This edition consider art, artists, and change.
When I became Executive Director of STAF I insisted on having a double title that included “Transformation Designer”. I wanted it to be super-clear change was coming and that it was my job to make sure about that. Over the past ten months I have worked with artists and arts workers within the organization and the broader community to make a lot of changes with the aim of strengthening independent theatre. The positive nature of this experience has reinforced what I have known for a while:
When we set our minds to it, artists are really good at making shit happen.
Each of these artists explores a different type of change: Raoul Bhaneja investigates whether theatre artists can make change for one Syrian family, Nadia Ross reflects on her journey to bring about change within herself, and Darrah Teitel on bringing about the change in arts activism Wajdi Mouawad called for seven years ago.
Change is in the air, if we want it.
Michael Wheeler
Editor -in-Chief: #CdnCult
