Exploring Suitcase Stories
Julie Robinson:
There are lots of things that suitcases bring to mind for us, because we've all used them. Like you said, we've travelled with them. But there are ways of looking at suitcases as baggage, and things that we have going on in our life. And so a suitcase, I thought, was a good representation of, and a good container for, each artist to explore their own lives, and to creatively express who they are.
Joeita Gupta:
I'm Joeita Gupta, and this is The Pulse.
I'm going to be stating the obvious here. People with disabilities are just like people without disabilities. We are more alike than different. Yet discrimination against people with disabilities continues to persist.
It means that there's a belief that people with disabilities are different. It means that people with disabilities are less likely to be hired, less likely to be in committed relationships, and more likely to live in poverty.
But people with disabilities also have hobbies, songs they like, trips they've taken, and books they cherish.
The disability arts movement has often been the means to bridge the gap between people with disabilities and non-disabled allies. Art space projects draw attention to those things that are similar, while prompting reflection on how and why we are different.
Today, we discuss disability as artistic narrative. It's time to put your finger on the pulse.
Hello and welcome to The Pulse on AMI Audio. I'm Joeita Gupta, and I'm joining you today from the Accessible Media Studios in downtown Toronto. I'm wearing a full sleeve V-neck, dark purple sweater, and my hair is up in its usual bun.
I read about an amazing project that was taking place, and is taking place, in Whitehorse, and it really fired my imagination. It's called Suitcase Stories, and it features the work of about 30 artists, many of whom have intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities, each of whom has a personalized suitcase decorated with the things that matter to them. And I was so blown away that I had to take the opportunity to speak to some of the artists, and you'll be hearing from about four of them later on in the program.
But first, just to set the stage, as it were, I'm joined by Rebecca Dacko-Brink, who is the executive director of Teegatha'Oh Zheh, the not-for-profit responsible for putting together the Suitcase Stories project. And joining Rebecca is Julie Robinson, who's been the creative director on the project. And Julie's really had her hand in a number of pies, as it were for, for about a year now.
Rebecca and Julie, it's great to have both of you on the program. Welcome to The Pulse.
Rebecca Dacko-Brink:
Thank you for having us.
Julie Robinson:
Yep. Thanks for having us. We're welcome... We're happy to be here.
Joeita Gupta:
Rebecca, let me start with you. Tell me a little bit about Teegatha'Oh Zheh for those of us who haven't heard about the agency before, and what are some of the services you provide to residents in Whitehorse?
Julie Robinson:
Yeah. So Teegatha'Oh Zheh was founded in 1989, and it was originally created to bring people back home from large southern institutions. So Teegatha'Oh Zheh is a Gwich'in phrase that directly translates to, "to return back on the path which you left."
So we now serve the disability community in a variety of ways in Whitehorse.
Joeita Gupta:
Well, it sounds like, just based on what you're saying, Rebecca, that you provide a number of services and daily living supports to people in the community.
Julie, I want to turn to you next. How does this project, the Suitcase Stories, tie into the broader work of the organization?
Julie Robinson:
Well, Teegatha'Oh Zheh works on creating agency for people with intellectual disability, and supporting them and lifting them up to be fully included in the community. And one of the ways that you can be fully included is having a creative and artistic path. And so the work that we do supports individuals with disabilities to work on their own personal creativity, being able to tell their stories through art, and be able to be part of the artistic community.
Joeita Gupta:
Julie, I was intrigued by the use of suitcases, and I want to ask you about that because to me, suitcases represent a couple of things. Certainly storage, and hanging onto stuff, and baggage, but they also represent travel and mobility. So what were you hoping to accomplish with the use of suitcases?
Julie Robinson:
There are lots of things that suitcases bring to mind for us, because we've all used them. Like you said, we've travelled with them. But there are also ways of looking at suitcases as baggage, and things that we have going on in our life.
And so a suitcase, I thought, was a good representation of, and a good container for, each artist to explore their own lives, and to creatively express who they are, through a medium that was contained, as well. Because we went through an exploration of their whole life. We did lifelines, and each artist decided on a route to take in terms of their suitcase. So the suitcase also gave people a container to use.
Joeita Gupta:
Rebecca, I know your opening night was a couple of weeks back. November 15th in Whitehorse. What sort of reception did the exhibit and the suitcases receive?
Rebecca Dacko-Brink:
It's actually been really, really wonderful. We have had, I think, a bigger impact in the community than we were even hoping and expecting that we would. The turnout was great, and everyone there was really moved by the performance, and by the art, and being able to connect with all the artists. So it was really, really, really great feedback that we received from those who were able to come to the opening night.
Joeita Gupta:
Rebecca, I'm wondering, what else do you hope is going to come out of this exhibit? Of course, we want greater recognition for the artists themselves, but are you also hoping for other things? I'm thinking representation, or advocacy, or even better services for people with disabilities.
Rebecca Dacko-Brink:
Yes, absolutely. All of those things, as well as to build opportunities in the community for the adults that are the artists in this production.
Joeita Gupta:
I know we'll be turning to the artists in just a few minutes to get a sense of some of their projects and suitcases, but Julie, I wanted to give you the last word. And bearing in mind that you were the person who helped to curate the exhibit, what impact has being involved in this work for almost a year now had on you personally?
Julie Robinson:
It's the small things, right? It's the moments when you're... We've been working at this project for a whole year, and taking our time to do it, so that we can support the individual artists to represent themselves in their truest way. And because the way that we segregate people with disabilities, and silence them and oppress them, people with disabilities don't often have agency to speak their truth.
And so my goal, Rebecca's goal, people that were supporting it and moving forward with the art process, we were willing to stop and wait, and give people the time so that they would have the personal agency to tell their true story.
And so a lot of people came back and returned to their suitcase, and changed it or added something, and so there was moments in that process that people came back and told some really deep truths about themselves. And for me, that was my goal. That there would be movement in their own personal agency and advocacy. And I had a number of those moments that made it very worthwhile for me. Made the one year of my life very gratifying and made it work for me.
Joeita Gupta:
Julie and Rebecca, thank you both so much for speaking to me. It is such a fascinating project, and I really look forward to speaking to the artists in just a few minutes.
Rebecca Dacko-Brink:
Thank you so much.
Julie Robinson:
You're welcome. It's our honour. Absolutely.
Joeita Gupta:
In the time that we have remaining, I'm going to be speaking to a number of the artists featured in the Suitcase Stories exhibit. Now, a number of them are going to be speaking to us about their suitcases, and I just wanted to mention that at least two out of our four guests today, the artists do require some form of translations, so please be aware of that as well.
But my conversation with the artists really focuses on getting a sense of what their suitcases contain, and why they chose to include the things that they did. So each of our artists is going to be discussing their individual suitcases in the next few minutes. Hayley, Tijana, Rachel, and Aimee Lynn are our four participants.
Hello everybody. It's so great to have you on the program. Welcome to The Pulse.
Hayley:
Thank you.
Joeita Gupta:
So Hayley, let me kick things off with you. If I were to start looking at your suitcase, what would I find?
Hayley:
You would find some pictures of me that represents everything, because my theme of my suitcase is everything. Because I want everything. Everything. And it makes me want to sing that song by Barbara Streisand. It's from a movie, A Star is Born. And when it comes to that song, when I hear her sing it, it makes me want to sing it too.
And my suitcase that I did for the past few months, we've been putting lots of pictures of things that I do like, and then things that I don't like.
The things that I do like, I like to go swimming. I like bus rides. I like electric cars. I'm a vehicle addict.
And I like airplanes too. The plane that I like to hear is the old, old 737-200. What that is is, it sounds like a Hammond organ. And it's a really nice sound. And I used to go on that plane many, many, many years ago, and I used to sit in the front. And when I sat in front, I can hear the engine, but if I'm in the very back back row, I couldn't hear the engine. All I hear was wind.
And I was born in PEI. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. My mom had what is called German measles, and it's a disease which came into blindness. And that's where I became born blind. Totally blind. And it's really good to feel and hear things. Oh yeah, my mom had rubella syndrome, and that's when it became German measles. And that's when it came to me blind. And that's how I became a disability.
And I used to go to school for the deaf, and I couldn't hear. I had many, many surgeries done to my ears. I was very scared of surgeries, and I thought I was going to die, and I couldn't understand what they were doing when I had my hearing tested. And I screamed, and it was not fun.
Joeita Gupta:
Hey, it sounds really awful, and it sounds like you had a really hard time with it, but I have to say, Hayley, your suitcase sounds really interesting and really cool. I wish I could talk to you longer, but I'm going to actually turn things over to Rachel. Okay, Rachel. If I were to look inside your suitcase, what would I find?
Julie Robinson:
So Rachel chose to explore her indigeneity, right Rach?
Rachelle:
Yeah.
Julie Robinson:
And so she has this beautiful vest that one of the elders made with her. And so she wanted to copy her vest, and turn the suitcase into her vest. And you did that, right Rach?
Rachelle:
Yeah.
Julie Robinson:
And so you did that, and then you wanted to have portraits of people important to you, and you chose some boxes, and made some beautiful boxes and put those pictures in there, right?
Rachelle:
Yeah.
Julie Robinson:
And then you waited probably about two or four months, right? We fussed around and did some fun things with it, and just finished it. But then the summer came and something happened in your family. And Rachel's family, unfortunately, her grandmother was murdered in the sixties and dumped in the Whitehorse. Dumped, right Rach?
Rachelle:
Yeah.
Julie Robinson:
And so there's a really good CBC story. Rachel wanted to take that story and include it. So she made a beautiful binder to honor her grandmother, and put that in there as well, right? So it's a story about your life and your family, your suitcase, right?
Rachelle:
Yeah.
Joeita Gupta:
Hey, Rachel, that is so powerful, and I am really sorry to hear about your grandmother. It's a difficult thing to live through. It's difficult family history to work through, but I wish I could spend longer with you as well.
But I want to now turn to Tijana, and ask Tijana. Hey, Tijana, what's inside your suitcase? What kind of story are you trying to tell?
Julie Robinson:
A lot of people did tributes to people that they really loved. Right, Tijana? And Tijana has a really beautiful book that she made about her grandfather, and that's including her suitcase, right? And Tijana also picked a song that her grandfather used to sing, that Aimee said. Did you want to say that name again?
Aimee:
Selah. She did a song called You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban. And she sings that in her nana and her grandpa, in their honour.
Julie Robinson:
But also Tijana has a fantastic sense of humour. And so she has lots of fun things in there, right? Like your Diet Coke. You love Diet Coke.
Tiana:
I love Diet Coke.
Julie Robinson:
And you're a pickle fanatic. You're a pickle woman. The biggest jar of pickles in her suitcase.
Aimee:
And she also likes Slytherin, because Slytherin is a wizard in the movie.
Tiana:
And Harry Potter too.
Joeita Gupta:
Yeah, Slytherin.
Tiana:
Harry Potter is a Slytherin.
Julie Robinson:
That's your evil side, right?
Tiana:
Yeah.
Joeita Gupta:
Well, listen, it sounds like your suitcase is absolutely chock full of interesting things. And I have to say that Josh Groban song is definitely one of my favourites as well. But listen, I have to make sure we get to Aimee Lien as well and have enough time to talk to Aimee Lien about her suitcase. Aimee Lien, tell me, what's in your suitcase?
Aimee:
So I made my suitcase of Cruella de Vil, and that movie was held in London, and that's the place where the movie got filmed and made. And I got some pictures of Cruella. She played Emma Stone, with John McCrea and Mark Strong. And Emma Thompson.
Joeita Gupta:
Well, guys, it's been really, really awesome chatting with all of you and hearing about your suitcases. Congratulations. It sounds like it was a lot of work, but you've all been so honest and so candid with your stories, and that you were so willing to share with me about your journeys as artists and why you were motivated to make your suitcases the way you were.
I am so glad and so deeply appreciative that you could join me today, and I really hope that you all go on to make amazing art in future as well, and you will come back on the program to talk about it. Thanks for being here.
Aimee:
Perfect.
Julie Robinson:
Thank you very much.
Hayley:
Thank you.
Joeita Gupta:
That was the Suitcase Stories. Earlier in the program, you heard from executive director Rebecca Dacko-Brink and creative director Julie Robinson, but we ended the program by hearing from four different artists.
If you live in Whitehorse, the exhibit runs to December 22nd, and is on display at the Yukon Art Centre. So I hope you'll make your way over there. And if you don't live in Whitehorse, the exhibit has received wide coverage, and you can check out the CDC article. I will at least put that down below so you have a chance to look at some of the pictures. We'll include some of the pictures here as well.
It was a really wonderful opportunity to go outside my comfort zone a little bit, as well, as a host and as a producer. And I hope you've enjoyed this episode as much as I have enjoyed producing it and certainly hosting it for you.
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I've been your host Joeita Gupta, and this has been The Pulse on AMI-audio. Our videographer today has been Matthew McGurk. Our technical producer is Marc Aflalo. And Andy Frank is the manager of AMI-audio. Thanks for listening.