Three months of artistic and cultural programming for Cape Dorset youth was set to wrap up with the Quviana Parade on Saturday. Art, dancing hunting were to be among the concepts highlighted as parade participants march through the streets.
photo courtesy of Alexa Hatanaka/Embassy of Imagination
"It's just about celebrating and having fun together... It's kind of like the finale of our time here," said Alexa Hatanaka, a facilitator with the Embassy of Imagination, a Toronto-based program that promotes art and healthy lifestyles. Representatives with the program make annual trips to Cape Dorset and sometimes brings the youth to cities in the south to paint murals.
Paper mache projects and sewing skills were put to use to make costumes and objects that were to be on display during the parade, which Hatanaka estimated would involve 50 youth from ages nine to 22. Quviana means fun or joyous in Inuktitut.
Some of the youth were also involved in video projects and painting a mural on a gazebo in town.
"It (the gazebo) was looking a little scruffy, so now it's nicely painted and has drawings on it by a number of youth," said Hatanaka, who noted that the Hamlet of Cape Dorset approved of the work.
