the music industry to support the most impactful organizations addressing the climate emergency. It seeks to encourage artists and music-related organizations to pledge a small percentage of their income to EarthPercent. This percentage can be collected at source and diverted to the most impactful organizations dealing with climate change. To get involved, send an email at earth@earthpercent.com
Film Strike for Climate: a grassroots movement in the Film and TV industry Film Strike for Climate is a grassroots movement of filmmakers mobilizing the global Film & TV industry for socio-ecological change. Their purpose is to fulfill the industry’s maximum socio-ecological impact potential through sustainable production, campaigning and storytelling, making socio-ecological impacts just as valued as audience ratings.