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Artistic ManifestoWe are living in times of intense crisis and massive global transformation. Everywhere around us is evidence that the old order does not sustain us. Young people know that it is time for change, but rarely are they given the tools they need to be the change we are always asking them to be.
We consider art as a critical human endeavor and transformative action, one which is intricately connected to our developing a healthy relationship with self, society, and land. We strive to connect the conversations that are catalyzed by artistic exploration with active social justice work by curating safer spaces and supporting projects that engage these intersections. We are curating spaces for new kinds of cross cultural dialogue and deepening of relationships where real learning, and re-learning, occurs. As an organization, we are harvesting our learnings and honouring our responsibility as a cultural catalyst in Toronto and as a producer of socially engaged artistic projects locally and internationally. Children’s Peace Theatre’s image of itself is that of a community container — a place where people come in, connect and interact and learn, cross pollinate their knowledge to scatter in many places, while more young people join in and spark new conversations — in a continuous cycle of new possibilities. Fundamental to our artistic vision is the belief that art is the single best way to spark the fires of civic engagement. It engages the moral energy of people making them more reflective, more compassionate and more creative in imagining new possibilities. To be human and a democratic citizen requires that one muster the courage to think critically for oneself. Art invites an examination of each participant’s own life, identity, and purpose and aims to immerse them directly with critical issues, in a way only art can, to prepare them to be fully human and to play a vital role in democracy and community. |
We Believe |
We believe that children and youth will be the instigators of social change
We believe that Peace is Possible We value process over product We believe that art can transform individuals and communities |
We Stand in Solidarity |
We believe our work must honour the sacred land and the ancestors who shared wisdom about the importance of each human’s role and relationships to others and to the land. It is way past time to learn from Indigenous people and traditions the old ways to look at living in relationship with others and with the land. It is time to for all those living in the territory we call Canada to understand the role those relationships played in the creation of our society, how they remain critical to our existence as a healthy and just society today, and how they can provide knowledge and guidance for a way forward to create more equitable relationships with all communities of people and with the land.
We believe that the healing between Indigenous- non Indigenous relationships is the great issue of our time, and one in which art can play a critical role. We believe we have a responsibility to engage young people, and confront audiences, with the truth that rights have been denied to Indigenous people and that colonialism and all of its policies is damaging the waters, ruining traditional territories, and perpetuating the ongoing violence against Indigenous people. Restoring these rights, while rebuilding the relationships that were central to the creation of Canada, is essential to its continued existence. Moreover, these relationships open up a more creative and accurate way of imagining ourselves. They provide an opportunity for scripting a new narrative. We acknowledge that many equity seeking groups in our communities often encounter barriers to full access to services and resources including housing, healthcare, education and employment. They also encounter barriers to meaningful participation in art, politics, economics, the media and other critical opportunities for personal growth and avenues to participation in the discourse of the day and policy making that impacts their lives. As numerous newcomer communities are defining their own terms of struggle with the state within the Multicultural society, these communities, have little or no knowledge of the presence of Indigenous peoples in Canada. There is no better way to bring these voices and histories to newcomer children than to engage them directly into conversation through artistic exploration with Indigenous youth, artists and elders to better understand their stories and truths. More profoundly, this understanding can offer a template for a Multicultural society to understand how deeper connections can be developed between diverse people. |
We Commit to |
Children’s Peace Theatre will embed and model Anti racist and Anti-oppressive practices in every aspect of the organization and in our own lives— in our philosophy, ethos and actions. And must take part in serious, action-focused, intellectually rigorous inquiry related to the role of art in social transformation.
Children’s Peace Theatre will create innovative and inclusive spaces for young people and their adult allies to develop the Courage and Creativity to get messy, share vulnerably, stumble and fall together, and the Compassion to lift each other up. Where:
Children’s Peace Theatre will develop leadership in staff, Board, artists and volunteers that models these commitments in order to achieve more than tokenistic manifestations of peace. In keeping with our intention to honour the land and the ancestors, we invite our space to be used for community development and artistic work that is grounded in sacred practices and closely related to our mission. The elders, community leaders, young people and their allies who use the space create a village network provide a blanket of nurturing supports for the children and youth and to our team. Children’s Peace Theatre will be a hub for activist interventions that advance the role of the arts in social transformation. It will operate mainly by convening – by creating living experiences, some small, some large, that bring people together to articulate social needs, generate ideas and spark action. Children’s Peace Theatre will welcome unexpected combinations of people and ideas and will take a trans-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and inter-generational approach to its work. Its major strategy will be connecting young people, Elders of diverse racial, cultural and spiritual communities to ignite or provoke change. Because we dare to be unique and radical, Children’s Peace Theatre will be Courageous, Compassionate, Creative, authentic, and very very humble. While its mission and focus remains clear, it will need to be tactically nimble and open to community input as it discovers its evolving role through experimenting and harvesting learnings. Children’s Peace Theatre will strive to not become institutionalized and perpetually reliant on government funding and remain flexible and open to activities and collaborators in response to community need and with unexpected partners. Children’s Peace Theatre will strive to maintain independence and clarity of purpose; to work with partners to widen and strengthen the community of those dedicated to change through the transformative power of artistic creativity and art of dialogue. |
