Photos by Dahlia Katz

In My Mother Tongue | Poetry + Portraits

Over 10 weeks...

newcomer youth from four different language communities – Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog – collaborated with special guest artists and poet mentors to draw upon personal narratives and experiences, to express themselves through written and spoken poetry, in English and in their mother tongue.

"Who am I?"

while drawing attention to the cultural significance of their mother tongue, this collaborative project aimed to inspire participating youth to share their own stories, while building confidence in their writing abilities – emphasizing that everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard.

HERE, their creative process and poetry is shared as a series of short video portraits.

< DIGITAL PROJECTS

May 2018
Koffler.Digital

Poets & Artists:
Trevor Abes, Maya Aldroubi, Jayce Carl Brendan Arib, Asma Bounekhla, Renei Sherene Cabotage, Marjorie Chan, Ayesha Chatterjee, Rachel Evangeline Chiong, Tianyu He, Maria Paula Lamprea Rodriguez, Tsewang Lhadon, Shaista Latif, Christian Laxa, Merry Kate Laxa, Florencia Liu, Jamal Mansour, Narjes Nouman, Susie Petersiel Berg, Luisito Queano, Ana Rodriguez Machado, Carlos Saldana, Marina Sokolov, Andrea Vela Alarcón, Crystal Villena, Kevin Matthew Wong, Luiz Woo, Fan Wu, Bänoo Zan, Yiwen Zhang.

Over 10 weeks...

newcomer youth from four different language communities – Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog – collaborated with special guest artists and poet mentors to draw upon personal narratives and experiences, to express themselves through written and spoken poetry, in English and in their mother tongue.

Addressing questions such as:

"Who am I?"

while drawing attention to the cultural significance of their mother tongue, this collaborative project aimed to inspire participating youth to share their own stories, while building confidence in their writing abilities – emphasizing that everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard.

HERE, their creative process and poetry is shared as a series of short video portraits.

Home | In My Mother Tongue

HOME | IN MY MOTHER TONGUE

Expectations | In My Mother Tongue

EXPECTATIONS | IN MY MOTHER TONGUE

Connections | In My Mother Tongue

CONNECTIONS | IN MY MOTHER TONGUE

Acknowledgements

In My Mother Tongue is a project produced by Koffler Centre of the Arts, generously supported by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Arts Council, and community partner, CultureLink.

Participating poets and artists:
Trevor Abes, Maya Aldroubi, Jayce Carl Brendan Arib, Asma Bounekhla, Renei Sherene Cabotage, Marjorie Chan, Ayesha Chatterjee, Rachel Evangeline Chiong, Tianyu He, Maria Paula Lamprea Rodriguez, Tsewang Lhadon, Shaista Latif, Christian Laxa, Merry Kate Laxa, Florencia Liu, Jamal Mansour, Narjes Nouman, Susie Petersiel Berg, Luisito Queano, Ana Rodriguez Machado, Carlos Saldana, Marina Sokolov, Andrea Vela Alarcón, Crystal Villena, Kevin Matthew Wong, Luiz Woo, Fan Wu, Bänoo Zan, Yiwen Zhang.

Photos by Dahlia Katz