Our weary but unbroken heart stands strong and free!
Can we say that we expected more?
What a party! Granville Island hasn’t seen this much action since WWII!
Perhaps you remember our little V-Day rendez-vous with our hot visitor, Torchy? We surely do.. AND we remember a certain whispered promise that it was no one night stand. The fire would return! The Fringe wouldn’t be just another port of call!
Well, sadly Torchy didn’t return, not even to say goodbye (snif!).
Were we foolish to hope? Maybe. Maybe, rather than the light of our life, Torchy is now just another old flame. Gone but not forgotten… yet. The Fringe remains, though, a little stronger perhaps.
And speaking of forgetting, a more important focus of concern is whether Mr. Campbell and Mr. Krueger will have forgotten the pride, connection, and purpose we all felt recently. Whether at Opening, Closing and Medal Ceremonies or all the other official and unofficial artistic expressions of Canadian and B.C. culture and sports, artists showed us who we are.
Can we forget the music, theatre, art installations, poetry and spontaneous “flash mobs” and shows of heart that framed, coloured, gave dimension to, and actually defined the sports and corporate events that were embedded in them? Can our government forget or deny the crucial role of the arts when, for weeks now, they have shone from every nook and cranny, revealing spirit and character, stimulating investment and spending, and defying the grey of Recession?
Today is provincial Budget Day. Today is the day we find out just what our provincial government thinks of the arts and their role in our society. Only two days after the official end of the biggest exposition of arts and culture B.C. has ever hosted (all respect to the Paralympians who are still to come and the art that continues!!), today we find out if our government has forgotten.
This afternoon, we find out if the fire has truly left B.C. This afternoon will we wonder if we should have followed our government’s snide suggestion and used that flame on our hair. Instead, we chose to do what we do best and express our culture, enhancing the world around us and our experience of it.
Did they notice? Do they listen? Have they forgotten?
Today we find out if it was all just a one night stand.
