Artists reflect on a pandemic year
Virtual time capsule provides a snapshot of a moment in time
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit much of the world in mid-March, artists were deeply impacted.
“Every single artist I know lost all their contracts and every promise or possibility of being paid,” said Debi Wong, the artistic director of Re: Naissance, a multidisciplinary theatre company.
The mezzo-soprano said performance artists were left with no income, no work, no extended health care benefits, and no access to unemployment benefits. The impact was profound.
“They were realizing they had spent their time and money and lives, were working at the top of their game, and had no career options,” said Wong.
Singers weren't singing, dancers weren't dancing. “They were seen as anything but essential workers.”
But Wong, whose indie opera company Re: Naissance was already working in alternative mediums such as virtual reality, saw opportunity.
“It was a scary time, but we were already producing a virtual reality opera, and we were able to push forward. Instead of being the scrappy, nerdy innovative kids in the corner, we were front and centre.”
Wong shelved a planned in-person festival, and partnered with a number of artists to create Indie Fest: Virtual Time Capsule, including Métis dramaturge Jessica Schacht, who commissioned artists to reflect on the impacts of their pandemic experience.
One of those contributors is Waubgeshig Rice of the Wasauksing First Nation, author of the bestselling Moon of the Crusted Snow.
After reflecting on the impacts of 2020, Rice decided to create an audio experience in his family's Indigenous language, Anishinaabemowin. In an interview from his home in Sudbury, Ont., Rice said the year has been one in which he has reflected on his traditional language and the work that needs to happen to preserve it.
“During the pandemic, it's been a time for artists especially to reassess their practices and priorities and where they should put their creative work,” said Rice.
As an author, he has had a good year.
“I was fortunate. I had some good opportunities and I was able to change my career focus from full-time journalism to full-time creative work. But from an Anishnaabe perspective, we have been bracing for the worst, in terms of how the pandemic could impact our communities and our elders. There is a lot at stake if our elders get sick and die and we lose that wisdom and that language.”
Rice, the father of a six-monthold and a four-year-old, said creating an oral, spoken-word experience in Anishinaabemowin was “a chance to talk to my kids in the future.”
Rice said, “I want people to hear my voice rather than read my writing — my writing can be dug up anytime, anywhere, but there is a cadence and emotion in the spoken voice that really transcends anything that is written.”
He was also intrigued by the idea of a virtual time capsule.
“A time capsule has always been a really neat way to provide a snapshot of a moment in time, from the cheesy to the profound. A digital time capsule really reflects our priorities right now because so much of what we do is online.”
Rice said he sees this year of the pandemic as an opportunity to reassess our relationship to the world.
“The world we knew is over. We are going to return to a different world, hopefully with new priorities and better ways of living with each other. There will be lessons to draw from for many years to come.”
The virtual time capsule is built in a program called alt space VR. Visitors can create an avatar, and enter rooms, meet other people, have a social experience, and get up close to the work of 18 different artists and performers.
“We wanted to bring people up close to these artists, so they can see they are giants, they are essential,” said Wong.
The time capsule goes live online on Dec. 21, and can be experienced using a virtual reality headset, and can also be accessed via computer.