“Our efforts are held together by trust — in each other, and in a future in which our body-minds know the taste of freedom, and the cost of not having it.”

This is an excerpt from an essay about the creative process called “On Turtle Island, I learned to be as alive as possible.” Through a framework of abolition, it considers what it means to develop writing, performances, and other art forms in collaboration with others. This piece grows out of my participation in a creative cohort for Stages of Transformation, which is described more below. You can read the full essay here, in English or French.

Stages of Transformation is a multi-year project of research, rumination, creative exploration and conversation, bringing together theatre artists, arts workers, and creative communities from across so-called Canada. It takes up the imperatives of abolition movements and transformative justice frameworks, and investigates their applications to our work in the theatre sector.  The project was curated and produced by Nikki Shaffeeullah with support from the associate curator, Mpoe Mogale.

The artists participating in the Creative Cohort are :

Resident Artists: Sobia Shaheen Shaikh, Ravyn Wyngz, Kris Vanessa Teo, Keira Ash, Raven John
Partner Companies: TODOS Productions, lemonTree creations, Chromatic Theatre, Gwaandak Theatre, Rumble Theatre
Company Representatives and Artistic Supporters: Santiago Guzmán, Cole Alvis, Indrit Kasapi, Kodie Rollan, Miki Wolf, Jiv Parasram, Jamie King, Aidan Hammond
Multimedia artist and documentor: Raven Davis
Writer: Yasmine Espert
Production Manager: Senjuti Sarker
Curators and Facilitators: Nikki Shaffeeullah and Mpoe Mogale

The Stages of Transformation website includes more artifacts from the multi-year collaboration, including video art, podcasts, essays and more.

Image: Tremors Festival at Rumble Theatre. 2023.