Powell Street Festival Society announces an online program, The Paueru Gai Dialogues. In a series of 9 online events, BIPOC artists and activists will share their perspectives on current social issues. The project intends to inspire civic engagement and community building during the disruption of the enduring pandemic.

Executive director Emiko Morita says, “The Black Lives Matter protests and the widening gap between the privileged and marginalized populations have been amplified by the global health crisis. We cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to respond to these needs; this is the opportunity to create safe spaces where we can challenge ourselves to listen to difference and to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, and to find ways to use any privilege that we might have for positive change.” Morita continues, “It is exciting to consider that we might take this moment to move beyond our Internment/model minority narrative, and to explore questions of accountability as settler-colonizers as we continue to grapple with our own history of displacement.”

Regarding the format of the event, Morita says, “We know ‘Zoom fatigue’ is a thing and we don’t want to waste people’s time. The Paueru Gai Dialogues is a free event but it does include an expectation of the audience/participants.”

After the panelists give 7–10-minute presentations that share their perspective on the dialogue topic, the participants will go into breakout groups. Participants will be asked to share their own experience or perspective on the given topic and to listen to the others in their group. Of course, the participant to choose to pass and the group facilitator will ensure the space promotes safety and inclusion for everyone. To wrap up the event, participants will reconvene to offer generative questions for further contemplation.

The Bulletin will be featuring a regular column reflecting on the Paueru Gai Dialogues throughout 2021. 

We are grateful to Hapa Collaborative, SFU’s David Lam Centre, The Bulletin (JCCA), ElementIQ, The Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council and City of Vancouver for financial and in-kind support.