May 1st st Featuring Choirs for Change, Graphic History Collective, to June 1 DaPoPo Theatre, Mi'kma'ki 2030 Collective, Beehive Design Collective & more! RadStorm, Glitter Bean Café Co-op, mayworkshalifax.ca The Bus Stop Theatre Co-op & more! Educate | Agitate | Organize—Celebrate! workers’ rights | social justice | labour | artists Celebrating OUR TIMES MAGAZINE SALUTES the labour Building MAYWORKS HALIFAX movement's a culture of rich heritage solidarity! Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary! and legacy of Canada’s independent labour magazine loves Mayworks Halifax sheds light on the Halifax Mayworks Festival of Working People struggle for Nova Scotia's diversity of talents, and the Arts and the cultural work you do. cultures and identities. We strive a just society! to bring diverse communities and generations together by presenting May 1st is marked throughout the works of emerging youth, amateurs, world as International Workers’ Day, and established professionals every or May Day. A day when the workers year. of the world take to the streets in every major city around the globe Inequality and injustice take on ourtimes.ca @OurTimesMag ourtimesmagazine [email protected] demanding justice, fairness and many forms. Mayworks Halifax dignity for all. programs works of art that address broad themes of social In this spirit, the Mayworks Halifax and environmental justice, finding Festival annually celebrates the common ground and fostering a history and struggle of the working culture of solidarity. people of Nova Scotia through a series of artistic events including music, theatre, dance, film, visual ANDY art and more. MemberFILLMORE of Parliament Halifax @andyfillmorehfx [email protected] // 902.426.8691 // www.andyfillmore.mp ii 1 Mayworks Halifax Festival MAY 1st-June 1st, 2019 Dear fellow workers, friends, and comrades: Over a century ago, labour union leader Rose Schneiderman spoke of how “the worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.” These words resonated strongly in the context of a 1912 textile strike in the US and the lives of the workers leading it – mostly women, mostly 10 years and growing! immigrants. Bread and Roses became one of the labour movement’s most It’s hard to believe Mayworks Halifax is turning beloved hymns, and through the music and poetry we can get a sense of 10 years old! What started as a modest single what a better world might feel like. event hosted by the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council in 2009 has now Then, and now, workers deserve not just the basics to enable survival, but become the NS labour movement’s largest also those things in the aesthetic realm that help us make sense of the cultural project and the Atlantic region’s struggle for a better world. largest social justice themed arts festival. Much praise is owed to Margaret Anne McHugh, who co-founded the festival and Ten years ago, union activists with the Halifax-Dartmouth & District stewarded its growth for its first four years, and also to the many volunteers, Labour Council took inspiration from Mayworks festivals elsewhere in artists and audience members who have participated and supported us over Canada and established this festival here in Halifax. It has grown from an the last decade. entirely-volunteer run project of our council into an organization in its own right, with representatives from the labour movement and from Halifax’s Our own anniversary coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg incredible arts community. General Strike on May 15th. An event which left a profound impact on how work and working conditions have since been perceived and legislated in With a decade of wonderful programming and accomplishments, it might Canada. 2019 also marks the 100th anniversary of the Amherst General to be too easy to conclude that launching this festival was a winning idea. In Strike - about which you can find out more in our 3rd series of Social Justice Nova Scotia we have both a proud artistic tradition and rich history of labour Trading Cards on sale throughout the festival. struggle, how could it go wrong? We celebrate these past events, shed light on contemporary struggles and Of course, those who put in countless hours of coordinating and volunteering reflect on the future through a myriad of events presented throughout the over the years know better: in either workers’ struggles or in organizing an month of May. And we do this in Mi’kma’ki - the unsurrendered, unceded arts festival, success is never inevitable, and is only possible when we work hard together. Through the great efforts of our volunteers, staff, board territory of the Mi’kmaq people. members, participating artists, and through the support of community, labour movement partners, and our wonderful audiences, we have created Solidarity, something beautiful. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everybody Sébastien Labelle who has helped out along the way. Festival Director In solidarity, Suzanne MacNeil, President Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council 2 3 Mayworks Halifax Festival MAY 1st-June 1st, 2019 On behalf of the 70,000 C Halifax Convention Centre VENUES 1650 Argyle St members of the Nova Scotia A All Nations Church Hall H Halifax North 2535 Robie St Federation of Labour, Memorial Library we offer congratulations to the Mayworks B Bus Stop Theatre 2285 Gottingen St Halifax Festival on ten years of bringing workers 2203 Gottingen St M Museum of Natural and artists together in a long tradition of D George Dixon Centre building bonds of solidarity between artists and History (Carbon Arc Cinema) labour organizations. Greenspace 1747 Summer St 2502 Brunswick St R RadStorm We have been a proud supporter since the 2009, when the Halifax- G Glitter Bean Café 2177 Gottingen St Dartmouth & District Labour Council put together the first festival, and now 5896 Spring Garden Rd S has become Nova Scotia’s largest social justice themed cultural event. St-Andrew’s United Church In the last ten years, so many volunteers have dedicated themselves to this 6036 Coburg Rd wonderful event, bringing attention to International Workers’ Day today, May ACCESSIBILITY 1, in solidarity with millions of workers around the world, recognizing the historic struggles of workers who have gone before us and their hard-fought All venues are wheelchair accessible, and all gains we benefit from today. except RadStorm and the George Dixon Centre Greenspace feature an accessible non-gendered As workers, we assert our right to resist and to access a strong public sector, washroom. RadStorm has a large washroom available, but it decent work and democracy in our workplaces and in our communities. is not furnished with support bars. The George Dixon Centre The struggle for workers is the struggle for women’s rights, migrant rights, minority rights, the environment, a fair economy, and social and economic Greenspace is an outdoor location. The nearest accessible justice, and it knows no borders. washroom to it is located at the Halifax North Memorial Library (2285 Gottingen St). The Mayworks Halifax Festival is a shining example of how we can keep workers’ issues at the forefront and enjoy the amazing talents of local artists in the name of the International Workers’ Day and that a re-affirmation that Sign language interpreters will be available through our collective strength we can resist and fight back – and win. at the following events: Let’s reaffirm our commitment to continue building a better future for • May 1, 6:30pm Opening Reception • R workers and their families in Canada and around the world! • May 15, 7:30pm Graphic History Collective: G In solidarity, Drawn to Strike • Danny Cavanagh, President of the NS Federation of Labour • May 21, 7:30pm Remembering the Winnipeg General • B • May 22, 7:00pm Black Feminism: Sistas of the Struggle • B • May 24, 8:00pm Mi’kma’ki 2030: Hope and Fire • B • May 28, 7:30pm MesoAmérica Resiste! • B • May 30, 7:30pm A Timed Speed Read of the Shirtwaist Factory Fire... • B 4 5 Mayworks Halifax Festival MAY 1st-June 1st, 2019 Festival Opening Reception May 1st, 6:30pm to 7:30pm | RadStorm | FREE BREAD & ROSES! Treat yourself to some FREE bread from LF Bakery and Raspberry & Rose Songs of Resilience: Bringing ice cream and sorbet from Dee Dee’s Ice Cream. Yum!! Voice to Protest Music Our opening reception will feature a medley of short presentations giving a glimpse of what’s to come in our 2019 festival. May 4th, 7:00pm to 8:30pm | St-Andrew’s United Church | $15 May 9th, 8:00pm to 9:30pm | Halifax Convention Centre Luyos MC $15 / FREE for NSGEU Delegates You’ll also be treated to the precolonial Kulintang sounds of artist and musician Celebrating song as a tool for social change movements with Polaris Choir. Luyos MC. Based in Southern Ontario, Featuring chants, protest songs, contemporary choral works, and a choir- Luyos MC explores the traditional created arrangement, listeners will be transported throughout the past Indigenous music of the Maharlikan hundred years and invited to reflect on social movements that have impacted lands (which now includes colonized the Nova Scotia region. Philippines) to revitalize the appreciation of these disappearing sounds. Polaris is Choirs for Change’s high-intensity adult community choir led by Jack Bennet, Sanford Hare, and Emma Norton. A special second performance of this event will take part during the NSGEU Sign language interpreters will be present during our opening Convention at the Halifax Convention Centre. The performance will be free reception. for attending NSGEU delegates and open to the general public through the purchase of $15 tickets. Presented by With support from 6 7 Mayworks Halifax Festival MAY 1st-June 1st, 2019 Biographies Sam Decoste is an independent animator, curator, and educator who believes in the power of stories.