Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Sam Cronk at the always knocking door display New exhibition in Brampton shows what it was like for some  By Stephen Weir “The simple truth is this,” said Sam Cronk as he walked Caribbean Toronto News through a somber new exhibition at PAMA. “ No one wants to be a refugee. It is not something you strive to be.   But yet for so many it just suddenly happens. And, I guess it could happen to any of us.” Mr. Cronk is the Senior Curator of History at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) in downtown Brampton.   Earlier this month, he worked with a Halifax museum to open Refuge Canada, a travelling exhibition in PAMA’s main space gallery.   This multimedia exhibition (supported by the TD Bank)   is showing at museums and galleries across Canada – PAMA is the only stop in Ontario. “It is hard to believe that the world refugee crisis has impacted Peel,” he continued. “it is estimated that 75,000 refugees have settled in Peel County alone. We aren’t talking

North is Freedom – Black History Month events in Brampton all month By Stephen Weir   Tonight's Caribbean Camera newspaper The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) in Brampton and the Ontario Black History Society soft launches this weekend North is Freedom , an evocative new photo exhibition celebrating the descendants of former American slaves who fled to Canada in the years before the American Civil War. In portraits of 24 descendants of freedom seekers– the great-great-grandchildren of once-enslaved African Americans – Toronto photographer Yuri Dojc explores Canada’s end of the “Underground Railroad,” a clandestine network of "conductors" and “stations” that helped some 30,000 men, women, and children follow the “North Star” to freedom. Yuri Dojc The Black freedom seekers settled across Canada but most of them came to places in Ontario, such as Windsor, Chatham, Buxton, the Niagara Peninsula, Owen Sound, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto.

JAMBANA One World Festival is moving to two indoor Brampton venues Denise Jones Jambana, the annual August long-weekend Reggae and Roots festival, has loaded up the truck and is moving from the Markham Fairgrounds to two venues in Brampton.   For its 10 th anniversary, the August 5th & 6th   outdoor festival has not only moved cities but is also heading indoors! “ It is a big step for us to move Jambana from a big field (the Markham Fairgrounds) to fully serviced indoor halls,” Denise Jones, Executive Producer of JAMBANA One World Festival told the Caribbean Camera in an interview last week.   “ There are some huge pluses to this. We are moving to a city where we have produced a number of very successful Reggae events. Brampton has a real hunger for Jambana, and now that we are heading indoors, there is no need for people to drag along their lawn chairs and umbrellas to the see the shows.” Launched in 2008 Jambana, One World Festival is the GTA’s pre

Emerging American artist   Rupy  C. Tut's personal journey back to her Punjabi roots By K.J Mullins --  revised story by Newz4U publisher for Stephen Weir blog American artist Rupy C. Tut's work is currently being featured at PAMA (Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives) as part of Sikh Heritage Month. As the first large solo showing of her calligraphy and miniature paintings in Canada, Tut was excited to be part of the exhibition highlighting her culture at a gallery where Sikh people's culture is celebrated. As a woman, Tut is motivated to embody her heritage in beautiful ways. On Sunday, April 23 she presented a talk about her styles of art to a PAMA packed house. Artist Rupy Tut - Mullins photograph   The Sikh community in Canada has a very rich heritage Tut said during her talk. The struggles that the community experienced in India did not just disappear when people immigrated to North America. This has developed   into a North American Sikh