Updates on ELAN's Digital Solutions Work: ARTS2U

Since 2014, ELAN has been researching the shifting arts media landscape. Our findings, including our 2018 Digital Solutions report, have shown that creators and producers lack tools and time to capture the possibilities of new technologies to promote their work.

In fall 2018, with funding from Industry, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED), we began work on a prototype listings feed called ARTS2U that responds to these needs. ARTS2U uses scraping technology and manual data entry to compile information on arts events into one easy-to-access location. The prototype is being tested with arts producers, arts organizations, and media.

Now, we’re connecting ARTS2U with similar projects across Canada. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts through the Digital Strategy Fund, we’re setting up a network to share knowledge and encourage collaborations. Long-term, we believe that developing strong relationships and fostering compatible approaches will lead to better digital tools for artists and arts organizations.

Stay tuned for more information about the ARTS2U prototype and network in the coming months! If you have any questions or comments, get in touch with Program Manager, Amy Macdonald at amymacdonald@quebec-elan.org.

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.