A country’s culture is its body and soul, reflecting the way its inhabitants act and think. In its broadest sense, its culture includes a community’s knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, customs, traditions, and distinctive institutions. A country may be composed of various distinct communities, each with its own exclusive cultural characteristics. An individual’s cultural identity and sense of belonging are clearly in many respects a function of familiarity with the cultural characteristics of his or her own community and the surrounding communities.
– Role of the State: The arts and Canada’s Cultural Policy
Imagine North by Crystal Kolt
I started a new job recently. A few months back The City of Flin Flon invited me to be the Director of Culture and Community Initiatives. You’ve never heard of that municipal department before? It’s new. Flin Flon is always ready to pave a new path forward and I am always up for an adventure. I gleefully accepted the position. I have loved working as the Cultural Coordinator for the Flin Flon Arts Council these past 15 years and will continue to be involved hopefully far into the future, but I am intrigued by this new journey.
Sure enough, we have members of the community perplexed by the position. HUDBAY is leaving or has left. “Isn’t this the beginning of the end?”
“Au contraire.” I feel that Flin Flon has been launched into a renaissance and to the surprise of some (but not the arts community), the arts are thriving and are poised to support local and regional economic development.
A haute cuisine restaurant by the name of Aurora and Pine (https://www.aurorapinebistro.ca/) opened only a few months ago. Flin Flon’s Blueberry Jam Music Gathering is gearing up for a fantastic and expanded festival. The Flin Flon Community Choir production of Disney’s Broadway Musical, Mary Poppins, was the largest musical produced in Northern Manitoba … ever… grossing over $100,000 last month with pretty close to sold-out audiences. Culture Days Flin Flon, which still brags about beating Toronto a few years back for the sheer number of events offered, is already planning for a great celebration including a visit by the fabulous Tomson Highway.
‘What about the potholes?” you ask. “We shouldn’t spend tax dollars on culture! Fix the potholes!”.
I’m paraphrasing, and I understand the concern. Rest assured that the potholes will be fixed, and so they should, because we want our city roads to be community and visitor ready for a busy year.
But I am certain that municipal funding for road repair will not be used for cultural activities. The Flin Flon Arts Council is alive and well, thanks to the Manitoba Arts Council and Canadian Heritage operating funding, and it will continue to do what it has always done by producing a constant hum of activity, not to mention all that will be coming from the ever vibrant NorVA Centre, The Flin Flon Community Choir (which is performing in Carnegie Hall in the fall), the Pine Root Mural Festival, The Uptown Emporium, The Wild Things Market, The Central Canada Film Group, The Flin Flon Pottery Club, Ham Sandwich Theatre, The Flin Flon Aboriginal Friendship Centre . . . and the list goes on.
As promised during our first Northern Art Conference in Flin Flon this past March, sponsored by the University College of the North, I am diving into the world of cultural policy with relish. The City of Flin Flon has joined the Creative Cities Network of Canada becoming the first Manitoban municipality to join the national organization and I hope to meet mentors, peers and colleagues across the country and glean wisdom and knowledge from east to west and north and south.
I am also excited to share the talent, desires, successes, challenges, and ambitions that I see all throughout Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We have a lot to offer.
As an aside, if you have never visited the north, consider a trip. Calm Air is generously partnering with the Flin Flon Arts Council (www.flinflonartscouncil.ca) to offer a 65 per cent discount on flights for Blueberry Jam, a free music festival (https://flinflonblueberryjam.ca/) from August 11 - 13, and Culture Days Flin Flon (hint: Tomson Highway is performing on October 13) (https://culturedays.ca/en/mb) A few years from now you will be able to tell your family, friends and grandkids, “I remember when…”
There is a lot to love about Manitoba. But few things are more important to us than our culture. Our province enjoys a rich, diverse history, and our population is a fascinating blend of people from Indigenous, Francophone, pioneer, and newer immigrant backgrounds. Our cultural beliefs, traditions, values and resources are at the heart of our vibrant province, and they are a key to our well-being, prosperity and quality of life.
– Minister Cox: Manitoba’s Culture Policy and Action Plan
