The Artist and Activist event was under the umbrella of Global Citizens Week, but had a decidedly local focus.  We wanted this focus because we believe that facilitating ongoing, long-term relationships among artists and activists yields greater results than simply doing one-off ‘benefit events’.

Our panellists for the event included a politician, a farmer and a film-maker – each with different perspectives and involved in different causes.  They were:  former Kelowna city counsellor Angela Reid-Nagy, activist Gabe Cipes from Summerhill Organic Winery, and ‘accidental activist’ film-maker Jan Vozenilek.  They shared their artistic and activist experiences, and then responded to questions from the audience and faciliated a spirited discussion.  Afterward, there was time to meet and greet, and carry on the discussion over drinks and snacks.

Although some specifics were discussed – such as organic farming practices, or the political process, or debunking the idea of plastic recycling - I think the main inspirational message to emerge was ‘Let’s Get Outside Ourselves, Let’s Get Creative, And Let’s Make A Difference!’.

Artists often have an emotional connection with a ‘justice cause’ (whether it be environmental issues, poverty, equal rights etc).  Artists also have a creative way to ‘amplify’ a message.    Activists on the other hand really understand the issue; they have done the research, they realise there are multiple stakeholders, and they are informed when they speak of it.   History shows that when artists and activists collaborate – great progress can be made to advance the cause of justice.

Was great progress made at the Artists and Activists event?  I don’t know.  Only time will tell.  And we, as the TribeHouse Artist Collective, will continue to celebrate the important work of artists and of activists – here in the Okanagan Valley and around the world.

Thanks to David Ward for taking the photos

In this video, he shares some stories of creative inspiration, momentum and the rewards that come from being open to unexpected moments of brilliance featuring some of highlights from the past few years including Ari Neufeld, Andrew Smith, and Tommy Emmanuel.

“You need to make opportunities for yourself to be exposed to new ideas and new ways of learning and thinking and acting and behaving and creating and performing… You just never know what ways it’s going to affect you and the creativing things that are waiting to come out of you…”

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

For more about Rik, his book, his music, and his meanderings, check out http://www.rikleaf.com

Link to his book, Four Homeless Millionaires with this photo(shop) credit to Rik Leaf’s marketing team.

“Oh do not think it was done out of the goodness of my heart Asher Lev.   …If you had only a talent for drawing, it would have ended quickly.  But you possessed the capacity for rage….it was the source for your art…so I gave you years of my life.”

As artists we are always looking for fresh sources of inspiration.  We want and we need to be inspired.  And so we look to love, beauty, hope and creativity.  And of course we draw inspiration from disappointment, sadness and loss.  But let’s not overlook rage.  Yes, rage - as an important source of inspiration for art and activism.  We need to get in touch with our inner rage, and let it move us to action; let it move us to create stuff.  We must contemplate injustice and allow rage to come to us.  Rage has the power to overcome our fear and apathy – two great hindrances that we all face.

Rage has received a bad rap.  It’s often considered disruptive, dangerous, even evil.  It is seen as a “negative” emotion, so we often build elaborate structures to avoid feeling it.  We fear it in ourselves and in others – and sometimes for good reason.  Anger and rage can impair a person’s judgment.  But we can’t avoid it.  Feeling rage is human.  Bottling up this feeling only warps it and twists it into something that seeps out as hate.  But rage is mature when it is recognized as a powerful force, embraced and harnessed for good.  We can release our rage in a positive way when we focus it on our real enemies of injustice, poverty, greed and oppression.   Rage can be harnessed and used by artists and activists as motivation in our work of creating art, healing the planet and releasing the oppressed.  Of course (as all good politicians know) if our rage is immature and unrecognized, it can also be harnessed by someone else for their own selfish ends.

So, if rage is a legitimate source of inspiration, how do we access it?   I’m sure that each of us sees issues and injustice that enrage, but here are a few things that come to my mind and stir my rage these days:

Think about the continual increase in childhood cancer in our province and country and that our main water source, the Okanagan Lake, is increasingly being polluted by carcinogenic herbicides and pesticides.

Consider our own Kettle River – one of the most endangered rivers in our province.  Think about the fact that Big White Resort plans to massively increase water extraction from the Kettle River for development. They are now submitting plans to dam the river.  But watersheds are part of the ‘common wealth’ of our country.  This is our river, our water, our wildlife that it supports.   The Kettle River is already endangered.  Greater water extraction will result in killing even more fish stocks and other riparian wildlife.  The Kettle River does not exist to benefit only the bottom line of a corporation.

Think about the public lake front land in Kelowna that city council wants to sell to developers against the recommendations of its own committee. That’s our land and it’s one of the last pieces of publicly owned lakefront property in Kelowna. We didn’t give these politicians the right to sell our lakefront land to the highest bidder.  Most of us want to leave Kelowna better for our kids and grand kids than we found it.  Public access to the lake is important.  Most of us don’t want to sell out the future for the short-term gain of building condos on the lakefront.  Yet they will if we don’t let them hear our rage.
Consider the growing numbers of people trapped in poverty and living on the streets of Kelowna while many lakefront mansions remain empty most of the year.

Not stirring your rage yet?  Try this:

Consider the fact that the Syrian president Bashaar Al Assad has killed 5,000 of his own people while Canada simply watches, hoping it doesn’t further interrupt Suncor and other Canadian oil company business.  Syrian protesters moved into the streets, risking their lives, after Al Assad’s men tortured a thirteen year-old boy to death, then sent his mutilated body back to his community.  When his thugs torture a Syrian citizen for protesting, they make them confess that Bashaar Al Assad is God.

Norm Strauss and I wrote a song called Play God.  Inspired by rage, the second verse is about the Syrian people and their president Bashaar Al Assad:

“Caught in the lens of Al Jazeera
another day of rage dawns in Syria
Anger floods the road to Damascus
while the president mocks the mass hysteria
See the madman smile, in a suit and tie
hear the desperate chants, while the bullets fly
Looks like the devil…trying to play God”

From the CD: Norm Straus-12-track mind

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Meditate on the pharmaceutical companies who will not allow the sale of cheap antiviral drugs to save lives and stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Think about those corporations who are aggressively buying up water rights, so that we will soon have to buy water from them.  Water should belong to everyone.

Think of Mitsubishi Corporation who is building ever bigger storehouses for the valuable blue fin tuna, and then fishing them to extinction so they can name the price when they’re all gone.   With their massive profits, this corporation could be investing in protecting the common wealth of the ocean’s bounty, rather than exploiting it until it’s gone.

Zachari Smith and I wrote a song –inspired by rage – called Storehouses:

“Is there anybody here who can make those fuckers pay?
Does everything we eat have to leave a bitter taste?
Mitsubishi’s got storehouses of blue fin
Frozen till the last fish comes out of the blue
Betting on extinction just like wall street
Just like wall street
At the end of the line in crystal clear water
Silver flashes of light, unsustainable slaughter”

From the CD: Andrew and Zachari Smith – Travelling

If something here in my list doesn’t get your blood boiling, then perhaps you have already reached that exalted, detached, transcendent height of spirituality called …‘death’.  Congratulations.

Now don’t misunderstand me.  I am against violence.  I am against the destruction of property.  But I am all for rage.  Consider the pacifist rage of histories greatest leaders.  Jesus had a deep well of rage. (You brood of vipers!)  Gandhi.  MLK.  Vaclav Havel.  Desmond Tutu. – Leaders who raged against injustice but whose methods were non-violent resistance.  Today we have culture jammers and hacktivists who creatively bring to light corporate injustice.   We know that violent retaliation against people only perpetuates more violence and the focus goes quickly off the issue and onto the violence.  But people who are willing to be activists and to fight against injustice through peaceful protest, through political means – and through artistic work – these are the people who leave the world better than they found it.

As artists we have a voice and an audience and a creative way to connect with people, emotionally and intellectually.  We must use this influence creatively.  Like Neil Young’s ‘Keep on Rockin in the Free World’.  It sounds like a fist-pumping redneck party song.  But it’s freighted with RAGE.  It’s an intense, passionate cry for justice.  So let’s not be afraid of our rage.  Let us stir up our pacifist rage and make a difference – starting here in the Okanagan Valley and beyond.  Let’s not wait until it’s our own kid who gets cancer?  Or until the Kettle and Okanagan Rivers can no longer support fish and other wildlife, and are reduced to an industrial power source.   Or when Al Assad has murdered every last peaceful protester.

Believe me, I understand the temptation to shut out the pain of the world and simply ‘look out for #1’ .  But let us not grow weary in well-doing.  Let our rage motivate us to make just one baby step today toward discovering solutions for problems in our community and beyond.  Write a letter.  Write a song.  Attend a protest.  Draw a picture.  Let your rage be heard!

So let’s add to beauty, love and joy – these positive sources for inspiration – the often maligned and forgotten inspiration of rage.

Kicking at the darkness ’till it bleeds daylight,

Andrew Smith

www.andrewsmithmusic.com
www.andrewandzacharismith.com

(read more about Andrew)

My daughter Emma Smith happened to be in town (she recently completed her journalism degree and a stint as a CBC reporter in New Brunswick), so I asked her to conduct the interview.  The interview took place in Alex Fong’s studio in his house, where we visited at some length while sipping delicious Okanagan wine.   I hope you enjoy getting to know the man and his work.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Alex Fong’s Website: http://www.alexfong.com

Bio:

Born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1956, Alex Fong’s interest in art began at a young age. However, it was not until his study of interior design that he discovered the medium of watercolour and the freedom of colour and expression that matched his vision of the world.

Alex’s early works reflected a traditional oriental technique. As his talents flourished, Alex developed a personal style that has since become his hallmark. Alex’s paintings are a kaleidoscope of light and colour – a bouquet of wonder and whimsy. The sense of delight that accompanies them draws the viewer in for a closer look. His translucent, impressionistic paintings are distinguished by a parade of coloured flecks that he calls “confetti” which represent his celebration of life. The result is an exquisite balance of spontaneity and grace. Though Alex’s artistic vision continues to evolve, his works reflect a fresh and youthful outlook.

Alex Fong’s work has attracted the attention of fine art collectors since the early days when he exhibited at Vancouver galleries, and then through his years as a touring member of the Western Lights Artists Group. Alex has exhibited in both Canada and the U.S. for over twenty four years. His watercolours are featured in both private and corporate collections throughout the continent.

Alex has developed close relationships with the art community in Alberta, and exciting artistic associations at his home in the Okanagan, with the Valley’s wine industry and charitable organizations. He participates in celebrations of art, food, music and theatre, reflecting his deep commitment to the cultural nurturing of his own community, and to art education.

Alex Fong’s artistic vision continues to evolve, his work reflecting a delightfully fresh and youthful outlook. “A child views the world with optimism and wonder. That is what I hope to accomplish with my art. Each day, I look forward to creating something new and wonderful” he says. “I paint to make people feel good, and put a little joy into their lives.”

Joy, splendour and whimsy, sprinkled with a few unusual surprises…

Photo by Darren Hull