Mending Factory
50 Harbour Drive 4th Floor St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, NL, Canada

Mending Factory is on the move. Matilda Mendit is skill sharing Maskmaking during Level 2. We handstitch a three layer cotton mask with creative decoration. #socialfabric #mending #mendingfactory

If you are a young Indigenous woman or gender-diverse artist, show us your artwork for possible purchase! Show us your art on TikTok by tagging @nwac_ca, and send an email with information about your piece to [email protected]

"Racialized folks are not only background characters, we are protagonists of stories too." The recent ad campaign of Destination St. John's really hit hard, but... it is a wake-up call to DO better, not to say better. Enough is enough. [Image description: two pages of an open letter to Ms. Cathy Duke, CEO of Destination St. John's that reads April 13th, 2021 St. John’s, NL. WHITE-CASTING IS A CHOICE An open letter to Ms. Cathy Duke, CEO Destination St. John’s This is Santiago Guzmán, a local theatre and filmmaker, originally from México, now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. I am also the Artistic Director of "TODOS Productions", a theatre company that seeks to promote, produce, and support the work of under-represented artists in Newfoundland and Labrador. I recently saw the ad campaigns presented by Destination St. John’s titled Where Do Worries Go? and Come Stay With Us and I was quite taken aback. In the first ad, scene after scene, with my brown fingers crossed, I was hoping to see a racialized face on the screen. It’s coming, I’m sure it’s coming, I’d say to myself. Unfortunately, that moment never came, depriving me and fellow diverse folks to see ourselves and our communities represented onscreen. The ad completely erased me and my community, disregarding the efforts, the time, and the love we have put into this city of ours. The ad perpetuates exactly the thing that I have been fighting against: a false assumption that St. John’s is homogenous, and that is simply not true. That, in fact, perpetuates racism. The second ad was not any better. Although there were some racialized faces on screen, the tokenization of our identities and bodies was palpable. Not all racialized folks are tourists, or visitors, or students. I am an artist and I live here. I call this place home. We are professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders in our communities. We have families, we go out to enjoy local stores and restaurants too. We are here. We have different body shapes, abilities, and gender identities. I think it is ludicrous to paint a picture of what our city looks like with only a limited range of colours. We exist and we call this place home. Although you have recognized that this campaign has missed the mark, I would like to know what are some tangible actions that you and your organization will follow in your next attempt to promote our city. I would strongly encourage you to hire in creative positions folks with diverse backgrounds that will certainly make the efforts of representation a priority and not a second thought. There are a number of organizations in our city that focus on heightening cultural productions, such as TODOS Productions, The Quilted Collective, BIPOC Creators Collective, SARFest, and Tombolo Festival, just to mention a few. There is also a vast list of individual artists, writers, filmmakers, creators in our province doing the same. I would also suggest you get to know our city in depth, and learn from the work of organizations like First Light Friendship Centre, Black Lives Matter NL, Anti-Racism Coalition NL, Friends of India, Chinese Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nigerian Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, Association for New Canadians, InclusionNL, Social Justice Co-Op NL, St. John’s Pride, Quadrangle, and so many other communities and groups in St. John’s. Now, colleagues and friends doing TV and Film in Newfoundland and Labrador: white-casting is a choice. As creatives in our fields, it is in our hands to change that. There are no excuses. Racialized folks are not only background characters, we are protagonists of stories too. And if we identify gaps in departments, what are we doing to bridge them? How are we offering accessible, feasible, and sustainable initiatives to develop diverse perspectives and voices in our sector? We are watching. I am watching. We are and will be holding you accountable. Representation matters. Sinceramente, Santiago Guzmán (He/Him) Theatre and Filmmaker A Newfoundlander and Labradorian by Choice]

Sept. 6, 1934, scabs and special deputies open fire on the 300 textile workers picketing the Chiquola Mill in Honea Path, South Carolina, killing six people and... wounding dozens of others; a seventh man died the next day from his wounds. The national textile strike of 1934 saw nearly half a million textile workers from New England, the Mid Atlantic, and the South walk off the job to demand better wages and working conditions. [Photograph: Spinning room worker Lois McClain outside her home after having been shot in the left hand.] See more

#pandemicpoems #61 W for Wrong-Sided #what I am doing with my time

As for mending, I think its good to take the time to fix something rather than throw it away. Its an antidote to wastefulness and to the need for immediate gra...tification. You get to see a whole process through, beginning to end, nothing abstract about it. You'll always notice the fabric scar, of course, but there's an art to mending. If you're careful, the repair can actually add to the beauty of the think because it is a testimony to its worth. Elizabeth Berg Henri de Braekeleer - The Seamstress.