The 2013 UALE Conference will highlight the important contributions of the arts to labo(u)r education. This year, we are very proud to be presenting several wonderful labo(u)r/progressive performing artists, as well as an exhibit of some powerful works by visual artists. We will be showing films both Thursday and Friday evenings. Finally, we have included four workshops related to the incorporation of art in our work.
| Wed. evening performers | Art on exhibit | Thus. spoken word performance |
| Films | Digital Storytelling | Art-related workshops |
Wednesday Evening
April 17 Steelworkers' Hall Music Night
Co-produced with Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts
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Master of Ceremonies: Elise Bryant Elise Bryant is the artistic director of the DC Labor Chorus and director of the E.L.I.S.E. Consortium, a consulting practice with a focus on strategic planning for labor and community organizations. Elise has been a labor educator since 1984 and recently retired from the National Labor College. Singer, playwright, actress and teacher, Elise uses the arts to educate inside as well as outside the classroom. |
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MC Mohammad Ali Mohammad Ali Aumeer (a.k.a. MC Mohammad Ali) is a social justice activist and Hip Hop artist who is dedicated to using the culture as a force for social change. His musical projects include the anti-war album/tour Such A Long Journey, a project to support US soldiers seeking refugee status in Canada; the compilation album Hands Off Haiti for the Canada Haiti Action Network, in support of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti; and his upcoming album Labour of Love, which focuses on issues of workers’ rights and social justice. www.myspace.com/mcmohammadali |
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Teresa Healy & Tom Juravich Inspired by the rich traditions of Irish and North American roots music, Teresa Healy and Tom Juravich write and sing about the struggles, hopes and triumphs of communities under fire. They give us intimate portraits of immigrants, laid–off factory workers, teachers and public servants, their families and their towns. Alongside Juravich’s evocative guitar, Healy’s clear alto and Juravich’s resonant baritone weave around each other to create a tapestry of harmonies on their most recent CD, Tangled in Our Dreams (Finnegan Music). Juno award winning songwriter David Francey writes that “Teresa shows a keen eye for the everyday.” As Pete Seeger writes about Tom, "I was impressed by your wide variety of material and frankly, jealous of your wonderful voice." http://www.tomjuravich.com/tangled/index.php |
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Cheri Maracle :
Cheri Maracle is a multi-award nominated Mohawk actor/singer/songwriter of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She has been performing for the stage and small screen for the last 20 years professionally, and is known for her television roles on Blackfly, Moccasin Flats, the award winning feature Tkaronto and most recently Murdoch Mysteries. She also regularly performs one-woman stage musical, “Paddle Song”, the life story of E. Pauline Johnson, most recently at the third annual Planet IndigenUS festival at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto ON.. Cheri recently completed a 5 song EP titled, If I am Water, available on iTunes. Upcoming Cheri will be performing at Jazz appreciation month, at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, April 2013, and will be headlining with her original music at the annual Native Hockey Tournament Gala in Whitehorse, in March 2013. Look for Cheri as co-host of The 20th annual Indspire awards in March 2013, on the Global television network. |
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Raging Asian Women Taiko Drummers (RAW Raging Asian Women Taiko Drummers (RAW) is a community arts collective of East and Southeast Asian Women in Toronto. We are a Taiko drumming group that exists as a critical response and challenge to both systemic and internalized oppressions. Through performance, education, and community outreach, we seek to challenge, redefine and represent ourselves and to inspire others. Through collective membership, artistic creation, and active development, we carve space for self-expression, authentic engagement, community, and healing. RAW is based in Toronto, Canada and is a registered, not-for-profit organization. www.ragingasianwomen.ca |
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Conny Nowe Conny Nowe is a musician, sound technician and truck driver. She is a member of the CAW and has worked with Mayworks for 15 years. |
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| The Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that celebrates working class culture. This year's festival will take place from May 1-15, 2013. mayworks.ca
Mayworks is more than a festival. We promote the interests of cultural and other workers year-round and can help you do the same! We provide consulting services supporting arts programming of all sizes from single performance to multi-artist and multi-day events, including: providing all of the general coordination, production and planning of your event; booking and scheduling artists; negotiating artists’ contracts and fees on your behalf; liasing with artists’ unions; detailing all of your technical needs and booking technicians where needed! Mayworks brings 28 years of arts events production, organizing cultural productions for union conventions, meetings and conferences. We have also worked with non-profit community organizations. Our unionized (CUPE 1281) staff is highly qualified and experienced and we program artists and events that are aligned with principles of workplace justice, social unionism and equity. Ready to hire Mayworks? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Art on Exhibit
Visual Artists exhibiting at UALE Conference
This year, for the first time, UALE will host an exhibit of art produced by visual artists who incorporate art into their work as educators. The exhibit will be on display in the Solidarity Room, (Vancouver room, 2nd floor) and in the Mandarin Ballroom (lower Mezzanine) of the conference hotel. Conference participants are encouraged to visit it whenever they wish. Free time has been built into the conference schedule to allow you to see the art without missing any sessions.
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Althea Balmes. photo by Haniely Pableo
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ARTISTS: Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo in collaboration with Filipina migrant workers in the Live-in Caregiver Program TITLE: Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love LOCATION: Mandarin Ballroom A community comic book created by Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo in collaboration with Filipina migrant workers in the Live-in Caregiver Program BIO: Jo SiMalaya Alcampo (Writer, Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love) is an interdisciplinary artist who explores cultural/body memory and the healing of intergenerational soul wounds through community storytelling, installation-based art, and electroacoustic soundscapes. Website: josimalaya.com and singingplants.org
SUMMARY OF THE WORK: Caregiver Program. These are the stories that you don't see in mainstream media. These are the stories that you won't find in most academic papers or research studies. These are real-life stories of community and friendship, love and struggle, and women's empowerment. In the Filipino language, "kwentong bayan" is the literal translation of "community stories" and our comic book project is rooted in love. The Live-in Caregiver Program continues to be heavily contested and at the centre of many controversies. Many Canadians rely on this program to access affordable care for vulnerable members of their families. Many Filipinas leave their own families and work abroad to cope with the unstable economy in the Philippines. Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo are currently working with the Graphic History Collective (the producers of the comic book, May Day: A Graphic History of Protest, a historical account of May Day in Canada) to develop a 10-page mini-comic about the history of the Live-in Caregiver program and its impact on the lives of Filipina caregivers. This work will be part of a collection of online comic books to be launched in the Fall 2013. For more info
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Isabel Gomez and family with Deb |
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ARTISTS: Deborah Barndt, with assistance from Joshua Barndt, Kirsten Cole, Min Sook Lee, Dimitrije Martinovic, Sinéad Rafferty, and Mayahuel Tecozaulta. TITLE: “Unpacking Local/Global Food: Re:framing Labour” LOCATION: Solidarity Room BIO : SUMMARY OF THE WORK: Prayer cards which offer “Blessings on the Food, Blessings on the Workers” provide the text for the exhibit, with more historical information and links to activist groups. Viewers may take away guerilla stickers to educate supermarket consumers about where their food comes from and who produces it. There is also a sound component, with testimonies from the workers featured in the altars. It took a horrific highway crash that killed ten Peruvian migrant workers to wake up most Canadians to the fact that our economy is increasingly based on temporary workers from the Global South. Even local food movement activists are facing the contradiction that much of our local food is picked by global labour. There is no clear line between the local and the global – they dwell within each other. Viewers are invited to read the text on the prayer cards to learn more about historical developments such as NAFTA rules leading to Mexico losing its self-sufficiency in corn or global moncultural production that has threatened the biodiversity of potatoes in Peru. They can also learn about organizations advocating for migrant worker rights, such as the Agricultural Workers Alliance of the United Food and Commercial Workers and Justicia for Migrant Workers, as well as Via Campesina, a transnational coalition of Indigenous and peasant organizations, advocating food sovereignty. |
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"Ofrendas" by Deborah Barndt |
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"Satan"by Gabrielle Montmollin |
ARTIST: Gabrielle de Montmollin TITLE: STEPHEN HARPER HATES ME LOCATION: Mandarin Ballroom BIO: SUMMARY OF THE WORK: Along with everyone else in Canada I already knew that Stephen Harper was contemptuous of artists, not to mention ignorant of how artists really live. And as a woman I was appalled that he was cutting funding to every organization which might benefit us or protect our rights but the turning point for me, and the start of this series, was the G20 weekend in Toronto in June 2010. |
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The Art of Social Justice
Margie photo by Robert Hamblin |
ARTIST: Margie Adam TITLE: The Art of Social Justice LOCATION: Mandarin Ballroom BIO: SUMMARY OF THE WORK: ArtWork 55 Albany Ave Toronto On M5R 3C2
Phone: 416 533-1533 Fax: 416 533-4550 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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ARTIST: Nahed Mansour TITLE: Singer LOCATION: Solidarity Room BIO: SUMMARY OF THE WORK: The often hidden and anonymous labour of this workforce is put into conversation with that of the entertainment world, a highly visible and celebrated industry whose leading workers are constantly in the spotlight. It is here that the figure of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, is introduced through the visual presence of Michael Jackson’s white crystal-studded glove. Singer problematizes the celebration of Jackson’s iconic glove, and its function as a fetishized commodity object representing him. It does so by drawing attention to the corporatization of a figure of entertainment and the detailed work associated with transforming body-parts into a reified synecdoche of the entertainer. The exhibition asks viewers to question the costs of sustaining the fantasy world of entertainment for all those involved: its producers, its icons and the consumers of such illusions. The answer Singer offers rests somewhere between the visible and the invisible, the celebrated and the condemned, and the public and private spaces in which who and what is made popular are negotiated. The iconic Singer sewing machine has become visually synonymous with ‘the sweatshop’ and associated work environments in which historically marginalized communities, including immigrant and female, are routinely exploited, underpaid, violated, and abused. Nahed Mansour’s installation takes interest in the undercurrent of connections between the often hidden and anonymous labour of this workforce and the entertainment industry, a highly visible and celebrity industry whose leading workers are constantly in the spotlight. Standing in as the epitome of entertainment, the King of Pop, is used to expose the troubling history of exploitation in relationship to racialized bodies. Jackson is a poignant example of how narratives or work and entertainment coalesce upon the physical body, especially seeing that most controversies surrounding Jackson until his death derived around his eccentric and evolving physical appearance. In Singer, a Singer sewing machine is centered in the gallery with sewing patterns, material, and threads surrounding the work area. Nearby a display are several varieties of Michael’s iconic single sequined white glove, all manufactured in China and bought off eBay. While the gloves are recognizable as a markers of Jackson’s on and off stage costume, an medical drawing of a person with vitilgo, points to the fact that Jackson began wearing the now iconic glove in an attempt to hide the same skin condition which was responsible for the depigmentization of his skin. To emphasize the contrast between the invisible production and popular consumption of celebrity, a series of black lights are activated at sunset, converting the functionary workshop-like atmosphere into a stage-like production of illuminated material. The installation is also animated with a sound piece that features seven of Jackson’s hits being hummed by the artist. |
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Thursday Plenary Session Performance
Darryl! L.C. Moch
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ARTIST: Darryl! L.C. Moch TITLE: "SWELL" spoken word performance BIO:Darryl! L.C. Moch, is the founder and creator of Innergy, Inc and the "Becoming Your Ultimate Self" motivational and personal empowerment program and series. He is a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, a member of National Writers Union- UAW Local 1981/AFL-CIO, and a native of Los Angeles, California. Currently he also serves as an At-Large member of the UALE Board. Darryl!, currently offers himself as a consultant, performing artist, motivational speaker/therapist, inspirational and liturgical minister, and a community activist. He is a published author, poet and has written, directed and produced several original productions including, Spheres Of Influence, Women: A Man's Point of View, Adolescence: Voices Inside My Head, A Symphony of People: In our own words, Phoenix Is Rising, God’s Trombones: The Manifestation, and When and Where We Enter. Recently has edited Through It All; a history and retrospective story of Amos H. Lynch, the community, and the Black media in Columbus, Ohio; and Lady Lewis: Her Hats and Her Gloves; a biography of Ursel White Lewis, the first African American female philanthropist and patron of arts in Columbus, Ohio. He recently assisted in the editing of “Reclaiming Your Divine Birthright” by Bishop Kwabena A. Rainier Cheeks. Darryl!, is currently working on publishing "I'm Just Sayin!- a collection of poetry, short stories, and political musings," “NubianSpirit” (a collection of motivational writings); and “Enduring Evil” (a look at child abuse and healing from it); and continues to develop the motivational “Becoming Your Ultimate Self Experience,” and other choreodramatic theatrical productions. Darryl!’s motto: “Remember to live in Love and let LOVE live in you, around you, through you, and… AS you.” |
Thursday and Friday eveniings
Labo(u)r Films
On Thursday an Friday evenings, we will be showing two great feauture films: Under the Red Star, and WE ARE WISCONSIN: This is what democracy looks like. Both films will be screened in the Mandarin Ballroom (Lower Mezzanine) at 8:30 pm.
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Thursday Night Under the Red Star
Movie screen shot from Under the Red Star (photo courtesy of Shebafilms) |
Under the Red Star is a fascinating docudrama about the cultural and political ferment centred around Port Arthur’s Finnish Labour Temple. It will be brought by Frank Saptel and Tanya Ferguson, two key spirits in the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLIFF), and will be introduced by them. They will also bring CLIFF popcorn bags, and we can try to rustle up some popcorn on the spot! The film, directed by Kelly Saxberg and produced by Lakehead history professor Dr. Ron Harpelle, chronicles the story of the Finnish immigrants who built Canada’s largest labour hall and used it as a locus of their activities. The courage of these newcomers in the face of government and police crackdowns helped shape Canadian labour history. Under the Red Star melds fictionalized scenes with archival footage and photos to vividly recreate the lives and passions of these early twentieth-century activists. The film, which was three years in the making, has dramatizations of key moments in the rise of Northwestern Ontario’s labour movement. These scenes were shot in Thunder Bay in the summer of 2010 with more than 200 extras making it one of the region’s largest film productions. Under the Red Star is a period piece performed in English and Finnish. The film includes appearances by Finnish actors Elena Leeve and Jussi Nikkilä. Elena Leeve is a two-time Jussi Award winner for Best Actress. The Jussi Award is the Finnish film industry’s most prestigious award and Elena is one of Finland’s biggest film stars. One of Jussi Nikkilä’s first film roles was in Kelly Saxberg’s Letters from Karelia and since then he has appeared in several award-winning films. Also appearing in a lead role is local actor Rauli Pohjolainen, who was born in Finland and has worked in theatres across Canada. Several other local performers, including some Lakehead faculty members, have key roles in the film. These familiar faces help make Under the Red Star a community experience. |
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WE ARE WISCONSIN: This is what democracy looks like Don Taylor (University of Wisconsin Extension) will bring the film and introduce it WE ARE WISCONSIN is a feature documentary film that follows the day-to-day unfolding of public outcry against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s controversial budget-repair bill, focusing on the human story behind a remarkable popular uprising forged on the floor of the Madison Capitol. The film asks the question “Why should we care about what’s going on in Wisconsin?” on multiple levels, through an in-depth profile of six leading individuals central to the story: a UW- Madison student leader, a state-employee social worker, a nurse, a high school teacher, a police officer and an unemployed electrician who come out to protest what they saw as a direct attack on their livelihood. They all meet inside the capitol over the course of what became an historic twenty-six days, February-March, 2011. The film also amplifies why Wisconsin has become ground zero for so many disparate groups, awakening a sleeping giant of collective voices, alarmed and angry at the new Corporate-funded, hyper-conservative wave of local government sweeping the country. The Wisconsin spirit of peaceful resistance spread powerfully in waves from the Capitol Rotunda to the streets outside and beyond, winning hearts and minds and sparking what is now known as the Occupy Movement, led by the 99%. For more information, go to https://streamingmoviesright.com/us/movie/we-are-wisconsin/ |
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Digital Storytelling
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Digital Storytelling (part of the UALE Arts section in the program book) A new feature in this year’s conference will be developing for the Internet a series of short, personal stories by people engaged in labour education. An initial group of ten people, half from Canada and half from the U.S., will be gathering ahead of the conference for a “Story Circle”. There they will each develop and produce a short digital story that gives some of the flavour of the joys and heartbreaks of our trade. These stories will be accessible on the UALE web site for future use in courses, train the trainer initiatives and discussions about the practice of adult education with workers. In the Story Circle, individuals will develop their personal stories through a collective process in which people exchange ideas, questions and impressions. From that, people will know one another better, will enrich one another’s stories, and will enhance their own grasp of the range in the field. In other words, participants will be learning. This is different from taking a clip out of an individual interview. In this initial UALE Digital Storytelling workshop, participants will share personal anecdotes and reflect on how those experiences have developed their work. With facilitation by Don Bouzek and Monica Gutierrez, they will work thought the stories in a group setting and collectively highlight the pivotal points of learning. They will then record the narration and use digital editing software to connect voice and image. By Wednesday morning, each participant will have finished a digital story that will be screened at various opportunities in the conference and made publicly available afterwards. This process will record and celebrate the passion and skill of some who do this work , will model a tool that other educators can use and will lay the groundwork in UALE for a larger series of stories and oral histories in the future.
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DON BOUZEK is the Artistic Director of GROUND ZERO PRODUCTIONS [www.gzpedmonton.org], an almost thirty year old company which creates theatre on a variety of social issues, in England as well as Canada. He worked with Alberta musician Maria Dunn to create a Video Ballad about the GWG jeans plant, which toured the province in honour of the 100th Anniversary of the Alberta Federation of Labour. Don also creates videos. He has created short segments for a number of web based projects, of which a history of nursing in Alberta and Saskatchewan [www.100yearsofnursing.ca] is one example. He produced documentaries for Athabasca U and Access TV. Don has won two awards from the Canadian Association of Labour Media for his work with unions. Recently he has been collaborating with the Alberta Workers’ Health Centre to do Digital Storytelling with groups ranging from the Canadian Labour Congress to First Nations youth in Fort MacKay. Monica Gutierrez is a visual artist and videographer who has worked in Canada and Central America. Her work involves producing digital media to tell stories and share experiences, to expand awareness and inspire action. A selection of her experimental videos and animations have shown at various Film Festivals and art spaces. Monica also works as an educator and has taught art classes and workshops with Winter's Community Arts Club (York University), ArtCorps, the City of Toronto, MABELLEarts and Art Starts. Monica is currently pursuing a MA at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
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Arts-related Workshops
This year, UALE will offer several workshops on aspects of incorporating art into our labo(u)r education work, some of them specifically related to the works being presented in this program. We will also be showing labo(u)r related films on both Thursday and Friday nights at the hotel. See the Conference Schedule Overview on our Conference page for times
The workshops are listed in the "Concurrent Sessions" schedule, which can be downloaded from the conference page. Please note, however, that all times are tentative as the breakout sessions schedule is still being finalized.
The arts-related workshops are listed below, with their current time and room assignments (as of March 24)
Thursday afternoon at 2:00
Seattle room (26th floor)
Joint Session
"Labour Education through the Arts: The Mayworks Experience"
facilitators: Florencia Berinstein, Don Bouzek, Susan Gold/Smith, Nahed Mansour, Maureen Wall
"Digital Storytelling"
facilitators: Don Bouzek and Kevin Flaherty
Thursday afternoon at 4:00
Seattle (26th floor)
"Songs of Labor, Work, and Resistance: Using Music in the Labor and Social Movements"
facilitator: Tom Juravich
(in a joint session along with "'Unionists Just Wanna Have Fun': Creating a Culture of Excitement in Your Local Union", facilitated by Debra Kidney and Bob Bussel, and "The Use of Humor in Labor Education", facilitated by Jeff Grabelsky)
Friday morning at 8:00
San Francisco (26th floor)
"Acts of Assertion: A Popular Theatre Workshop"
facilitator: Naomi Tessler
Saturday morning at 10:00
Room TBD (25th floor)
"Art of Work" panel, with Judith Marshall, based on the exhibit that will be on the walls of the main meeting room