Nia C

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ewsletter 2012

Our Village

At age 23, Kiana has been actively been involved in the non-for profit sector for approximately 6 years. Kiana has done some 10,000 hours of community service working as a member of YouthLeaps steering com-mittee and as a part of a youth round table advising the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. All this community involvement has naturally led Kiana to found, Against the Odds, more commonly known as ATO; a celebration of integrity through honest business relationships within the community. She also owns a laser cutting service, Chips, which allows her community to express themselves creatively. Currently, Kiana is a Branding and Marketing Coordinator at Nia Centre for the Arts and does internal branding consulting for various organizations.

Aisha is a 20 year old Toronto born spoken word poet, motivational lyri-cist, and t-shirt designer . She is of Kenyan descent and has a deep de-sire to spread positivity to her audiences. Aisha finds that there is much negativity within the media therefore with her artistic talents she aims to break down various stereotypes, motivate, educate and inspire all. Aisha plays a huge role in supporting her local Scarborough community. She is a Community Worker in training at George Brown College, a member of the Dorset Park Youth Council, Crisis Response team, as well as the TCHC Youth Representative of her community. Ai-sha is heavily influenced by inspirational beings throughout her city and aims to be the voice of those who are unheard.

We are excited to welcome...Kiana Eastmond, Brand and Outreach Coordinator

Aisha Farah,Winter Intern

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Our newly formed Documentation Team is a group of ambitious and talented young photographers and videographers who have been trained to provide quality photos and videos of your events. Our team is also known for creating vivid atmospheres through their photos. The service provided by our Documentation Team provides your organization with the tools to better tell your story to all your members, funder, supporters and future stakeholders.

For more information, email docteam@niacentre.org

Nia Centre would like to thank youth from Westview Centennial Secondary School, Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts and Uniffect for taking part in our flashmob, Word, Sound, Purpose.

On Feb 29th our flash mob took place at York University and was a huge success. We’d like to thank Citizen-ship and Immigation Canada for their support of our event.

OurVillage

Special Thanks toWestview and Wexford

DOC Team

Carolyn Roberts

Bianca Channer

Carolyn is a self taught photographer and videographer who directed Nia Centre’s “What Makes You So Strong?” video.

After only picking up a camera a year ago, she is beginning to find her own way into the professional field of photography and video.

Bianca is a freelance graphic designer and visual artisit. She currently attends OCADU and is part of their African community group, The ONYX Society (OSO).

Bianca is behind the design and layout of Nia Centre’s 2010/2011 Annual Report.

Reach Out

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4. Obeah OperaOn Sunday March 4th 2012, Nia Centre for the Arts brought out 25 youth from Uniffect, Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts, YUBSA, and Nia’s Youth Steering Committee to 918 Bathurst to experience the b current and Theatre Archipelago production of Obeah Opera. Sung in complete a capella and performed by a cast of fifteen women, Obeah Opera examined the myths surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, and the untold stories of the black women who were persecuted for their practising their traditional West African traditions branded as witchcraft. As a part of the Nia Centre program Outside the Lines, youth had the opportunity to experience an untold history and engage in an art form. Outside the Lines is a community engagement initiative that aims to provide youth with the opportunity to experience Afro-diasporic art, artists, and culture in spaces outside of their neighborhood.

5. IABD Conference & Festival dance Immersion hosted the 24th Annual International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) Conference & Festival in Toronto, Canada on January 26-29, 2012. The con-ference theme was “Connecting Our Dias-poras through Dance”. This four day event brought people together from around the world to be educated and to educate each other around issues that are relevant to dance within the global dance ecology. Nia Centre staff, Deon & Kiana attended and documented this event alongside Mapela, an up and coming photographer.

6. Zanana Akande AwardIn Februrary Nia Centre for the Arts was honoured by CUPE 4400 with the Zanana Akande award in celebration of Black His-tory Month. Board member Alica Hall and executive director Mark Campbell attend-ed the event with Ms. Akande to recieve the honour.

Reach Out

1. “What Makes You So Strong?”“What Makes You So Strong” displays the struggles, barriers, triumphs and success that people of African decent have gone through both historically in the present day. The video aims to highlight the many faces of the African Diaspora and features a few of the many Torontonians and young artists who are doing inspirational work in their commu-nities. Originally written and delivered by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “What Makes You So Strong” delivers a powerful message about unity, perseverance, strength and cultural empowerment. This video can be found on our Youtube page; NiaCentre-fortheArts.

2. Word, Sound, Purpose! Word, Sound, Purpose was an interactive spoken word program that allowed participants to enhance their creative writing and performance art skills by building confidence and understanding of the art form. As a part of this program, youth at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts and Westview Centennial Secondary School were mentored by Toronto spoken word artists David Delisca and Lady Loxx. The artists discussed with the group the power of poetry and the empowerment of performance art. As a key component of this project, the youth exhibited their performance in a public space as well as a poetry zine that featured a compilation of poems from the students of both schools.

3. Nia Gallery at Success Beyond LimitsNia Centre for the Arts created a partnership with Success Beyond Limits (SBL) through the Project Groundings Forum. SBL attended our youth forum as part of our Project Groundings research project. To con-tinue working collaboratively Nia Centre put on display our Project Groundings Photo Exhibit inside the SBL space at Westview Collegiate.

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Project Groundings is our transnational research project that uses theatre to explore the effects of violence on Afro-Diasporic youth in both Canada and Jamaica. The project is a partnership between CERLAC (Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean), Woodside Community Development, Jamaica Youth Theatre and Nia Centre for the Arts. By thinking very broadly of violence beyond its physical manifestations, this community/university research partnership explores the wide impact of racism, under-employment, sexism, and geography on the healthy development of Afro-Diasporic youth in the Cana-

In January, members of the Jamaican Youth Theater and Woodside Community Development came to Toronto to participate in a city wide forum. The forum was an open discussion where youth were asked to come together and answer a set number of questions about their experiences with violence. Several organizations brought out their youth including Lost Lyrics, Success Beyond Limits and Redemption Reintegration Services. The small groups were facilitated by a youth leader who had an understanding of the Afro-Diasporic experience.

The Project Groundings Photo Exhibit included works from two photographers, Ebti Nabag (iebti.tumblr.com) and Nabil Shash (shashcamera.tumblr.com) were an interpre-tation of Jamaica life and culture through photography. As part of the research team, Ebti and Nabil travelled to Jamaica as documenters in July of 2011. The exhibit incor-porated numerous 4x6 photographs that were used to overwhelm the viewer to invoke the experience of memories of a place visited long ago or place you want to visit. A compliation of these photos form the cover of this newsletter.

Project Groundings

Contact usNia Centre for the Arts

P: 416 535 2727F: 416 907 4805 E: info@niacentre.orgwww.niacentre.orgJoin our facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/ group.php?v=wall&gid=73495250709

Find out what new with Nia and visit our blog www.niacentre.org/nianewsblogtweet us at www.twitter.com/NiaCentre

Contact usNia Centre for the Arts

P: 416 535 2727F: 416 907 4805 E: info@niacentre.orgwww.niacentre.orgJoin our facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/ group.php?v=wall&gid=73495250709

Find out what’s new with Nia and visit our blog www.niacentre.org/nianews-blogtweet us at www.twitter.com/NiaCentre

Photography by Nabil Shash and Letecia Rose