Reflections on intercultural artistic collaborations
For about a year now, Bruce Sinclair and I have been collaborating on a project through his entity miyotêh performance that intentionally brings together some of the people I have been working with (in this case, artistic communities of people of colour) and some of the people he has been working with (communities of Metis and other indigenous artists), and also artists in general who we love and work with who are all over the place and carry all kinds of identities. We are trying to bring people together to talk about our convergences and divergences, to think about what we have been creating together and what could create together, and, often, to just piece together what we know about each other. So far we’ve developed a few short performances and hosted talking circles in Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto. It’s a slow-cooking, sweet and savoury project, and we’re still figuring out what it is. Jumblies Theatre invited us to lead a workshop yesterday, as part of ArtFare Essentials, on intercultural artistic collaboration. We shared a short performance, talked a bit about our process, and then generated with the group the following lists based on our and their experiences of intercultural artistic collaboration. We’re not experts - no one is, course - but we learned a lot from reflecting on past successes and challenges.
The things I do that minimize my experience of intercultural artistic collaborations - When I do not trust others - When I do not accept unexpected contributions to the work/discussion - When I assume that others are there to teach me and not doing my own research - When I am not being grounded in where I come from - When I overlook power dynamics and appropriate cultures in my work - When I speaking for others, and universalizing particular experiences and knowledge
The things I do that maximize my experience of intercultural artistic collaborations - When I allow myself to go off on tangents with my collaborator - great things happen when we are off topic - When I listen to everything that my collaborator is saying, and not assuming they are off-track - When I value the experience of my collaborator - When I recognize the resourcefulness of my collaborator - When, if I have an underdeveloped idea or invitation that I am not ready to share with my collaborator, I choose talk through the underdeveloped-ness of the idea with them, rather than not sharing it with them at all - When I own my own feelings and opinions - When I am grounded in where I come from - When I do my own research and asking thoughtful questions - When I take the time to identify and to communicate, what exactly are my interests and passions in learning about another culture, and thinking about how this relates to my culture(s) - When I am willing to step into the unknown