Channel: CBC Arts

Category: People & Blogs

Tags: artmusiccanadacbcculturecanadian artcbc arts

Description: 'Arrival' is Edmonton poet Titilope Sonuga’s celebration of more than two centuries of Black communities journeying from all over the world to build a life on the Prairies and is a collaboration between CBC Arts and CBC's Black on the Prairies. See the full project at: cbc.ca/blackontheprairies ------ Introduction by Lucius Dechausay: In 1998, when a young Titilope Sonuga arrived in Edmonton with her Nigerian family, the weather felt like “the coldest day of my life,” she recalls. My own family — who immigrated from Dominica to Ontario in the 1970s — can attest to the fact that the climate in Canada can be harsh for those with African and Caribbean roots, even outside of the winter months. Twenty-three years after her family first touched down, we commissioned Sonuga — now a celebrated artist, award-winning author, mother of two beautiful children and poet laureate of Edmonton — to reflect on that first experience. Arrival was born. 'Arrival' is Sonuga’s poetic celebration of more than two centuries of Black communities journeying from all over the world to build a life on the Prairies. It is a celebration of the gifts, talents, history and legacy that immigrants bravely carry with them like luggage as they forge a new path in an unfamiliar and at times hostile environment. This touching video — produced remotely by me, filmed along the Saskatchewan river by filmmakers Asim Overstands and Vince Raquel, with musical accompaniment by Enoch Attey and featuring Sonuga’s own multi-generational family — is dedicated to all of us who have left something behind to build a new life and home in a foreign place. ------ »Subscribe to CBC Arts to watch more videos: bit.ly/CBCArtsSubscribe Find us at: cbc.ca/arts CBC Arts on Facebook: facebook.com/cbcarts CBC Arts on Twitter: twitter.com/cbcarts CBC Arts on Instagram: instagram.com/cbcarts About: Welcome to CBC Arts, your home for the most surprising, relevant and provocative stories featuring artists from diverse communities across Canada. Our job is to fill your feed with the disruptors and innovators changing how we see the country through movement, images and sound — and to inspire you to join in too.