Letter from the Executive Director, November 2022

Get ready for party season!

That is my focus during Dreary November (the month that feels like one long post-Halloween sugar hangover). We have you covered if you are looking for interesting things to do.

We are excited to welcome our community to the new Community Digital Arts Hub at 460 Ste Catherine, suite 511. Please join us on November 10 from 3-6 to meet the team and get a tour of the Hub. We are happy to be able to offer low-cost services and facilities to Quebec artists and we look forward to welcoming our members in coming weeks. Click here to learn more

For those who can’t make the opening on November 10, join us on December 1^st in the space for a Schmoozer. You know the drill, cool people, art talk, and snacks. It is totally your scene and we look forward to having you there.

Our last Schmoozer was a get together at the newly renovated La Fab space in beautiful Chelsea, Quebec. It was a great evening of meeting regional partners and artists, learning about the area and having the opportunity to see what a truly engaged and empowered community of people who are committed to culture can achieve.

Photos from our Schmoozer at La Fab in Chelsea.

I am hoping we can do more events with our regional partners and encourage you to get in touch if you think your organization, or local space would want to be a part of an ELAN Schmoozer!

Enjoy your month!

Vanessa Herrick
Executive Director

Land Acknowledgement

ELAN is an official minority language organization within a country that recognizes two languages as official. ELAN is located in Tiohtià:ke, the original name for Montreal in Kanien’kéha, the language of the Mohawk—also known as Mooniyang, which is the Anishinaabeg name given to the city by the Algonquin. While we are based in this city, our projects have also taken place in many regions across Quebec.

We acknowledge the colonial origin of English and French in Canada, and recognize that both languages benefit from official status throughout the land. The province that we know as Quebec is an amalgamation of the traditional territories of the Innu and Inuit nations, Algonquian nations, as well as the Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kanien’kéha and Anishinaabemowin are but two of the original languages of this province; Atikamekw, Cree, Inuktitut, and Innu-aimun are also among the many Indigenous languages spoken across Quebec as majority languages, all well before French and English.

ELAN acknowledges the important work being done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to revive the traditional languages of these territories, and their advocacy for the official status of Indigenous languages.