State of the Arts: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

The State of the Arts: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (SOTA on EDI) is a project to capture the current landscape of the English-speaking Quebec arts, heritage, and culture sector.

By exploring what equity, diversity, and inclusion means and looks like within our vibrant milieu, we wish to reflect on the specific ways these principles and practices show up on an individual, organizational, and communal level. We welcome the contributions of individual artists, cultural workers, and arts and heritage organizations to help build from where we are at to move to even greater heights.

Participate in the survey

State of the Arts Overview

Thanks to the support of the Department of Heritage Canada – Official Languages Support Programs, this project will run from September 2022 to March 2024, and will unfold in three major phases.

  1. Surveying English-speaking artists, cultural workers, heritage workers, and organizations across Quebec to access the multiplicity of knowledge, experiences, and perspectives on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
  2. Using those learnings to organize a two-day conference in June 2023 to invite our community to reflect and engage in conversation on the future we would like to create.
  3. Leveraging those conversations to develop solutions and tools for the work to continue.

Project Timeline

Phase I will take place between September 2022 and January 2023; Phase II between February 2023 and June 2023; and Phase III between July 2023 and March 2024.

The goal of Phase I is to survey the English-speaking arts, heritage and culture community. The goal of Phase II is to develop a community-endorsed plan of action for integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion across the sector. The goal of Phase III is to implement the action plan and evaluate its use.

Should you have any questions or wish to be involved, please don’t hesitate to contact the project team click here to contact our SOTA team.

In 2019, ELAN held the State of the Arts Activation Conference. Now, in 2022, ELAN we hope to continue and advance the conversation and action surrounding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Quebec Arts Community.
Video by Daybi, 2019.

Funding Acknowledgments

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.

ELAN logo with orange graphic and white letters

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