2020 is the year when Jamii and Canadian Stage, both based in The Esplanade & St Lawrence neighbourhood, made a powerful commitment to one another and  to the community.  They joined forces with the intention of growing capacity and leveraging resources, which is meant to increase the quality of the collective arts experience, for the Esplanade community.

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Our first year of partnership, 2020, was extremely fruitful with a series of projects and events that brought people together (physically-distanced) despite a global pandemic. We are delighted to be pursuing this partnership into 2021.

Jamii is about to celebrate its 10-year anniversary (2011-2021) and this award feels like a recognition for and appreciation of the artistic quality, the depth of our social contract, and our commitment to the Esplanade community. It is also an energizing wind blowing our sails as we look ahead to the next 10 years.

This award goes to the hundreds of artists who define Jamii; to the hundreds of Esplanadians who have participated in arts-making with us; to those who have worked with us through the years, paid or unpaid, including directors of our board; and to those who kept on encouraging us in their own way during our journey.

By Isorine Marc: "I hope that everyone who has ever added a brick to the wall to build the Jamii house feels the butterflies. I do."

May the Jamii house continue shelter creativity.

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Full release from Toronto Arts Foundation HERE.

We are thrilled to welcome back to Lua Shayenne Dance Company in our community for a set of performances in Parliament Square Park on Aug 4th and 5th (back up for rain on Aug 6th), at 6pm and 7pm. Dance performances will be accompanied by a visual arts exhibit showcasing the work of local artist Andrew Patterson. Join us for a Q&A on both day, at 7:20pm, right after Lua's second performance.

In partnership with Canadian Stage, supported by Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.

In the Spring of 2020, Jamii and Canadian Stage partnered to invite eleven women, residents of the Esplanade community, to express artistically their personal journey during the COVID-19 pandemic through the creation of a reflective art video.

Watch the online premiere of the video here.

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A project  in partnership with Canadian Stage and supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Toronto Arts Council. 

In October, November and December, Jamii invited four guest artists (dancers/choreographers) to explore the potential of artistic transformation of the Kisanii Hub. Each artist was offered a one-week research period at the rehearsal hall of Canadian Stage.
We are thrilled that the richness of this process will be shared with the community with live performances in our park in 2021.

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Guest artists: Ayelen LIberona, Lua Shayenne, Ashima Suri and Michael Caldwell.

Artistic Production: Isorine Marc

A project in partnership with Canadian Stage and supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council.

In the Fall of 2019. Jamii visited Wawa and Wolfe Island, and invited people to create visual portraits of fellow neighbours, friends or family member.

In September 2020, Jamii came back to both communities to exhibit the collection of portraits.  Along with this beautiful exhibit, Jamii  invited amazing local artists to bring these portraits to life.  Music, dance, storytelling, and drumming, a whirlwind of stories.

Wawa artists: Damian Binda, Isabella Imperatori, Joanne Poisson, Joanne Wilson, Mirinda Patterson and Samatha Stewart.

Artists performing in Wolfe Island: Teilhard Frost, Jason Mercer, Robert Douglas, Terri-Lynn Brennan, Sue Croweagle, Sukruti Tirupattur, Nancy Steel, and Lucas Sherwood.

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A project supported by the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.

it is a grand pleasure to share with you Zarita’s writing about her experience with "Wind Stories" and "Unlocked". Zarita has been working at Jamii since September of last year and played a major part in bringing these projects to life. She is now finishing her contract with Jamii with the premiere of “Unlocked”, then continuing her beautiful journey of life.  It is a full circle, and we are full of gratitude. 

COVID-19 has shaken Jamii to its core values by greatly limiting social connection. But it is of greater importance that we practice physical distancing to limit the spread of the virus.

At Jamii, we believe it is our social responsibility to care for our community during such extraordinary times.

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We are producing live performances in the streets, courtyards and parks of our community, encouraging people to watch from a safe distance.

Live arts has healing effects we wish to share around.

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Inugural performances featuring Domanique Grant, Leen Hamo, Iman Abdul Razzak, Jeremiah Sparks, Sara Luey, Alessandro Montelli, Johnny Toronto, Lua Shayenne, Cécé Haba, Arlene Paculan, Cleon Wong, Ayelen Liberona, Malavika Santhosh, Ekaterina

Hisia was an invitation to 8 artists to explore the emotional roller coaster of the past six months, since lockdown was imposed. Fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, anticipation, joy and trust expressed through words, movement, imagery, sound, visual and experiential arts: a delight to the senses. A series of personal statements within the frame of a common journey.

Performers: Jaz Fairy J, Meryem Alaoui, Nicola Pantin, Sukruti Tirupattur and Yvonne Ng. Videographer: Ella Cooper. Spoken word artist: Paulina Anthony-O'Kieffe. Music: Evangelia Kambites.

A project in partnership with Canadian Stage and supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council.

On August 21st, you are invited for a unique pop-up performance featuring four amazing artists. Jamii is thrilled to welcome back Heidi Chan (flute, drum), Jonelle Sills (opera), Raha Javanfar (violin), and to welcome for the first time in our community Eman Hillawi (lollilop lyra artist). 

The performance is titled HISIA, which is a Swahili word for inner feelings, emotions and thoughts. Jamii has invited these artists to connect with one another through a structured improvisation exploring their individual whirlwind of emotions since pandemic hit us mid-March. We all lived through the same major event, but all had a different journey. HISIA is a window into our unique ways to deal with the same situation. 

The Jamii teams hope you will come “look through the window” with us – as usual, at a safe physical distance from one another.
This event is presented in partnership with Canadian Stage and supported by the Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario.

Join us in the park with someone from your social bubble (family, friends or neighbours), and create, through arts and craft, a portrait of one another. This creative session will then be followed by live performances with artists Ashima Suri, Jonelle Sills, Jeremiah Sparks, Michael Caldwell, Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony and Sue Croweagle, with host Ryan G. Hinds. 

3pm to 6pm: your portrait creation with facilitators Gillian Mapp and Sharon Zarita.

6pm & 7pm: live performance

Friday July 17th Crombie Park (Princess and The Esplanade)

Saturday July 18th St. James Park (by the Playground) – in partnership with Friends of St James Park. 

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This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council. A special thank you to the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association for supporting local artists and to the St Lawrence Market BIA to help us with chairs and tables.