Dates, Information, & Speakers.
Summary of what went on at the events.
Wednesday 5 October 2016
The
Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars
Notice of
Meeting
Date: Thursday, October 20th,
2016 Time: 7:30 pm Place: Simon Fraser University, Vancouver,
BC Campus, 515 West Hastings Street (between Seymour and Richards
Streets) in the Diamond Lounge Speaker: Melodie Flook Topic: Storiquilture
Outline:
Storiquilture is a community-engaged art project that is currently
running at the Newcomers’ Centre for Children and Families in
Burnaby.
New Canadians, refugees from countries such as Afghanistan,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Syria, are working together to learn new
skills associated with making a quilt. As they learn and
create their “blocks,” they are sharing skills and stories from their
lives, and we hope to capture these stories in fabric on the quilt
so that other Canadians can appreciate the experiences and continue
to show tolerance and compassion for, and acceptance of these new
Canadians. She will describe the project, the lead team, the
participants, project goals and timeline, and the outcomes achieved
(and stories which have surfaced) so far.
Brief Biography:
Melodie is
a fibre artist who delights in creating functional art through
community engagement. She was therefore most amenable to Paul
Boissonnault’s suggestion that she lead a community quilt
project with MOSAIC, a non-profit organization which
helps immigrants and
refugees settle and integrate into Canadian society.
The project “Storiquilture” was born out of their discussion,
and engages newcomers to Canada in depicting, in textile form,
stories from their lives. The project name is derived
from the 4 elements that comprise the undertaking:
participants are telling their stories in a quilt which
is folded like origami and displayed as a sculpture.
Melodie has a wide range of interests, as portrayed by her
credentials and experience: she holds 2 undergraduate
degrees, one an Honours BA in English and French from
the University of Waterloo, the other a Bachelor of Physical
Education from UBC. She also has 2 diplomas (Crafts and
Design, and ESL), a teaching certificate, and has thus
far completed 2 semesters towards her Master of Applied Arts
with Emily Carr University.
She is currently on a one-year exploratory study leave which has
allowed her to lead this and another community-engaged
project. She is submitting “Storiquilture” for approval as her
interim thesis project, to be presented in July 2017.
Welcome Back:
We have gone back to having our meetings on Thursday nights; the
return to Wednesday night proved to be more confusing than
anticipated. We have meetings set for November 17th and December
8th. Stay tuned...
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