Uploaded May 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
“I feel very excited by our choices as they offer a real spectrum of compositional styles.” - Alexander Shelley, Music Director, NAC Orchestra
The Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre are proud to announce the first two composers to take part in Carrefour: Ian Cusson and Remy Siu. Follow their progress online with #Carrefour2017
Learn more about the first two composers to take part in Carrefour: canadacouncil.ca/spotlight/2017/05/carrefour
Learn more about the Carrefour composers residency: canadacouncil.ca/initiatives/carrefour
“I feel very excited by our choices as they offer a real spectrum of compositional styles.” - Alexander Shelley, Music Director, NAC Orchestra
The Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre are proud to announce the first two composers to take part in Carrefour: Ian Cusson and Remy Siu. Follow their progress online with #Carrefour2017
Learn more about the first two composers to take part in Carrefour: canadacouncil.ca/spotlight/2017/05/carrefour
Learn more about the Carrefour composers residency: canadacouncil.ca/initiatives/carrefour




![Portrait of Ali Kazimi, 2019 #GGARTS winner
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Ali Kazimi is a 2019 winner of the Governor Generals Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Terry ONeill and Tara Cooper.
Production of the Canada Council for the Arts. Presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arms-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.
For more information, visit: https://ggavma.canadacouncil.ca
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Transcript:
Through my practice and looking for archival material, I got more and more excited by film, the medium. That tactility of actually holding the medium in your hand is such an important part of filmmaking.
When I asked archivists, I put out this plea: Has anyone seen moving images of the Komagata Maru? I got responses saying people had looked for this material and it simply didn’t exist. There were several points like that, but I thought I could never make Continuous Journey.
I finally got this tape and suddenly the Komagata Maru appears. I was in shock. My entire body was in complete shock. I called out to my wife. She came, she held me and I cried more. And I cried because I couldn’t understand why I was the first person to see this. And it was at that point, it became clear to me that there was no going back. I just had to finish the film. Yes, we took out a second mortgage on the house and that’s how the film was finished.
When I arrived in Canada, I came as a foreign student. One of the most striking moments for me when I arrived was right at Pearson airport. We had to show our passports and our student visas. And there the immigration officer questioned the veracity of our student visas. He made this big magnanimous gesture and looked me straight in the eye and he said, “The only reason I’m letting you into my country is because you speak such good English.” And then he added, “And you’ll remember me for that.” And I do! [laughing] I do, because I think what he did at that moment was started by experience of living grace rather than grace being a concept.
I also don’t shy away from naming uncomfortable truths. So I became the face of diversity. But diversity is only accepted when it’s palatable. And I was presenting something that was unpalatable. And I paid a price for it. I’ve heard the terms “you will never work in this town again,” “you will never be funded again,” “you’re committing career suicide.”
I feel everyone has a story to tell. And all stories matter. And through the small stories, we get to know the world. And then I look at the people whose lives I’ve documented and any apprehension and anxiety I have dissolves. Because they are my touchstones. Portrait of Ali Kazimi, 2019 #GGARTS winner](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eKoqJVm30dQ/mqdefault.jpg)

![Portrait of Michael Fermandes, #GGARTS2020 winner
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Michael Fernandes is a 2020 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Scott Miller Berry.
Production of the Canada Council for the Arts. Presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit ggarts.ca
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Transcript:
– [Michael] Hello. My name is Michael Fernandes.
You won’t believe this but last night I went to bed thinking of these socks.
I thought, ‘Today, before my guests arrive, I will remove this line.’
Try to get these off and they were stuck. They’re frozen on here.
And I said, ‘Well, pretty sure these socks [are] going to come in handy someday.’
I’m not so much a maker. I’m more interested when it’s not art and how that can expand on the conversation of art.
I don’t like the word practice. I don’t like rehearsal . . .. as a studio practice, which some people tend to
have, it’s not for me.
The studio is everywhere, it’s right here.
I’ve been living here for 30 years now, [it’s] paradise to me, it’s everything for me.
There’s something here that is rudimentary. Being closer to the elements, it’s more freeing.
I don’t feel self-conscious here.
I’m not known here and that’s fine. I’m not known anywhere. I like that, anonymity.
I seem to be tending everything, whether it’s something I’m making or something I’m finding.
I’m also part time working as a teacher.
I was one of the founding members of Eye Level Gallery, that’s where I cut my teeth.
I couldn’t have been standing here without it.
But these are only parts.
I’m part of this group. I’ve been part of this group for over 30 years.
It’s a band called The Babbies Upstairs. And it’s improvised music.
I’m not a musician by any means but I love it.
Openness and spontaneity and a sense of curiosity.
As an artist, I think it’s not separate, which is important.
It’s an attitude for me that I bring to anything.
Are you still enjoying this? We all are. I look forward to it every day, every time.
And it’s always like, what is this going to be? I have no idea, but I’m going. I’m going for it. That’s it!
I think I’m a model for me, in a way that is unfolding.
Sonny Rollins, in a recent interview, I heard him say when he was asked, ‘Sonny, you’re in your eighties now, are you getting closer to your sound?’
‘I never thought that,’ he said. ‘I feel I would end, if there’s such a thing. Nothing comes to a stop.’
It’s freeing to understand that.
Thank you so much.
Have a safe drive home, people. Cheers!
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Website - https://en.ccunesco.ca/ Portrait of Michael Fermandes, #GGARTS2020 winner](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eYsa5wRuhF4/mqdefault.jpg)



