Muslim Canadian Theatre Company Silk Road Institute To Host A Two-Day Forum

Silk Road Institute is hosting a two-day forum, Newcomer Experiences: A Canadian Perspective, March 26th - 27th 2021, to delve deeper into the layered challenges faced by newcomer communities in Canada, featuring a keynote address by Yasir Naqvi, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and Former Attorney General of Ontario, and a musical performance by emerging artists.

This series of online conversations will delve into the layered challenges faced by newcomer communities, as well as the victories made in the past few years with respect to newcomer settlement programs and services. Speakers working across different sectors will speak to their current work and the work that still needs to be done to increase awareness around the barriers and issues affecting the full participation of newcomers in Canadian society.

The forum is part of the Silk Road Institute's series of online programming in response to the current pandemic. In Fall 2020 the Silk Road Institute launched Silk Road Academy, a series of online classes delivered by leading artists, to an audience of emerging artists. The Newcomer Experiences: A Canadian Perspective online forum in March 2021 will be followed by an online public table reading in June 2021 of The Frontliners, a play in development written by Vancouver-based playwright Zahida Rahemtulla. The reading will be happening this June as part of Upintheair Theatre's rEvolver Festival, in presenting partnership with the Silk Road Institute and Playwrights Theatre Centre." The Frontliners is a play about the immigrant frontline workers who form the backbone of Vancouver's refugee settlement sector.

The Silk Road Institute aims to create and promote captivating and professional artistic and cultural programming that fosters cross-cultural dialogue and strengthens Muslim representation, visibility, and contributions within the Canadian cultural mosaic. The Silk Road Institute's vision is a visible and representative Canadian Muslim artistic and cultural presence that promotes understanding of rich and diverse perspectives. In 2018, the Silk Road Institute launched Canada's first professional Muslim theatre company with its inaugural production The Domestic Crusaders, followed in 2019 with its production of SPUN, making its Canadian debut at Montreal's Centaur Theatre before travelling to Toronto's Meridian Arts Centre.

The Silk Road Institute would like to thank the funding bodies Heritage Canada, the Inspirit Foundation, as well as our generous donors who have made the Newcomer Experiences: A Canadian Perspective Forum possible.

EVENTBRITE LINK

To post a comment, you must register and login.