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EESTI ELU reedel, 21. augustil 2020 — Friday, August 21, 2020
Community strength for VEMU as a member of the Bloor Street Culture Corridor Vincent Teetsov On July 31st, Toronto entered Stage 3 of Ontario’s provin cial re-opening plan, 14 days after the rest of the province. After a long pause of in-per son live events, indoor gather ings, and tourism, arts and cultural organizations are expanding their activity as much as they can, based on what is allowed. Keeping everyone safe and also provid ing much-needed cultural sus tenance has required a combi nation of clever ideas and teamwork. I say teamwork because as an institution of our community, VEMU, the Museum of Esto nians Abroad, works alongside other local museums, cultural centres, and venues to develop cultural programming here in Toronto. VEMU is part of a broader network of cultural organiza tions called the Bloor Street Culture Corridor. The Bloor Street Culture Corridor was created in April 2014, and is currently made up of 22 mem ber institutions from Bathurst Street all the way to Bay Street. Heather Kelly, Director and facilitator of the Corridor, founded the consortium based on the idea of partnership. In the Spring of 2013, having worked four years as Director of Marketing for the Performing Arts Division of The Royal Conservatory of Music, Kelly sought to create an association that stretched beyond two or three organizations. She thought “Wouldn’t it be amazing if all of the arts and culture organizations in our community could work together in partnership for something larger for the neighbourhood?” After several initial conversa tions, the first ever partners’
meeting was held on Hallo ween...in costumes! And even though everyone was in the arts and culture sector, in the same neighbourhood, most people were meeting each other for the first time. It grew from there. The Corridor was founded the following April, starting with 12 member organizations. The Corridor has always been a group where every orga nization is equal, no matter how large or small they are. Kelly states that this is fundamental to their core values. Every mem ber has something to offer and to gain from being a part of the whole. Kelly has expressed her contentment with the way the Museum of Estonians Abroad has connected to the Bloor Street community with its activity. “Whether it’s a one-off lecture, or one of the exhibi tions...it’s significant for the Estonian community but also for the city to recognize. For example, [learning about] the Estonian architects who have shaped Toronto.” Speaking about Estonian Music Week, Kelly says “The team did so much with other Bloor Street Culture Corridor partners, to bring the musicians and really make that a valuable, super fun, and diverse festival and showcase.” Through the Corridor, there really is a beneficial cross-polli nation of new audiences. Corridor meetings are a chance for organizations to dis cuss the themes they are all working with, such as celebrat ing Tartu College’s 50th anni versary. On several occasions, clusters of members will work together on something with an underlying thread that ties them all together, like a film screen ing or concert. In this way, Bloor Street is a
Why Belarus… (Continued from page 9)
unique place in our city and Canada on the whole. The Corridor is introduced as “Toronto’s most diverse arts and culture district.” There is diver sity in terms of representing Estonian, African, Caribbean, French, Indigenous, Italian, Japanese, and Jewish culture. It’s also diverse in terms of the range of high quality, profes sional programming and more. You could go from a film, to an exhibition, to a museum, and to a concert over a single week end. For film, there’s HotDocs. For music, there’s RCM. The Miles Nadal JCC has a gym and day care services. The Alliance Française has music, theatre, and lectures. Many Corridor members have libraries or offer language courses. The scope is broad, but culture is what binds it all together. Kelly has conveyed that there is a lot to be hopeful about despite the challenges surround ing the recent large scale can cellation of cultural events. She is hopeful that it will cause a re-evaluation and recognition of the inherent benefits of the arts: vibrancy, quality of life, cultural development, social cohesion, and improved mental health. Now with COVID-19, there’s a role for the whole Corridor to play in economic, social, and community recovery. With the mask bylaw and limits on indoor gathering sizes,
Photo: bloorstculturecorridor.com
member organizations are all approaching the next season differently. They are adapting while staying true to what they do. One example of continuing to grow visibility in this time is the online broadcast of VEMU ÖÖTV on August 29th, for Muuseumiöö. Some music organizations are commissioning projects from artists that are specifically created for a digital-viewing context. The Royal Conserva tory has their whole concert series on sale. There will only be 50 people in the concert hall, of course. For some venues, online tickets are free. For others, online tickets are being sold for a similar price. This way, artist fees, online broad casting, and the cost of cleaning staff and ushers can be covered. Corridor members are en deavouring to continue creating memorable cultural experiences for people, while abiding by regulations and being attuned to what audiences feel comfortable with. VEMU’s connection to the Bloor Street Culture Corridor is something that helps strengthen the Estonian community in Toronto. It works as an exten sion of the community, where we can delve into our relation ship with other Torontonians who share similar objectives, dreams, and challenges as us.
EKKT (Society of Estonian Artists in Toronto) Artist Feature: Laani Heinar – new works, a book and the upcoming 65th Annual Exhibition While in the beginning quar ter of my creative career, it is interesting to look back on each annual exhibit with EKKT and remember the various pieces I’ve shown with the group. Interesting, because as this journey con tinues, the annual show is a kind of yearly pause where one can reflect on the work of the year, how styles, medium, subject matter and interests have changed. It’s clear while looking back how every year has been different for me and EKKT has always been a sup portive group to share new ideas and creations with. Last fall, in the annual exhi
bition, I showed two waterco lour illustrations that were to become two pages of a larger work: a children’s picture book
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I have been co-creating with Vincent Teetsov titled, “Pump kin and Stretch”. I was happy, and as always, a little nervous to share my new direction in work with the group, alongside the single demo copy of the book, which was met with en couraging feedback and sup port. Approaching the annual exhibition time again, it’s nice to reflect back on this, as we have now published our book! It tells the story of two crea tures as they bravely journey through a dark cave where they discover their strengths and find a way out together...with the help of some mysterious cave paintings and unexpected friends.
You can find our book at: pumpkinandstretch.com. As August is coming to a close, and we approach the 65th anniversary show this Sep tem ber, I look forward to sharing what’s next with everybody and trading notes as we pause for the year and reflect on our collective works; how styles, medium, subject matter and in terests morph as we all continue on our own creative journey.
missiles coming from Western Europe and, more importantly, to monitor NATO submarines in the North Atlantic. Russia knows what it wants and what it fears and is therefore ready for anything. Including military intervention. However, what is the West pre pared to do? The silence of the international media was deafen ing in the first hours following the presidential elections when the blood of peaceful protesters was already being spilled in the streets of Minks. The normally news-sensitive CNN couldn’t even publish an editorial column for several hours. The same kind of passivity reigned on the political level that demonstrated the weakness or rather lack of recent policy. I would not be surprised if some Western countries only started looking up Belarus on the map in recent days. I remember how the former prime minister of a very important ally only dis covered Ukraine that had made the news with its Orange Revolution when looking at a map of Europe with me in November of 2004. The courage of the people of Belarus puts to the test the seriousness of the European Commission that refers to itself as geopolitical. Brussels must decide whether to match its words and open another geo political front against Russia, next to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, or whether to with draw and lose its credibility as a defender of democratic free doms and principles of the rule of law. The challenge is equally great for the USA because on its reaction depends its status as the leader of the free world. President Trump is silent. European Union foreign ministers who met five days after election day in Belarus took the first encouraging step in the right direction. Bela rusian elections were declared illegitimate and the process of new sanctions was launched. It is to be hoped that grow ing differences between Greece and Turkey in the Mediter ranean will not get in the way of achieving the necessary con sensus. This tension between NATO allies, with France’s sharp confrontation with Turkey thrown into the mix, comes at a very bad time where our se curity is concerned. The European Union must not lose momentum now. Following up on initial steps, a clear message to the people of Belarus should be formulated and serious intent to support reaching new elections, civil society and the economy demonstrated. At the same time, it needs to be kept in mind that the road will be long and inevitably re sult in tensions with Russia flaring. Estonia and the other Baltic countries have a special role to play in this as the fate of Belarus will also affect our future.
