Home is where the heart is
Stories of joy and pain shared by Regina’s growing community
Kristen McEwen
News Writer
Having a place to call home allows people to feel like they belong.
Home was also the theme of “Where the Heart is…”a poetry and storytelling event that took place at The Artesian on 13th on Sept. 27. The event showcased a number of performers recounting local and international stories of what “home” means.
“I think that finding our own voice is a really crucial endeavour for anyone – to find our own voice in writing and a way to express that voice to other people is really great for personal growth,” said performance poet and writer Shayna Stock. Stock kicked off the evening by sharing a bit of her own personal story about moving from Ontario to Saskatchewan. Stock also taught a two-week writing and performance workshop prior to this event. The workshop helped develop and strengthen the skills of about ten participants, whose work was displayed at the event.
Common Weal Community Arts Inc. as well as the Saskatchewan Council for International Co-operation (SCIC) organised the event. Common Weal Community Arts Inc. is a provincial arts organisation that provides members of the community with a way to create social change through art. SCIC’ is an umbrella organisation that takes on projects dealing with “public engagement…around international issues,” such as hosting this event to allow people from around the world to share their stories.
“I think that finding our own voice is a really crucial endeavour for anyone – to find our own voice in writing and a way to express that voice to other people is really great for personal growth." – Shayna Stock
Leah Mazur, communications spokesperson for Common Weal Community Arts Inc., came up with the idea of the event, and she.approached SCIC to partner with her. Together, they settled on the theme of “home”.
“Common Weal was trying to find a way to expand our reach in the community and I have been working there a little over a year and I said I would plan an event to kind of bring awareness to Common Weal because not a lot of people have heard about us, ” Mazur said. “[I approached] SCIC and they sort of had this idea of a writing workshops and we just kind of went from there.”
The tales shared during the evening varied from stories of a woman reclaiming her culture after attending residential school, to a refugee who finds it difficult to call Canada home, while her family is still in Thailand. The evening ended with a musical performance by local artist Nick Faye, who closed off by singing about Saskatchewan and its ever-changing skies — a province that, for now, most people have come to call home.
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