Art, dancing, food - it will be an extravaganza of arts and culture. The Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery (HDMG) and the Humboldt Regional Newcomers Centre (HRNC) have teamed up to host Humboldt Arts and Culture Days at the Humboldt Seniors' Hall on September 28 and 29.Both agencies have been a part of hosting Culture Days events in the past - the HRNC two years ago and the HDMG last year. Both years, the events were extremely successful, so this year, they decided to join forces and put on an arts and culture extravaganza.Day 1 of Culture Days has been organized by the HDMG. They will be hosting visual artists down to the Seniors' Hall.Not only will artists like Cynthia Stumborg, Marie Saretsky, Elaina Adams, Jeff Burton and Annah Gullacher be on site, they will be working with the public who come out on collaborative art work. "This is your opportunity to be creative with visual arts!" states the poster for the event. Schools have been invited to head down to the Seniors' Hall on this day, explained Jennifer Hoesgen of the HDMG, and it's also open to the public. There is no cost to attend, either. "People can come in, and they can actually engage with the artists," Hoesgen said. "It's an interactive event. It's not about sitting and watching. It's a fun atmosphere," Hoesgen noted. The collaborative works created by the artists and the public will then be on display on Day 2 of Culture Days, which the HRNC is organizing. The Saturday event will focus on performance art and food, for the most part. Some of those who will be taking part are performers, explained Janine Hart of the HRNC, and others are clients of the newcomer centre who wanted to take part in the day. There will be Irish dancing, Hart promised, Ghanian drummers, dancing and singing by the local Filipino Association, a performance by Highland dancers from Quill Lake, and henna handpainting as well, by a woman originally from Pakistan who now lives in Muenster. People are welcome to dance and sing with the performers, Hart noted, indicating that Saturday wouldn't be about sitting and watching either. Each artist will be doing a 15-minute presentation, Hart explained, and the rest of their time will be interactive. Also part of Saturday's event, which runs from 1-5 p.m. at the Seniors' Hall, will be a huge variety of foods from around the world that people will sample. The food will be little bits and bites - appetizer size, Hart indicated, which will allow people a taste of traditional dishes from all over the world. They're having flags made for cocktail sticks, she added, so that people will know where each food is from. Those involved with the HRNC are providing the food, which will include dishes from Ghana, England, Ireland, India, Vietnam and Ukraine, just to name a few. "We will have 50 dishes," said Hart."For the newcomers, it's so important that they are allowed to show off their dishes," Hart noted. "They just want people to taste.""And it lets local people experience that," Hoesgen said.The Humboldt event is part of the pan-Canadian Culture Days. "It's a great way to actually have people interact with artists and performers," said Hoesgen. The City of Humboldt received a municipal grant from Sask Culture, Hoesgen explained, and those funds will be going to the artists who have agreed to participate in the two-day event. Funding from some other sources like the Humboldt Area Arts Council and Friends of the Museum will also be used to hold this event.
