Listening Circle

Like many settler-colonial institutions, PuSh has a lot of learning and, perhaps more significantly, unlearning that it needs to do if it is going to ethically engage with Indigenous communities. There is no shortage of good intentions from arts institutions when looking to program Indigenous artists, but we are held back by systemic challenges and histories of harm that make the work complicated and slow. At PuSh we strive to have greater representation for Indigenous art, but that can only be achieved by building trustful relationships. And you can’t rush trust.

Using PuSh as a case study and catalyst, this Listening Circle will investigate the deeper unlearnings required of settler colonial institutions that seek to produce and present Indigenous works. Using a framework that centers conversations relationally between Indigenous and settler communities, this event will probe what is required of performing arts organizations to achieve this unlearning. With the guidance of lead facilitator Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen, the Listening Circle will leave room for discussions between Indigenous arts workers and between settler arts professionals, with opportunities for both groups to come together in conversation and communion with one another.

Lead Facilitator: Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen A tawny mix of Ojibwe/Swampy Cree and English/Irish, Lisa resides as a visitor on the occupied and unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. Lisa is a mother, multihyphenate theatre artist and scholar working across Turtle Island as a performer, play-maker, dramaturge, director, writer, curator, space-holder, and teacher.

Find out more info here: https://pushfestival.ca/industry/