From Art Matters

In addition to the 30 ticketed events of this year’s High Performance Rodeo, there are some great events open to the public. One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre and the festival’s honorary patron, Jean-Daniel Lafond, are co-presenting the Art Matters symposium, a round-table debate focusing on “the role of the artist during boom time.” The discussion will define what it means to be in an economic boom while also addressing the implications a boom can have on the arts community.

Over the past five years, Calgary has experienced rapid economic growth, predominantly due to a higher demand for oil. The thriving oilsands of northern Alberta have provided a significant amount of petroleum-related jobs in the Calgary area and have thus been the chief cause of the city’s massive population influx. Generally, during lucrative times, inflation is manageable or modest. However, great demand for housing has triggered an exorbitant hike in rental and real estate costs. While minimum wage has also increased (to a whopping $8 an hour), the cost of living in the city has become so expensive that many artists are struggling to continue their practise and still make next month’s rent.

If patrons to the art community are no longer able to afford art, will artists seek refuge in a more desirable location? If the artists choose to stay and react, how will their housing plans change? Perhaps more communal housing arrangements will develop. How will shared existence, the difference of opinions, ideas and the clashing of creative minds stimulate activity?

One Yellow Rabbit started as a small performance troupe in 1982. Coming together at the peak of an earlier economic boom, the troupe “has been living and breathing these issues,” says Blake Brooker, co-founder and artistic director of OYR. It is fitting for the performance company to be hosting such a discussion along with Lafond, who has demonstrated a firm dedication to issues in the social community as a creative documentary filmmaker, writer, original radio composer and former educator. “Lafond is a wonderful thinker, he is fascinated by life,” says Brooker. His award-winning documentaries have been described as “philosophical poems.” These include Last Call for Cuba, Salam Iran: A Persian Letter and The American Fugitive or The Truth about Hassan. His most recent project, Folle de Dieu, examines the writings of Marie de l’Incarnation, Canada’s first female author.

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, Lafond’s wife, will also be in attendance. Fluent in five languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish and Creole), the Haitian native has also proven to be highly dedicated to social concerns. Prior to assuming her position as Governor General, Jean spent several years working in shelters for battered and immigrant women. She has also won several awards for her humanitarian work and accomplishments in communications.

Jean will be opening the Art Matters discussion, held in the Big Secret Theatre in the Epcore Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, January 19. The free event will be open to the public as a means to open up issues and ideas focusing on the opportunities and challenges imposed on Calgary’s artistic community by the current economic boom.