Open Door 2.0 - Transformational Change for Arts Administrators

Open Door 2.0 - Transformational Change for Arts Administrators

The second edition of Open Door is a three part series, with the first session taking place on Tuesday December 12th, 1pm - 2:30pm ET. 

Transformational Change for Arts Administrators will begin with a 45 minute guided Q&A session with guest Dr. Taiwo Afolabi. After the Q&A section, our guest speaker will leave the meeting, and a dedicated 45 minute Peer to Peer Session starts, where the attendees can discuss their shared issues and concerns in confidence, and benefit from each other’s experiences.

Taiwo Afolabi is a theatre-maker, scholar, theatre manager, and entrepreneur. His interest is in amplifying voices and experiences; and re-centering governance models, strategies and systems on the margin through the lens of decolonisation, equity and anti-oppressive approaches. His experience in over a dozen countries across four continents in a variety of contexts focused on socially engaged and community-based creative practice for transformational change. Through storytelling and devised theatre, he works with communities on social issues pertinent to them and his research continues to advance broad-minded thinking within the art and culture sector. He is the Canada Research Chair in Socially Engaged Theatre and serves as the Director of the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET) at the University of Regina. He is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and the founding director of Theatre Emissary International (TEMi) in Nigeria and Canada. He is a Royal Society of Canada College Member.

About Open Door:

These virtual meetings will provide a safe and encouraging space for skill development exchange, networking, and expanding social capital. In alignment with our Open Door Community Agreement and value of inclusion, while Open Door centers IBPOC administrators, other self-identifying equity-seeking administrators are encouraged to attend.

Created by a collective of arts leaders from across Canada, Open Door is an opportunity for aspiring, emerging, and established IBPOC administrators to come together to share ideas, concerns, challenges, support, and solidarity. Participation is free and open to all interested and aspiring IBPOC administrators. 

After the first Open Door series came to an end, the team collected feedback regarding the sessions, and has restructured the sessions for Open Door 2.0. This three-part series will feature guided Q&As with guests, followed by a Peer to Peer session. 

Open Door was created by a working partnership of experienced IBPOC arts leaders and organizations from across Canada, with the support of Belfry Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Obsidian Theatre Company, Urban Ink, Green Thumb Theatre, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), Pacific Theatre, Persephone Theatre, The Theatre Centre, and Nightwood Theatre. Open Door is a pilot initiative that launched February 2022, and will inform the framework for a collaborative learning exchange initiative, Rising Tides. 

There will be an active listener in attendance in each session, to provide support and care as needed, and help bring our session to a close on a constructive note.

Please register for this session by Sunday December 10th, 6pm ET. If you have not received a zoom link by 30 minutes prior to the start of the session, contact zacharym@pact.ca. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Program Associate Panthea Vatandoost at pantheav@pact.ca.