Building Collective Power: a multi-sensory conversation

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“Power is the ability to impact and affect the conditions of your own life and the lives of others” – Alicia Garza, The Purpose of Power

We rarely name it, but we almost always feel power. The different forms it takes, how it shows up in our relationships, our work, and the systems we live in. While the default form of power that systems of colonialism, capitalism, and supremacism have historically exercised is power *over*, we invite you to explore power in alternative ways that are nonhierarchical and interdependent.

There’s no greater threat to the status quo than collective power, so how can we build revolutionary relationships in our lives and in our work? What would the experience of being in relationship with our colleagues, friends, family, and neighbours be like if we are supported when we step into our internal power *within*? What would it feel like to reciprocate this and honour the lived experience of those we are in relationship with?

In this virtual event, you’re invited to imagine and envision with all your senses: ***What does building collective power feel, taste, smell, sound, and look like?***

You’ll experience a multi-sensory conversation seeded with ways of building collective power that our special guests are already practicing in their work. You’re invited to create your own multi-sensory environment while you attend: surround yourself with music, food, art, scents, textures – whatever evokes collective power for you. Come to listen, watch, learn, and share about practicing power in alternative ways that support you, your values, and the communities you work with.

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LAND AND LOCATION

Groundswell is situated on the stolen and occupied territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We will learn where each of our speakers are joining us from during the event, and we also invite you to share about the land and territories where you are situated.

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ACCESSIBILITY

This event will be happening via Zoom Webinar. Once you register for the event, you will receive the link to join.

Captioning will be provided during the presentations.

All are welcome and invited to pay according to their financial circumstances. Choose from $20, $10 or $0 tickets.

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FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS:

▶︎ Emily Dundas Oke, Media Manager for Massy Books, Curator for Massy Arts Society

Emily Dundas Oke is an interdisciplinary artist and curator interested in the production and retention of embodied knowledge, shared histories, and generative acts of resistance. A 2018 graduate of Philosophy and Visual Art (BA) from Thompson Rivers University, she is the recipient of numerous grants and awards. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. She was artist in residence at the Nida Art Colony (2019) and Access Gallery (2020), among others. Emily is the Curator at Massy Arts Society and Media Manager at Massy Books. Beyond her work with Massy, she is the Arts Editor and Community Engagement with The Capilano Review.

▶︎ Nura Ali, Founding member of the Vancouver Artists Labour Union Co-op

Nura Ali is a black visual artist, community organizer and social activist, living and working on Treaty 7 territory (Calgary, Alberta). Her multidisciplinary practise engages issues of linguistic world building, displacement and power. Her work attempts to follow the mycelial trails underpinning the fabulation of race and slowly pull them apart to expose the invisible, densely packed network that scaffolds white supremacy. Alongside her visual arts practise she is also committed to community oriented organizing and for this reason became one of the founding members of the Vancouver Artists Labour Union Coop (VALU) and The Arts and Cultural Workers Union (ACWU, IATSE Local B778), a unionized workers cooperative and labour union for independent artists and cultural workers. Through the Co-op and the Union we hope to fight the income precarity, exploitative labour practices and job insecurity artists face and campaign for the rights of artists to live and work with dignity, respect and fairness. She is deeply invested in strategies to dismantle oppressive supremacist structures and is keenly motivated to create welcoming and equitable spaces in the art world and beyond.

▶︎ Tinthi Tembo, Co-creator of BIPOC-CA, partner at Origin Papers

Tinthi Tembo is a Human Geographer and community advocate for diversity and inclusion. She minored in Critical Studies in Sexuality, a self-directed study, where Tinthi her centered research on critical examinations of race, sexuality and social justice. Tinthi wears multiple hats, she is the Co-Founder of Origin Papers and BIPOC Creative Association. Tinthi also works in the film industry-Costume Department, leading an entrepreneurial career where she aims to gain the knowledge towards opening a BIPOC owned production house. Ubuntu is an African philosophy which notions that one’s humanity is inextricably linked to one another. Being Indigenous to the African continent, there are similarities in knowledge transfer, engagement with the land, and fundamental human values that Tinthi shares with Indigenous communities on Turtle Island. Ubuntu is the framework/lens for which Tinthi approaches community building.

▶︎ Vidya Crawley, CEO of Groundswell Alternative Business School

Vidya (they/she) brings an inclusive and experiential approach to leadership, business, and design education for social change. Having supported over fifty organizations and hundreds of individuals on the path to values-based work since 2001, they enjoy subverting “business as usual” with ways of working that are rooted in emotional intelligence, relational principles, equity, and strengths-based approaches. They have a particular flair for creating thoughtful experiences, practices, and cultures that make business and work more human. Vidya identifies as non-binary and is a second generation South Asian immigrant & settler currently living and working on occupied xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlil̓wətaʔɬ territories.