MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
QAGGIAVUUT ELECTS NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A new board of directors has been voted in by the Qaggiavuut Society for a Nunavut Performing Arts Centre at an annual general meeting that was part performance art and included dance, poetry and celebration.
The new board elected an Executive Committee made up of Leena Evic and Ellen Hamilton, Lori Idlout and Terrie Kusugak. Other board members include Kathleen Merritt, Andrew Morrison, Oleena Nowyook, Sylvia Cloutier, Mathew Nuqingaq and Stacey Aglok Macdonald. All board members describe a passion for the performing arts and a commitment to building a centre.
“I taught myself to play guitar”, says Qaggiavuut youth representative, Terrie Kusugak. “Now I write songs and perform and I want the youth of Nunavut to know they too have a voice.”
“This is the year we fund a feasibility study”, says Executive Director Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. “It will identify what type of building we need, how much it will cost and how we can launch a national fundraising campaign to get it built.”
“A performing arts centre is not a luxury, it is a necessity”, says co-chairperson Ellen Hamilton. “The arts tell the human story, speak the language of emotions and give us hope.”
“It is through the arts that we will preserve our language and our culture, more than any other way. That is the power of art’, says co-chairperson Leena Evic.
For more information contact:
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Executive Director
Email: contact@qaggiavuut.com
or
Ellen Hamilton, Co-Chairperson
Email: ellenh@kingston.net
867-979-0075/867-979-7241
