About Kiyanaan
What KIYANAAN notices about our community:
Holay! so much talent here!
What KIYANAAN would like to help make happen:
Work being created by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit artists getting onto a stage with production support to help the life of the piece extend to national, international stages.
More opportunity to work locally in professional productions by Indigenous creators.
Meaningful and accessible training and mentorship opportunities to create and nurture Indigenous artistic team, technicians, craftspeople and crew on a professional stage for career growth.
The FESTIVAL Model
The festival model follows the Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel because theatre is storytelling and stories are medicine. It also follows the life stages and offers something for everyone.
The 2025 festival will present one play for each quadrant of the wheel: an Elder Play which teaches us where we come from, a Play for Children that celebrates the generations to come, a Youth Play to teach us where we are going, and finally a Contemporary Adult Play to teach us where we are now.
Vision
To celebrate the legacy of Indigenous theatre, and contemporary work with focus on Indigenous people in Manitoba, but not limited to this area recognizing connections between nations who contribute to the web of theatre and performing arts on Turtle Island, and also recognizing the enormous talent existing in our location that we are well positioned to hold up.
This vision holds Indigenous theatre (in any way that it is defined by the Indigenous person creating) of the past, of the recent past, the present, the near future and ahead 7 generations. It holds the conversation between all of these generations which carries great importance for the memory and continuation of live theatre by our people.
Responsibilities of this vision:
This vision holds values which are rooted in the 7 Grandfather teachings of love, respect, wisdom, courage, humility, honesty, and truth. Kiyanaan is a people first festival and uses wise practices for wayfinding in all areas of the festival including management, production, creative, audience etc.
This vision holds consultation and ongoing communication as important and necessary at any and all stages in order to be supportive of the people involved and promote an open and safe environment for all to work. Communication protocols will be outlined.
This vision holds fluidity of process, change, adaptability and growth.
This vision holds the environment as sacred and Festival practices will take into account the impact on our land.
This vision holds a trauma informed approach to working in theatre.
Kiyanaan recognizes that colonialism has infiltrated and constructed the arena of “Canadian theatre “ that many of us work in today. We recognize that decolonizing the performing arts is a large and complex task. Our vision and actions will reflect how we are learning and listening to the need for a decolonized structure to play in.
