The Artist Collective
The Artist Collective is a group of artists who serve as community animators to listen in diverse African, Caribbean, Black communities in Alberta and translate that information into art.
We believe in the power of arts to heal, raise voices, and advocate for justice and health equity.
The PhotoVoice Project
The Ribbon Rouge Foundation’s Photovoice Project [about lived experiences of African, Caribbean, Black Women living with HIV and AIDS in Alberta Strategies, Strengths, Barriers, and Facilitators] focused on gathering stories in Edmonton between September 2019 and April 2020.
- Understand experiences of women accessing various health, social and other support services while living with HIV
- Understand how these experiences have affected overall health and wellbeing.
- Contribute to positive and impactful systems level change for women living with HIV in Alberta by sharing Digital Stories that highlight “Wise Practices” or suggest interventions based on these stories.
Stay tuned for The Photovoice Project II: Coming Soon.
Black History Creation Project - Black History Art Archive/ Digital curriculum
The Ribbon Rouge Foundation Art Creation project on Black History is designed to engage pre- (health & social) service providers and staff in learning sessions designed to develop their awareness of radical inclusion through storytelling, conversations, and the arts.
The focus of the creation project aligns with Black History month and will contribute to a living archive of lived experiences of the African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) communities within Colleges and Universities.
Listening sessions run in various classrooms and learning labs throughout February, students and artists co-create art pieces through a sense-making process to retell the what they learned in dialogue. The process ends in a week-long art exhibition that coincides with the international day for the elimination of racism in March.
Strengths, Barriers, and Facilitators] focused on gathering stories in Edmonton between September 2019 and April 2020.
ArtSpace
Ribbon Rouge Foundation ArtSpaces are events designed for meaningful interactions and community conversations with those who are often more marginalized in Alberta and these events intentionally include those who are African, Caribbean, Black identified and also identify with any of the following:
- people living with addictions
- people with mental health illnesses
- people with history of incarceration
- people living with HIV
- Sex trade workers
- single mothers
- youth
- gender or sexual minorities
- community connectors.
The purpose of these ArtSpaces is to foster meaningful critically diverse representation, to bridge across differences, to enable participation and engagement, and to shift issues that drive racial inequity in Alberta.
KinFest
Annual Kin Festival: Community conversations and artistic creations from ArtSpaces and Black History month as well as community developed throughout the year participate in an annual Festival at year end. In the past this event was called Arts 4 Action. The event is a 2 day event featuring
Day 1 – Interdisciplinary interactive music, dance and fine art performances retelling narratives of community conversations and our collective understanding of the sense we made of these conversations in an exhibition.
Day 2 – A staged play based on various community conversations throughout the year.