Indigenous arts group holds first in-person gathering since the pandemic in Halifax

Members of the national Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance are holding aconference in Halifax this week,their first in-person gathering since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choreographer and dancer Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo, the chair of the IPAAgrand council, told Information Morning Nova Scotia's Carsten Knox the gathering is held every two years at various places across Canada.

She said the purpose is to open up discussion between Indigenous people and allies and highlight artists from the area.

The gathering closes Friday afternoon.

What are you learninghaving met in person for the first time in a while about how things have changed, maybe, as a result of the pandemic that we all lived through?

We really try to keep our discussions timely of course. Some of our gatherings that we're having, we were dividing in sections to talk about wellness and keeping wellness as a priority within our arts community and for Indigenous people in general. As well, talking about different funding models that have happened or could be developed to support us better. And just indigenous spaces.

So definitely this discussion will be different from pre-pandemic times and we really want to listen to our members and and see what is needed and how we canhelp.

Are you finding that maybe some of the artists who were robustly pursuing their work previous to the pandemic have maybe stepped away or aren't as engaged by it as a result of having to make other decisions to make ends meet?

For sure. I am a dance artist myself and I have really seen that some artists had to step away from their artto make ends meet and to change their direction according to priorities toward the pandemic.

It has affected us, but on another side there are artists that are just so happy to be able to share and create again that it's maybe doubled their energy. So there's two sides of that coin.

How is this conference working in termsof you and your work? Do you feel that you are enriched by the connection you're making while you're here and what are you learning?

Absolutely. My work with IPAA and as an artist, I always love to learn more about the different communities across Canada.

I think that in the Atlantic provinces where we chose to hold it this year, we really need to connect more ...across Canada. This is a perfect opportunity for us to build collaborations to learn about each other's cultures and support each other even better.

What's the long-term goal of this organization in terms of these regular meets and what are you seeing come out of it this week?

The long-term goals, of course, is just to inspire people and to make our spaces stronger in the mainstream. You know for hundreds of years we've been pushed aside and put down in a lot of ways and and together we are stronger.

So hopefully we are going to continue to build this momentum to really take the rightful place that Indigenous artists should have in this country and beyond, and I'm hoping that this week some really strong seeds are going to be planted and continue to grow from there.

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