ANKORS Art Slam 2020

ANKORS is hosting a 72-hour virtual art slam to raise awareness and funds to support people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kootenay/Boundary region. The art slam will run from September 8th-10th and will raise funds for the ANKORS Foundation Fund. This fund aims to support the specific needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kootenay/Boundary region, such as providing nutritional enhancement or supporting access to medical care.

Many local artists will be participating in the art slam, which is open to any and all sorts of artistic creators – from poets, to muralists, chefs, painters, photographers, musicians, sculptors, actors, dancers, videographers and more! Participating artists will be given a prompt and will then have 72 hours to create their piece of art. Photos and videos of the virtual art slam will be shared online through ANKORS’ social media and on the Facebook event page.

At the end of the slam, community members will vote for their favourite piece of art and the winner will be awarded with a prize! An online auction will run for two weeks following the art slam (from September 11 th to September 24 th ), in which community members will have the opportunity to bid for the artwork that was created during the slam. Part of the proceeds from this auction will go towards the participating artists, and the other part will be donated to the ANKORS Foundation Fund to support people living with HIV/AIDS. More information about how to check out the artwork and bid in the online auction will be available on the event page here.

On Wednesday September 16th at 7:30PM, ANKORS will partner with the Royal in Nelson to host a documentary screening of “How to Survive a Plague”. This film tells the story of the early AIDS epidemic and the activists who pushed for action to combat it. At this event, ANKORS will also share video footage and highlights from the art slam. Tickets for the screening will be available through The Royal’s website – please stay tuned for more
information about booking a table to attend. ANKORS and the Royal are working together to ensure that COVID-19 protocols will be in place and respected for this in-person event. We look forward to seeing you there!

ANKORS acknowledges that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many local artists may be struggling at this time. This is an opportunity to come together as a community in celebration of the arts. In the context of this global pandemic, it is crucial to recognize the importance of continuing efforts to confront longstanding epidemics, such as that of HIV/AIDS.

For more information about the art slam, silent auction, or documentary screening email Amelia at ankorsartslam@gmail.com or call 250-505-5506. You can also check out our Facebook event for more details.

ANKORS Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter

As a social justice and harm reduction organization, ANKORS stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and all marginalized communities of colour. We must work to resist the many forms of systemic and structural violence present in our communities, including: police brutality, racism, white supremacy, and ongoing settler-colonialism. We stand in solidarity with this important struggle for humanity and justice and we commit as an organization, as well as in our personal lives, to actually take action to change the systems that perpetuate violence against members of our community. 

In Canada, Black and Indigenous people are more likely to be victims of crime. In Toronto, where Black people are 4% of the population, they account for as many as 40% of murder victims. Meanwhile, despite statistics showing that Black people are not more likely to be involved in crime, young Black men are around twice as likely to be stopped and searched by police than white young men. These are obvious examples of injustice.

As a harm reduction organization we believe in the decriminalization of all drugs. The war on drugs targets Black and Indigenous people and other racialized minorities in huge disproportion. To us, the connection is quite clear. Decriminalizing drugs fights racism, stigma, and prejudice. Black people are overrepresented in Canada’s federal prisons by 300%, and Indigenous people by 500%. Many of these people are imprisoned for drug possession, or other ways we criminalize poverty in our society.

The first step is recognizing that racism is in our communities and in ourselves; racism does not only live south of the border or in large cities. As an organization that strives for inclusion we commit to taking action to reflect on how we can do better to do more than just be inclusive but to be actively anti-racist. We know that ending racism is tied in to many other battles: providing housing, food security, better public health, ending homophobia and transphobia, supporting restorative justice systems, and creating a school system that teaches our children the true history of Canada.

Read more at the John Howard Society blog, Black Lives Matter Vancouver, and Pacific AIDS Network‘s statement.