Threads 2024 Agenda

Morning | 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Discovering the World around Us

9:30 a.m.
Begin in a Good Way
Knowledge Keeper Judy Greyeyes

A Message from Mayor Charlie Clark

9:45 a.m.
A Personal Story on Evolving
Ali Abukar

Contemplate how leading figures in our lives – grandparents, parents, mentors and those we meet along life’s journey – guide and shape how we evolve as human beings. Discover the inherent interconnectedness of humanity and how diverse worldviews intertwine and evolve.

10:00 a.m.
Threads Studio: Garden of Love
Marina Nelson

10:05 a.m.
Dance with the World
Ed People, Doris Wang

Witness a popular YouTuber, Ed People, dance with total strangers around the world to discover how dance, culture and pride, unite diverse peoples. Learn how dance might be one means to restore humanity.

10:25 a.m.
Home
Ahmad Majid, Dash Reimer

Reflect upon what home means no matter where one might call home in the world. Listen to the challenges of starting anew and the desire to plant new roots and contribute to building and evolving community.

10:30 a.m.
Life, the Long Story Short
Tariq Jordan, Mehdi Ebrahimpour

Consider how experiences influence a storyteller and their narratives. In times of conflict and disaccord, stories might be a means to save lives, for they are often, the only possessions of the heart that people carry with them.   

10:50 a.m.
Spruce Tips & Birch Water: the Tastes of Spring
Jenni Lessard, Youth from Regina Open Door Society

Discover Indigenous ingredients from the land for healthier and more nutritious sustenance that don’t seek to harm the land but to replenish and reproduce the goodness offered up from mother nature. 

11:05 a.m.
Olga and Honey go for a Walk
Honey Constant-Inglis, Olga Shanina

Berries, shrubs, roots and plants have sustained humans across millennia and we discover them on a nature walk at Wanuskewin. Both Indigenous and Ukrainian medicinal and food traditions appear to share some commonalities. 

11:25 a.m.
UNESCO Ready: A Commitment to Save the Irreplaceable
Darlene Brander, Candace Wasacase

Understand the importance of what it means to recognize and declare Wanuskewin a UNESCO heritage site. Consider what this might mean for the evolution of the site, the city of Saskatoon, the province of Saskatchewan and the nation of Canada. 

11:35 a.m.
Threads Studio: Velocity
Harshal Desai

11:40 a.m.
Sizing up Seismic Events: Strengthening the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Eric Karsh, Nick Milkovich, Carlos Ventura

The need to protect cultural artifacts and human life itself, is crucial, especially in times of increased natural disasters, including earthquakes. Listen to how civil engineers, construction methods and building codes play a major role in British Columbia’s infrastructure of the future.

12:00 p.m.
Threads Studio: Slow Emergencies
Monique Martin

Cleaning Up the Future: Saskatchewan’s Carbon Footprint
Margret Asmuss, Glenn Wright

Typical modern food production is an energy sink as we input ten times more fossil energy than we get out in food energy. We need to understand and appreciate that our food supply is not sustainable and that we need to keep our carbon footprint in check.

12:15 p.m.
Threads Studio: Portals
Garrett Andrew Chong

Threads Studio: Mugwort and the Moon
Be Nadine Stevens

12:20 p.m.
Urban Canvas Art Battle
Carrie Catherine, Ryan Richard

Afternoon | 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Finding Our Place

1:30 p.m.
Why Evolving
Anita Ogurlu

Explore how the social sciences, the humanities and lived experiences become intertwined threads to ask provocative questions about how human behavior and the concepts we create and live by may either harm or heal the future. 

1:45 p.m.
Threads Studio: Evolving Relationships
Bukunmi Oyewole

What can we learn from animals about being human?
The late Frans de Waal, Mehdi Ebrahimpour

Explore how the study of primatology provides humans a chance to learn more about their evolution based on ancestral roots originating in apes and chimps. These primates exhibit empathy, fairness and morals that may act as relevant guides for human behavior.

2:10 p.m.
Threads Studio: Evolving Biophilic Integration
Soroush Dabiri

Shifting the Screen Sector through Authentic Voices
Jennifer Podemski

Investigate how film has misrepresented and under-represented Indigenous peoples and adversely shaped how they appear in societal consciousness. Learn the positive changes that are underway to rewrite stories of authentic voices and role models. 

2:40 p.m.
Threads Studio: Syilx Love
Ann Doyon

2:45 p.m.
Dialogues: International Artists in Canada
Mahboubeh Shahabadi, Elham Zafaremili, Yasaman Tarighatmanesh

When artists arrive in a new city from another geography and culture, they often face many barriers to expressing themselves through their art and becoming recognized as artists. Discover how several artists were able to break through and what this means for them.
 
3:05 p.m.
Sounds of Your Roots
Anastasia Rizikov

Classical music is deeply intertwined with the vernacular of everyday life that evolves to become a cultural inheritance. Consider that the way one is raised, where they travel, and how they perform music, helps give a voice to and reaffirms their musical roots. 

3:20 p.m.
Composing the Music of Cultural Harmony
Anna Klochkova

Discover the Russian schools of classical music and how they shape a violinist in her interpretation of these forms across national and international boundaries. Also, be surprised to learn that music comes naturally over being forced upon a culture, as we are sometimes led to believe.

3:40 p.m.
From the Opera House to the School Gym
Sergii Shvets, Anastasiya Baranova

Learn about the lifetime achievements of a ballet performer, how ballet evolved from the Soviet to the capitalist era, and what it means to start over again at a much older age with third and fourth generation Ukrainians in Canada. 

3:55 p.m.
Threads Studio: The Threads on the Coat that She Wears
Bernadette McCormack

Captain Haney, Arctic from Above
Melissa Haney

Witness how connections to Inuit cultural roots in isolated Northern communities transform a woman’s life such that she sees herself anew in the world and comes to serve and evolve Inuktitut communities and women in aviation. 

4:05 p.m.
A Desire to Serve Rural Communities
Dr. Noel DaCunha

Reflect on the importance on what health care means to a rural community and appreciate how central doctors, who work in rural areas, are to family health across generations. Learn of the colonial journey across time and space, through this humble doctor’s experience.

4:25 p.m.
Breaking the Patterns of Exploitation
Anna Boucher, Ramlah Iqbal

Learn about the darker side of migration by way of labor laws and regulations. Temporary foreign worker programs are not always fair and often reproduce discriminatory practices. Canada is not alone in these practices and it is important to think critically about what can be done.

4:40 p.m.
Art Battle Part 1

Morning | 9:30 a.m. – 12p.m.

Making Progress?

9:30 a.m.
Love and Tear Gas
Mya Guarnieri Jaradat, Mohamed Jaradat

Reflect on how extreme adverse and conflictual situations unite two people of different backgrounds, an American-Israeli and Palestinian, through their dedication to journalism by giving voice to the voiceless in the region.

9:50 a.m.
Waltz or Tango? Expressing Emotions Across Cultures
Batja Mesquita, Anita Ogurlu

Discover that emotions and how we express them are culture specific. Learning and practicing them differently in different cultures might imply that emotional responses to stimuli might differ and that is perfectly normal. Learn how expressing emotions is a reciprocal practice. 

10:10 a.m.
Threads Studio: My Dayz
Ali Kharsa

10:15 a.m.
Trauma: Victimization v. Resiliency
David Lane, Lori Steward, Anita Ogurlu

Explore concepts of resiliency and trauma in different social and cultural contexts. Understand how resiliency might be used as a means of empowerment and creativity over assumptions about traumatization that may cause further challenges when settling in a new country. 

10:40 a.m.
Meetings Through Screenings
Diana Sanchez, Tereza Barta, Teng Jimeng, Doris Wang

Storytelling through filmmaking offers a power of possibilities to learn about and share common and diverse human experiences from near and far. Dig a little deeper to understand the nuances of cross-cultural appreciation of one another’s stories.

11:05 a.m.
Threads Studio: Sweet Self-Portrait Series
Grandy C, Jaime Ortega

What we know and don't know about AI
Ivana Bartoletti, Anita Ogurlu

AI has been widely debated in the press amongst experts and laymen alike, as to how it will influence our futures. Learn that data is not neutral and comes with built in biases and how these might reinforce discrimination or alternatively how they might democratize information. 

11:35 a.m.
Threads Studio: annalynn36
Grandy C, Jaime Ortega

11:40 a.m.
Unfiltered: A Talk about Beauty
Elise Hu, Ngozi Akinro

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, but the concept of beauty has been subject to philosophies, markets and technologies across time, space and cultures. Discover how globalization and a technological gaze influence the level of comfort we feel in our own skin.

12:00 p.m.
Threads Studio: Evolving Mind of HER
Vandana V. Rao

Afternoon | 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Building Diverse Communities

1:30 p.m.
Moulding Young Minds
Leanne May

Explore the evolution of childcare and early childhood education in Saskatchewan. The interconnectivity of children from all diverse backgrounds is central for them to develop positive relationships in the present and the future. 

1:45 p.m.
Woven of the World
Ariel Richardson, Dinara Mirtalipova, Katey Howes

Explore the magic of folk art, poetry and textiles to see them intertwine into human tapestries. From ancient trade routes to children gathering for book readings and weaving, traverse the pages of images of garments, looms and cats with hats, through this award-winning children’s book.

2:05 p.m.
Threads Studio: Honouring the Children
Sandra Lamouche

2:10 p.m.
Parenting around the Table
Fatima Coovadia, Ayalah Levy, Auralee Modeland, Anita Ogurlu

Listen to a discussion about diverse parenting methods across cultures. Discover that there is not one way to raise a child but many and that children need a strong sense of identity and connection to family in order to provide a good foundation for their future. 

2:30 p.m.
Art Workshop: Emotions Expressed on Canvas
Sourian Daneshmanesh

Witness the creative expression of emotions through art. Consider that young people new to Canada carry a lot of stress, including that of their parents, as they seek to fit in and belong in a new environment. Learn that art can help articulate these stressors, early on.

2:35 p.m.
It’s not about Stamps in the Passport
Daniel Obst, Anita Ogurlu, Laura Keegan

Investigate what it means to be a global citizen and how this can be accomplished through international student exchanges. Reflect on what it means to become a life-long family member to another family, in another geography and how this facilitates a more positive view of the world.

2:55 p.m.
Threads Studio: The Chorus
Joanna Rogers

Sharp Minds, Sharp Pencils
Jannat Bano, Munir Ibrahimi, Kaivalya Pandya, Anita Ogurlu

Students new to Canada often come with different perspectives on education. Explore how concepts of Eastern and Western education differ but also share commonalities with education here. Contemplate a student suggestion for a new course to the high school curriculum. 

3:15 p.m.
What’s your cultural heritage?
Leslie Garrido Diaz, Fernando Fernandez, Tony Rayes, Maygen Kardash, Nancy Taylor, Eva Shortt, Virgil Waldner, Bonnie Cuthbertson, Bill Postlewaite, Chizoba Nwanegbo

Listen to a snapshot of perspectives on cultural identities from diverse peoples. Give some thought to your own ancestry and cultural background to understand more about where we have come from, where we are now, and where we might go in the future. 

3:30 p.m.
Guardians of the Communities
Judy Pelly, Sergii Shvets, Edward Agbai, Eleanor Shia 

Reflect on all the wisdom that elders in geographies across the globe possess. Much can be learned about how they transfer this knowledge to younger generations and learn why this is so important for youth today.

Threads Studio: She is continuing our lineage
Nicole Lau

3:45 p.m.
Firecrackers, Lanterns, and the meaning of Nian
Eleanor Shia, May Jiao, Anita Ogurlu

Discover the deeper meaning of Chinese New Year and what it means for China and the Chinese diaspora in Canada. Listen to how celebrations, rituals and beliefs evolve, and learn what is lost and what remains. 

4:05 p.m.
Threads Studio: Water Dragon Chant
Saskatoon Chinese Dance Club

4:10 p.m.
Sewing the Ribbons of Sisterhood
Muveddet Al-Katib, Honey Constant-Inglis, Elder Mary Lee, Banafsha Naseri, Nicole Hedley, Wendy Nelson

Witness what it is like to build relationships of belonging, right before your very eyes. Learn what sewing an Indigenous Ribbon Skirt means for Afghan refugee women new to Canada and for the Indigenous to extend their kinship relationships to them through Wahkohtowin.

4:30 p.m.
Art Battle Part 2