Language Inclusivity in the Arts
The Polyglot founder Adriana Oniță was invited by Labour in the Arts to discuss "language inclusivity in the arts" with other thought leaders in this area:
Justine Abigail, an arts facilitator, educator, and founder of Living Hyphen, a literary community and multimedia platform that celebrates the diverse stories of hyphenated Canadians
Jason Li, an independent designer, artist, and educator who is the co-author of the Hanmoji Handbook, an editor at Paradise Systems, and a member of ZINE COOP
Hanna Donato, a freelance script supervisor, creative consultant, associate producer at Carlos Bulosan Theatre, and filmmaker who has worked on a number of short films, television shows, and theatre plays
Together, we discussed the challenges and barriers we have each faced when it comes to promoting creative work in languages other than the colonial/colonizing languages of English and French in “Canada,” and the opportunities that we see in creating a more inclusive and accessible arts sector that considers multiple languages.
This topic is especially important as The Polyglot—even today—faced cultural and linguistic ignorance from a well-known editor and reviewer in Canada. There are many literary gatekeepers and cultural spaces that devalue so-called "foreign languages" and prioritize written English. We need to reimagine and rebuild systems that are more inclusive and reflective of our communities.
We have many "calls to action" for writers, readers, editors, reviewers, translators, and publishers.
For now, we invite all to share with us on our social media platforms: Are there any organizations that you admire that are embracing diversity in language in how they conduct their work? Are there any individual artists whose practice you admire?
About Labour in the Arts: "We are an artsworker collective that attempts to observe and demystify the Canadian arts industry through experimentation and with creative projects. We want to empower our community by creating pathways to knowledge, so that anyone can critically navigate the industry — and challenge the conditioned notion that institutionalized education is a prerequisite to succeed in the arts."