Mike Kasongo, Artist: Arte & Movement 2023 Part 7

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with Emerging Artist Award recipient, Kaashif Ghanie.  Kaashif Ghanie [he/him] is a mixed first generation Guyanese Canadian Muslim Ceramic and Visual Artist working in Kjipuktuk/Halifax in the Wonderneath Art Society KG Ceramics Studio with his partner, Kate Grey. Ghanie's art practice merges historical Islamic vessel shapes and motifs from his family members prayer rugs into a contemporary visual language. He graduated NSCAD University in fall 2015 with a bachelors degree in ceramics and a minor in art history.

Kordeena Clayton is the owner of She Nubian Liberation Art & Apparel, founder of Takin’ BLK Business Initiative Co-operative, co-founder of the Takin’ BLK Gottingen and Markets. A 7th generation descendant of the first African migrants to ever accompany Nova Scotia, a proud African Nova Scotian Queer Visual artist who focuses on the importance of representation of Black and Brown people; Inclusivity and self-embracement. Known for Unapologetically Black and Unapologetically Queer Apparel, photography, graphic and clothing design, film making and painting. Clayton states “Exploring the photograph archives at the Black Loyalist Centre during my art residency May 2022, I was very intrigued by the collection and the style of photography amongst the old photos. I came to the centre with an open mind towards creation and with very few ideas. The twelve portraits displayed in this piece were of the many that spoke and/or stood out to me each day I canvased the albums. Curious about their stories that I may not ever know, their presence and existence should not be forgotten and this is a way to keep them in memoriam.”

Camille Georgeson-Usher, PhD, is a Coast Salish / Sahtu Dene / Scottish writer, artist, and scholar from Galiano Island, British Columbia, unceded territories of the Penelakut and Lamalcha First Nations, as well as other Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples and is the ceded traditional territories of Tsawwassen First Nation. She is Assistant Professor, Modern and Contemporary Indigenous Art at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC in the department of Art History, Visual Art, and Theory. Usher completed her MA in Art History at Concordia University. Her thesis, “more than just flesh: the arts as resistance and sexual empowerment,” focused on how the arts may be used as a tool to engage Indigenous youth in discussions of health and sexuality. In addition to her academic work, she serves on several boards, currently she is: Co-Chair of the Toronto Biennial of Art; a Board Member of the Inspirit Foundation; and Secretary and Board Member of the Canadian Art Foundation. Cover photo credit Donna Usher

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist, Beverly McKay.

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist Mike Kasongo.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with Emerging Artist Award recipient, Jack Wong. We talk about Jack’s process for producing children’s books as an author and an illustrator, the meditative benefit of shooting the same basketball shot over and over and how the lessons learned from that repetition inform his art practice. We also talk about why having a certain amount of conflict with creative collaborators can actually be a good thing.  

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist Colin Cook.

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist and educator Kim Cain about the importance of movement in her creative practice and what concepts she feels kids need earlier and more frequent exposure to in the classroom. Hot yoga sequence: standing to down dog   Hot yoga sequence: supine to bridge

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with playwright, multimedia artist and creative entrepreneur, Tara Taylor – recipient of the 2024 Black Artist Recognition Award.  

Multidisciplinary artist Ibe Ananaba describes getting early inspiration from his older brother, exploring different mediums and why his approach to painting is similar to carving. He also takes us on a deep dive into the thinking behind one of his paintings and a lesson he helped me learn from my first experience as a curator.